If there’s one role that 31-year-old actress Zoe Saldana was meant to play, it is that of a leading lady. In the 2009 sci-fi flick Star Trek, she was nearly the only girl on set and had everyone’s hearts racing as a sexy chief. Fast forward to this year’s history-making blockbuster Avatar, she studied martial arts to hold her own in another planet. Rather than appearing as a damsel in distress, she commits to DC comics-based movie The Losers, where she stars as Aisha, a mysterious, yet irresistible operative who gives a group of specialists the ride of their lives. With a ballet-trained figure, flawless chocolate skin, and a camera-ready smile, you would think that the Queens-born Dominicana would be just another Hollywood eye candy. However, Saldana has one mean bite and she’s not afraid to use it.
“Since I was very little I was never Snow White for Halloween or Cinderella. I was Sarah Conner, Ellen Ripley, or a ninja,” reveals Saldana. “I’m like a little terminator.” In her latest film The Losers, Saldana instantly knew that she was ready to be both deadly and desirable with a gun in hand, even if it meant risking her life with jaw-dropping stunts. “The character just blew my mind because of the physical behavior that was going to be required of whoever was going to play Aisha. It represented itself as a challenge, to be really seductive,” she says. “I really wanted to explore what it would have been like to play a bad ass chica.”
Saldana, who casually jokes with the other Latin reporters present at a roundtable, gushes over another reason why she chose to be part of The Losers: to discover her heritage while filming in the “island of enchantment.” Saldana, who lived in the Dominican Republic for seven years, also shares Puerto Rican roots from her mother’s side and was ecstatic to visit the Caribbean where she felt right at home. Despite keeping tight-lipped on her private life, she just couldn’t help, but reminisce over spending time with la familia. “We just immediately go back to our Latino ways!” she exclaims, holding back a hearty laugh. “You have a beer at four o’clock in the afternoon with your mom and then you have a cafecito with your neighbors. After that, you end up at La Placita where you have dinner and dance in the park.”
Saldana, famous for swearing like a sailor and declaring her love of sex, stays on her best behavior, even addressing one rumor that has spread throughout the Internet. While she prefers the comfort of men’s clothing, Saldana isn’t afraid to embrace her feminine side. However, you won’t spot this tomboy getting a pedicure on a Friday or as she calls it “losing her mind” in front of paparazzi, as some socialites and pop stars have become infamous for. Aware that she’s a role model to other Latinas, Saldana insists that with the help of family and friends, she won’t do anything outrageous to tarnish her growing reputation as Hollywood’s new it-girl.
While she enjoys being an action heroine and getting men to fall on their knees with her karate chops, Saldana wouldn’t mind finding love with the right guy, in the big screen that is. “The only way that I can keep expanding as an artist is by doing things that are different from the last,” says Saldana. “I watch romantic comedies. I hate to say it and I feel super corny when I do, but they get to me! I’m such a geek, there’s nothing cool about me. I love science fiction and I climb trees. I was always that kind of girl.”
