Zoe Saldaña says she “felt artistically stuck” while working on blockbusters
Zoe Saldaña has said she “felt artistically stuck” while working on blockbusters in recent years.
Throughout her career, the actress has starred in major franchises such as Pirates Of The Caribbean, Star Trek, Avatar and Marvel‘s Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Next month, she’ll reprise her role as Neytiri in the highly anticipated Avatar: The Way Of Water. She’s also set to return as Gamora in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, scheduled for release on May 5.
In a new interview with Women’s Wear Daily, the actress said that she was grateful for being a part of so many major franchises, but acknowledged how they have stopped her from growing and challenging herself as a performer.
“I feel that for the last 10 years of my life, I’ve been just stuck. I felt stuck doing these franchises,” she said.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunities that they provided, from collaborating with amazing directors and getting to meet cast members that I consider friends and getting to play a role that fans, especially children, love. But it also meant that I felt artistically stuck in my craft of not being able to expand or grow or challenge myself by playing different sorts of genres and different roles.”
Saldaña went on to discuss the pressure that Hollywood and society can put on women who have started a family and are in their 40s. However, she made it clear that she’s optimistic about the future of her career.
“Today, now that I’m 44, I’ve been able to have these opportunities, and I took control over my ageing and I took control over my voice and how I consider myself as a woman,” she explained.
“And I’m so happy that I’m able to collaborate with filmmakers and producers and people in this industry that want that for women, that want women to be ageless and who don’t fetishize women’s youth. And so it’s interesting. It’s really interesting.”
Earlier this month, Saldaña stated that she “wouldn’t be upset” if Gamora doesn’t feature in future Guardians Of The Galaxy films, primarily because she’s not a fan of the five-hour make-up sessions.
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Chris Edwards
NME
