Zoe Saldana has had an interesting 20-year career in Hollywood. From Avatar to Guardians of the Galaxy, she’s had the opportunity to play characters whose storylines do not center around the Black woman ‘s experience.
While promoting her upcoming animation film, Missing Link, Saldana told ESSENCE that she’s “really proud” of the choices she’s made in her career.
“I felt that by avoiding being boxed in by people’s one-dimensional perceptions of me, I ended up creating so much more opportunities for myself,” she explained. “And I also ended up playing characters where I’m not just someones daughter, or someone’s wife, or someone’s girlfriend, or someone’s muse.”
Despite her confidence, Saldana revealed that like many first-generation immigrants, she’s struggled with creating one complete identity that encompasses both worlds. While her father is Dominican, her mother is Puerto Rican.
“When I was growing up,” she began,” I did live like this dual life where was 100% my heritage and I was 100% this new world, which was the United States. And at times I felt really divided and exhausted because I felt like I had to be super present in both places.”
As for conversation around Avengers: End Game, Saldana claimed that she has no clue on whether her character Gamora will appear in the upcoming Marvel film.
“I’m excited. I don’t even know what’s going to happen. I hope it’s not the end for me,” she said. “I really like being a part of the Marvel universe, but I don’t know. I’m really looking forward to watching it.”
Missing Link is in theaters Friday.
