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"Zoe Saldaña"
Update: 2024-12-02
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Escape [room] with us and our Triple-A, Zoe Saldaña. The Universal Language, Scientists, Animals & Children, The Volume, and gelato every day. To your point, welcome in… it’s an all-new SmartLess.
Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early.
Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
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Transcript
00:00:00
(upbeat music)
00:00:02
- So hello, here, this is a cold open to our upcoming episode of "Smartless."
00:00:12
- The cold open is Jason, the cold open is.
00:00:14
- We do a little bit of banter.
00:00:16
- Have we prepared anything?
00:00:17
Have we prepared anything?
00:00:18
- I think we just get a suggestion from the audience.
00:00:20
Where's it?
00:00:21
- There's gonna be great suggestions.
00:00:22
- Bananas.
00:00:23
- Bananas is the prompt, right?
00:00:27
- It makes me think of what it makes me think of.
00:00:30
- Is he breakfast?
00:00:32
- Breakfast?
00:00:33
- Welcome to "Smartless."
00:00:35
- Terrible.
00:00:35
- Terrible cold open.
00:00:37
- "Smartless."
00:00:39
- "Smartless."
00:00:40
- "Smartless."
00:00:45
- "Smartless."
00:00:46
- "Smartless."
00:00:51
- Hey, Sean?
00:00:55
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:00:56
- I'd like to say to the listening world.
00:00:58
- I did go recently with me and Scottie and two other friends to an escape room.
00:01:03
And it was, have you ever been?
00:01:05
Have you ever been?
00:01:06
- Was it inside your house?
00:01:07
- Well, you know, you know why I haven't been?
00:01:08
Because you know who went to an escape room this weekend?
00:01:10
- Your gnash for a seventh birthday.
00:01:12
- Couldn't get in.
00:01:14
There were too many seventh graders in there.
00:01:17
- You know what else gnashes into?
00:01:19
- Light sabers.
00:01:20
- That's right.
00:01:21
- Star Wars.
00:01:22
- But let me tell you the, but I like the problem solving of escape rooms.
00:01:25
You have a mirror close by.
00:01:26
I need you to look in the mirror right now.
00:01:28
I need you to fucking have a conversation with yourself right now.
00:01:32
And so fucking dude, I blew it.
00:01:35
- Have you ever done it?
00:01:36
- You blew it!
00:01:38
- I've ever done it.
00:01:39
I don't think I have.
00:01:40
I know my-- - Yes, I have.
00:01:42
- I've tried all that, yes.
00:01:44
- Well, with your kids though, right?
00:01:45
- Yeah, I did it with the kids, but I will say it's really fun and it's hard.
00:01:49
- Collecting.
00:01:50
- I just hang out.
00:01:51
- Here's part of the other thing that people don't understand.
00:01:53
- Because I haven't done one in years, and it was great.
00:01:56
- It is that, well, you were in that real right, when you were in some guy, he built the thing in his basement and you tried to put you in there, you were in there for like 18 months or some shit.
00:02:05
- I would have gotten you in here.
00:02:07
- That was, that was consensual.
00:02:09
- Hey, where could I go?
00:02:10
- Oh.
00:02:11
- Wasn't there something that he wanted you to put lotion in the basket or something?
00:02:16
What happened with that?
00:02:18
- Yes, I'm telling you was consensual.
00:02:19
- Forget the detail.
00:02:20
Remember you telling me once.
00:02:22
- Anyway, that's an escape room.
00:02:24
- But I will say that we like to give each other a shit 'cause I was thinking about, I give you shit, I rip on it like, no, it's for fucking kids and blah, and of course, I've done it myself.
00:02:32
And so then people sometimes are go like, you guys are just too mean or whatever.
00:02:36
I'm like, oh, yeah, we're fucking around.
00:02:37
- Yeah, yeah.
00:02:39
- You know what?
00:02:40
I really enjoyed what the kids is laser tag.
00:02:42
Have you guys done those ones?
00:02:43
- Yes, I have.
00:02:44
- I have.
