Zoe Saldaña has given Steven Spielberg credit for “restoring her faith” in filmmaking. The Oscar winner directed the American actress in The Terminal, on a set she she joined eight months after being part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
While Saldaña didn’t name any particular execs or crew who demoralised her on the Pirates set, she revealed joining the huge Disney franchise came as a shock so early in her career. And she reflected:
“99% of people in the industry are absolutely wonderful, but if people at the top aren’t leading with kindness… Then eight months later, I worked with Steven Spielberg (on The Terminal), and he restored my faith that big can also be great.
Saldaña was speaking at a Screen Talks session at the London Film Festival about her long and varied career, which includes appearing in four of the highest-grossing films of all time, as well as three major franchises. Her titles include Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Star Trek (2009), Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers universe (2014-23), and James Cameron’s Avatar series (2009-2022).
Most recently she starred as a compromised lawyer in Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez (2024), screening at London Film Festival.
On her breakthrough role in Centre Stage (2000)…“I found what I wanted to do by having a clear understanding of what I didn’t. My father was a businessman, my mother stayed at home, there were doctors in my family, and yet none of that appealed to me. I lost my father when I was aged nine, and I began dancing ballet, and it became medicinal, an outlet. It became ‘What do I study?’ and my voice became an instrument. When you’re young, you unconsciously gravitate towards things you identify with. When Nicholas Hytner was casting for a film about ballet, it was like a sign from the universe.”
On Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)…“It was a big Disney studio machine, big cast, people doing accents. I barely had my SAG card. I was learning as I was going. I hung out with the camera department, asking the DP: ‘What are you doing?’ That became my school. And I learned the kind of people I wanted to work with.”
On Avatar (2009, 2022)…“Ignorance is bliss. There’s this fearlessness when you’re young. I thought, ‘I’m going to do whatever my director asks me to do.’ And it was James Cameron. Every day, Sam Worthington and I sat watching this scientist. It felt like you were playing in a sandbox, with someone who would put his camera down and explore. It was a wonderful, extremely collaborative experience. I still can’t believe that I won the lottery.
“The impact that Avatar had caught us all by surprise. Maybe Jim had a feeling, he’s so confident. But we knew it was special: the messaging is so important.
“Sci-fi is that genre that has been constant and consistent. Content creators have the ability to imagine the unimaginable. Avatar is a reflection of how the technology continues to evolve.”
On Star Trek (2009)…“JJ Abrams came to the Avatar set, he and Jim were talking. Jim said, ‘I think I just pulled your next job. Have you ever seen Star Trek?’”
On Infinitely Polar Bear (2014)…“This was a love story. Talking to doctors and caretakers of people with mental illness, you can’t reason with them. It was an interesting journey, Maya Forbes wrote this story about her parents, and we spoke about it. It was compelling, and my heart goes out to them.
“True life stories are harder for me. Whatever you do, you’re not going to get it fully right. I’m going to take a break from biopics, but some stories are too hard to turn down.
“I wasn’t a mum yet, and I discovered it was harder for women when they start a family. You’re punished for wanting more.”
On Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)…“After Avatar and Star Trek, director James Gunn wanted me to play Gomorra in Guardians. I appreciate that today a whole lot more than I did back then. I feared being typecast, and my team were worried for me. But that script, the hero and the anti-hero, I hadn’t seen before and I was curious to work with him.”
On Paramount+ action thriller TV series Special Ops: Lioness (2023)…“When writer Taylor Sheridan called me, he said, ‘I’m writing this for you – are you in or out?’
“I’m dyslexic, I’m not as confident as I’d like to be. I’ve not had dialogue, back and forth. Lioness was an opportunity to explore experiences of women in service, in departments nobody believes exist. I wanted to be in that skin, and know what that felt like.
“Exec producing the series means I stalk Taylor while he’s editing. I like to feel empowered and in control. It gives me security. Being a producer gives me a collaborative position.
On Emilia Pérez (2024)…(Cannes Award-winning, collectively for the female cast, for Best Actress)
“My character Rita is the opposite of what I’ve played for – she doesn’t have the courage to step up for herself. Rita is paranoid, but she’s upset with her environment of injustice, decadence and greed. The musical moments give her an escape.
These individuals navigate worlds that are dark and dangerous, it’s the story of four women on a journey to be authentic, free and loved.
“[The success of the film has proven…] it’s good business to create a sisterhood with other women, and to capture women as they are. That visibility made me realise how invisible I’d felt. It was a sign we’re going in the right direction.
“The warm reception (to the movie) has far exceeded our expectations. It’s Spanish, it’s a musical, and yet people feel it.”
