Zoe Saldaña at Locarno: 'Give Me That Camera,' Ready to Direct
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- Zoe Saldaña received a Special Honorary Pardo at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland and spoke with festival director Giona Nazzaro about her career and future ambitions.
- Saldaña told the Locarno audience she's ready to direct, saying "Give me that camera!" after years of acting under James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, and Gore Verbinski.
- Saldaña holds the record as the actor whose films have grossed the most money ever and won an Academy Award for "Emilia Pérez."
- Saldaña said watching "The Terminator" at age 7 shaped her ambition, crediting James Cameron for giving Sarah Connor a purpose that "spoke volumes" to her as a child.
- Saldaña slammed the press conference pattern where the only woman or person of color is asked the political "inclusivity" question rather than about their craft, telling the audience: "You don't ask the only person that comes from the marginalized community."
- Saldaña teased a directing project — a post-war San Francisco family drama about a veteran whose wife suspects he is gay, told through a family of color, pitched as "a 'Far from Heaven' but with a family of color that we've never seen before."
Why it matters: Saldaña is the highest-grossing film actor ever and a recent Oscar winner saying she's ready to direct, making her one of the few A-list actresses positioned to negotiate a major directing deal — potentially before the fourth "Avatar." Her pointed critique of being sidelined for political questions on diverse panels underscores a publicity pattern she says still dominates the press junket circuit.
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