Exclusive: As Zoe Saldana receives Oscar buzz for her performance in Emilia Pérez, she reflects on how the Netflix drama has changed her approach in the industry
Zoe Saldana is undoubtedly one of the queens of Hollywood. Best known for her roles in major franchises including Neytiri in Avatar, Gamora in the MCU, and Uhura in Star Trek, she's currently the highest grossing actress of all-time - which is quite the record to hold.
However, over the years Saldana has been longing to return to her roots, seizing that opportunity with the critically acclaimed Netflix musical drama Emilia Pérez, in which she plays frustrated lawyer Rita, who is hired by a feared cartel leader to help them transition into a woman.
Director Jacques Audiard's all-singing and all-dancing Spanish-language tale is certainly bold, also demanding a lot from Saldana. But as the actor tells GamesRadar+ when catching up on a stormy December afternoon over Zoom, she wasn't at all intimidated by the concept. In fact the opposite was true, with the opportunity feeling like something she had always been waiting for, having started out as a trained dancer with Spanish being one of her native tongues.
As Saldana tells us, Emilia Pérez is a "full circle" moment for her, even if perhaps when signing onto the project that wasn't something she was immediately conscious of: "It feels like everything had been brought back full circle in my life. These were elements that I was unconsciously and directly yearning for, needing back, because they are important. Thanks to dance, I'm here today."
Continuing, Saldana adds that she has come close to opportunities like this before, but they never quite worked out. Emilia Pérez then was a long time coming, but Saldana is grateful she had to wait for it: "In the past, I've come really close to moments like this. I remember I auditioned for Rent when I was a teenager, and there were other films that were musicals that I auditioned for, that I was being considered for. But I'm so happy that finally, full circle came in the form of Emilia Pérez."
Having now starred in a Spanish language movie, Saldana is keen to "pursue" these international films more "actively now", adding that if she ever masters Italian, she would like to perhaps explore that too one day. But is she interested in starring in more musicals after the success of Emilia Pérez? If you've seen the film, you will be well aware that Saldana really can sing and dance, but the actor warns that it may be a while until we see her doing just that again.
Opening up to GamesRadar+, she is keen to emphasize that unlike with Spanish language movies, she isn't directly looking to star in more musicals. However, if both the story and filmmaker are right, she won't be saying no: "I've always been really particular about story and filmmaker. So, if it comes with all the requirements that I need to thrive and give the best of myself, why not?
"But I don't think I'm going to actively look for that. If another fantastic filmmaker comes with a great vision and it's aligned with me, and I have what it takes to add to the project, then why not."
Speaking to Saldana, it's clear that who the filmmaker is behind a project is of vital importance to her. In fact, it's everything. Reflecting on her vast and impressive filmography, Saldana notes that there's only two movies that she's really proud of: Emilia Pérez and the original Avatar movie. That may at first seem like a strange statement given Saldana's tremendous body of work, but she explains that these two films stand out because of how collaborative the directors were, that being Audiard and James Cameron respectively.
Both of those filmmakers really allowed Saldana to not only express her ideas, but actually bring them to life. As she tells us, that level of collaboration is a rare experience: "On Avatar I really felt that a lot of my input, everything that I experimented with that character was used and appreciated. Then once again on Emilia Pérez, Jacques [Audiard] and I had that rapport. He provided such a safe environment where he just saw me for me and that felt really good. As quirky as I am, as eccentric as I come, as passionate, as Latina as I could communicate myself, it all landed with him and it was well received. That compelled me to remain open and not get in my head, create just from a place of love for what we were doing."
Not only did that allow Saldana to give her best performance, but she feels that through these collaborations she learnt a lot about herself too and her ways of working: "It made me realize so many things about myself. I am very opinionated, I'm very eccentric, I'm very passionate, and I probably just need to align myself with filmmakers that aren't so precious about their vision and have a much more collaborative approach. I feel like they get better versions of myself."
Saldana believes this is why she has felt let down by other movies she has worked on in the past, as the directors failed to collaborate with the star and push her to give her best possible performance. Remaining as humble as ever though, Saldana shifts the blame onto herself, saying that she wants to learn from this: "I think I just have to accept who I am as a creative person, versus judge who others are in their creative process. I've worked with incredibly talented filmmakers who know exactly what they want and I've been disappointed with the experience, but in reality, I should be disappointed in myself that I didn't have the ability to adapt and still give 120% and feel proud of it."
Although Saldana is already incredibly proud of her work in Emilia Pérez, speaking about the Oscar buzz her magnificent performance is already receiving, she admits that it would be "a dream""to receive an Academy Award nomination. That's clearly something that's been on the mind of her much admired collaborator Cameron, who recently said that it "makes no sense" why Saldana hasn't been nominated yet for her performance as Neytiri in the Avatar movies, putting it down to the fact the Academy isn't impressed as it's a "CG character".
Putting this comment to Saldana for her thoughts, she says it only makes her respect the filmmaker even more. The star also adds that it doesn't just apply to her, but her co-stars too including Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington, saying: "I love him more for it, he's such a proud papa, of all of us. I know that he feels the same way about Sigourney especially with her performance in The Way of Water. This woman was able to put all of her theatrical education and skills to work by being a woman of a certain age playing a teenager. She did it so beautifully, she was just magnificent to watch, her process and everything. Then Jake Sully who Sam brings to life... It means a lot coming from someone like him."
If Saldana does indeed receive an Oscar nomination for Emilia Pérez, it's something that has been a long time coming. And look it's not just us saying that, but James Cameron too, so that's the truth.