Zoe Saldana may have starred in the highest grossing film ever, Avatar, but the young actress still seeks validation from filmmakers and suffers near nervous breakdowns. Zoe covered several magazines this month including Flaunt, Women’s Health and Latina where the excerpts below were taken.
On coming close to a total breakdown: “I was in Paris training for Colombiana, sitting in my hotel room, and I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t stay awake. I must have slept for an entire month. It took me the rest of the year, even as I was working and shooting Colombiana, to pick myself up. Thank God my family was there.”
On the post-Avatar effect: “I just want the best filmmakers in the world to tell me, ‘You’re good, kid, you’re legit.’ The recognition will never get old, and I’ll never get accustomed to it. I don’t ever want to, because that will mean I’m taking it for granted. That’s why I work, not for the luxuries or the awards.”
On the simple joys of life: “I just stay at home and do absolutely nothing. When I was younger, that would have made me feel like such a failure. Now that I’m older, I know what it means to shut down. I don’t shower if I don’t want to. I don’t answer e-mails. It’s a healthy way of being selfish. You know you’re old when gardening, the Food Network and voice notes from your nieces and nephews blow your mind.”
On her small circle of friends: “If you surround yourself with good people, if you’re having a bad day — which everyone does — they will protect you, and it will never reach any kind of surface. But if you surround yourself with people who don’t really love you and care for you, they’ll be the first ones to expose you. That’s dangerous.”
Zoe Saldana will star in Colombiana out in theaters August 26th. Zoe’s reluctance to thrust herself into the limelight may be why she’s not landing covers on top tier magazines while other actresses with no films in the near future are on covers – this means you Gwyneth Paltrow.
