Zoe Saldaña was tired of high-budget franchises. Saldaña is best known for playing the role of Neytiri in the Avatar film series and Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her films have grossed more than $11 billion worldwide.
According to the actress (44), she felt artistically stuck by the franchise, and due to this, she cannot commit to different sorts of genres and different roles. The Avatar sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” was released in theaters on December 16, 2022, and is now available on digital platforms.
In an interview with WWD, Saldaña said, “I feel that for the last 10 years of my life, I’ve been stuck. I felt stuck doing these franchises.” She added, “I’m very grateful for the opportunities that they provided, from collaborating with amazing directors to getting to meet cast members that I consider friends to getting to play a role that fans, especially children, love. But it also meant that I felt artistically stuck in my craft, not being able to expand, grow, or challenge myself by playing different sorts of genres and different roles. So this is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and I’ve been wrestling with the pressure that society puts on women that their youth is gone as soon as they have children and reach their forties.”
Saldaña also praised the fact that she is still getting opportunities at the age of 44. She said, “But today, now that I’m 44, I’ve been able to have these opportunities, and I took control over my aging and I took control over my voice and how I consider myself as a woman. And I’m so happy that I’m able to collaborate with filmmakers and producers and people in this industry that want that for women, that want women to be ageless, and who don’t fetishize women’s youth. And so it’s interesting. It’s really interesting.”
Avatar: The Way of Water is the second installment in the Avatar franchise. Directed by James Cameron, the film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, and Matt Gerald, who reprise their roles from the original film. The plot follows, “Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water tells the story of the Sully family, the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.”
Saldaña is also returning to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is slated for May 5, 2023. The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone, Will Poulter, Chukwudi Iwuji, and Maria Bakalova.
Source: WWD
