No stranger to blockbuster franchises,
Guardians of the Galaxy and
Avengers: Infinity War star Zoe Saldana has also graced the big screen in other massively successful films such as
Avatar and the rebooted
Star Trek series. And despite starring in such incredibly prosperous movies, Saldana believes she hasn’t earned the respect of some of her Hollywood peers.
It seems the actress has finally had it with hearing from Hollywood "elitists" that Marvel actors have sold out. The actress says she doesn’t get the same recognition as her peers in the film industry because they look down on superhero and action films.
Saldana responded to what she describes as industry elitists in an interview with Net-A-Porter‘s digital magazine.
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. 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.
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. 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.
By playing roles like Gamora in the Marvel Universe, Saldana feels a connection to her young fans. The actress is able to identify with young fans who look up to her now because she too looked to action movies to find heroes when she was young, as she later explains.
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. 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.
Saldana explained that it was the women who starred in action and science fiction films when she was young who inspired her to become an actor, but it wasn’t until she started her career in the film industry that she received a reminder that she was considered different.
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. 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.
What do you think about Saldana's comments? Do you think actors, like Saldana, and the film's they star in deserve more recognition?