Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is in theaters everywhere May 5th
Zoe Saldana was so excited to see a room full of successful women as we applauded her performance as Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. She walked in beaming (and looking flawless I might add) and we knew this was going to be a great interview.
Check out my spoiler-free review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
Zoe Saldana reprises her role as Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (in theaters May 5th) and couldn’t be happier with the new story, especially around Gamora’s relationship with her sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), along with all of the “girl power” with new characters. She also had a bit to say about her co-star Chris Pratt (check out my interview with Star-Lord).
On Girl Power
“I was very excited, there were three female characters in this movie, and they all were going to provide three different essences. Like, ’cause Mantis (Pom Klementieff) is such an innocent creature, and Nebula’s so angry… she’s so angry…. And Gamora is so maternal. She’s turned over this new leaf. In the first movie, she was so selfish. It was about running away from her father. And now it’s about keeping this family together, you know, and keeping them always on track. So she went the opposite of who she was in the first movie.”
On Icons and Being an Icon
“I was little, I only had two icons that I can reference (as inspiration for Gamora), and I’d watch those movies until my tape would break. It was Ellen Ripley from Aliens, and Sarah Connor from Terminator. And I would watch these movies endlessly. And then it was Jamie Lee Curtis, when Katherine Bigelow (director) did that movie, Blue Steel, and James Cameron also did that movie, True Lies. I had her as a reference. But other than that, I was always like, watching action movies told through the eyes of males, but always feeling that gap, that void. And I feel like I did take it upon myself to just be happy with the fact that I took a gamble on these movies for a first time, they ended up being super special, and they went into, into sequels. I had my responsibility to fulfill them. But once I was there, I didn’t want to be better about it. I wanted to acknowledge that maybe, maybe it means something. Maybe it is important that I’m a part of those women that are filling in that gap, so that women can have more options, more references to look into.”
On Stunt Work
“There is a jump that I did. They made me jump from like, three stories or something. I was on wires. I still can’t remember if somebody told me or somebody forgot to tell me that I was going to free fall. I was not going to feel the tension on the wires. So when they said action, and I jumped, because obviously I don’t like to take my time, there’s so many men watching you. I jumped. I jumped, and thought I was dying. And then James Gunn was like, ‘yeah, your face was kind of awful there. You have to do it again.’ And I was just like, oh my god. So I did it again. But as soon as I land, I was like, I don’t want to do this again. It was awful, but super fun.”
On Gamora and Peter Quill
So, Gamora and Quill are, they’re best friends. The bond that they have is so spiritually dynamic, I feel like it lives better, and it’s stronger, in the way that they communicate, and the way that they counsel each other, and the way that they think and protect each other. And then the way that they cover up for each other. The fact that he has never exposed her to the rest of the Guardians, that she dances with him, is awesome. He’s protecting her dignity. And he also knows that she’ll kill him.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is in theaters everywhere May 5th
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duGqrYw4usE
