Apparently it’s not considered “cool” in some Hollywood circles to be an actor in a Marvel or comic book movie.
Zoe Saldana, who is known for playing Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel Studios, calls out “elitists” within the industry who look down upon acting in comic book flicks and science-fiction films.
“I’ve been in rooms with people in this industry who are great at what they do, but they’re absolutely elitist and they look down at movies like the Marvel films or actors like myself,” Saldana tells Net-A-Porter. “They think we’re selling out in some way. Every time they speak I feel so disappointed in them, because whenever you see pictures of people in this industry who donate their time to children in need, it’s these actors that live in the world that you feel is selling out.”
Zoe Saldana also plays Neytiri in the Avatar films and Lieutenant Uhura in the Star Trek movies.
“It’s these actors that understand the role that they play inspires a five-year-old who has one dying wish to meet a superhero,” Saldana continues. “That actor takes time out of their life and sits down with that five-year-old and says, ‘I see you, I hear you, and you matter,’ Those elitists should be a little more cognizant about what playing a superhero means to a young child. Because you’re not just dissing me, you’re dissing what that child considers important in their world.”
Zoe Saldana adds she isn’t ashamed of the roles.
“I feel so proud to be living in space, to be playing aliens, to inspire, primarily, the younger generations. I remember what it was like to be young and to feel completely excluded out of the mainstream conversation of life because I was just little and unimportant and ‘other.’ I work with filmmakers who gravitated to this genre because they were exiles in their own right, excluded from a mainstream conversation,” she said. “They found their world and they were able to imagine the unimaginable. Everything about how they create, and how they invite characters to join them, is absolutely inclusive.”
Zoe Saldana continues with mentions of inspirations of her own.
“As a child, when I saw Sigourney Weaver play Ellen Ripley or Linda Hamilton play Sarah Connor, they were my true north, because I loved action, I loved science-fiction, and I loved the roles that they played,” she said. “They were inspiring to me I wanted that. It wasn’t until I started in my own career that I was reminded that I wasn’t ‘like’ them.”
Sounds like we’re back in high school, doesn’t it?
I wonder how many of these “elite” movies would get made if the studios weren’t making money from comic book films and science-fiction movies?
Look for Zoe Saldana this month in The Avengers: Infinity War, out April 27th.