00:02:44
- I won with a bunch of 12 year olds, I won.
00:02:47
- Yeah, no, no, here comes Sean again with another adult play date.
00:02:50
- I did it with Bella Bajaria for her birthday.
00:02:53
- You did it with Bella.
00:02:54
Netflix's greatest Bella Bajaria.
00:02:56
- Yeah, yeah, we did it for her birthday one year.
00:02:58
- Come on.
00:02:58
- Yeah, it was my call.
00:03:00
- That was a long time ago.
00:03:01
- It was really fun.
00:03:02
Remember we were like, everybody was like super hip street and it was like, hey, we're gonna go and do kickball.
00:03:06
Adult kickball league.
00:03:07
Then we're gonna go to laser tag and then we wanna drive like old BMX bikes.
00:03:11
- Yeah.
00:03:12
- I've got an ironic bicycle, do you have an ironic bicycle?
00:03:15
Like, you know what I mean?
00:03:17
- Wait, did you do paintball?
00:03:18
- I did my oldest brother, Dennis, for his wedding.
00:03:21
I was the best man.
00:03:22
- Oh, yeah.
00:03:23
- You know what?
00:03:24
- I did paintball training for a movie once.
00:03:27
- Paintball.
00:03:27
- Yeah, when we did Kingdom, we had to go out and do paintball fights.
00:03:31
And it was really, really scary getting hunted by someone.
00:03:35
- I was talking to the kids when paintballing last week.
00:03:37
I was just talking to them on the way to school today about paintball.
00:03:40
- It's fun, right?
00:03:40
- I've never done it.
00:03:41
I've always wanted to do it.
00:03:43
- Oh, it's really painful.
00:03:44
- I killed somebody with a real gun.
00:03:45
- Oh, well, that's a very good question.
00:03:47
- Let's get to the guest.
00:03:48
Let's get to the guest.
00:03:49
- I do want to get to the guest.
00:03:52
Let's get to the guest.
00:03:53
- I want to get to the guest too, but hang on.
00:03:54
I just want to say what, here's the thing.
00:03:57
I was just going to go on a couple of things about, do we have a segment yet called Just Stuff I Hate?
00:04:02
Or should we?
00:04:03
- Yeah, we absolutely should.
00:04:05
- Pretty kind of unofficially covered every week with you, but, um.
00:04:08
- Yeah, thank you.
00:04:08
- Thank you.
00:04:09
- In the body of the show.
00:04:11
- It's a new expression that I'm adding to story teller, which is everywhere you go now.
00:04:18
And I think it started in the golf world, I think, but it's everywhere, which it, and it drives me fucking crazy.
00:04:24
Welcome in.
00:04:25
- Oh, this is welcome in.
00:04:27
- Frazes that we'd like to never hear again.
00:04:29
Yeah, I heard people say welcome in.
00:04:31
- I have.
00:04:32
- You go, but they go welcome in.
00:04:34
Why are we saying in?
00:04:35
Just say, well, if you, if you feel the need to say, just say welcome.
00:04:39
- Right.
00:04:40
- To that I have that I don't like is because I watch a lot I watch a lot of football now as you know.
00:04:44
- Have a day.
00:04:45
- Have a day is, is, well, I said this the other day when all the notes as I was go, and we got some play action.
00:04:51
They like just saying play action.
00:04:53
Just say they have the ball or whatever they do.
00:04:55
- I brought that up to, to our friend that we did the show with Jay, we brought that up to Peyton Manning last week.
00:05:01
- Yeah.
00:05:02
- Yeah.
00:05:03
- I brought up that I said that you hated the, that they, they overused play actions.
00:05:07
- Play action, yeah.
00:05:08
- Yeah.
00:05:08
And then when you're on a, when you're on a flight, they go, status cross check, cross check and cross check.
00:05:15
- Cross check.
00:05:16
- Cross check.
00:05:17
- Yes.
00:05:18
- Is the doors secure or not?
00:05:19
- Yeah.
00:05:20
- Yeah.
00:05:21
- How about, how about door?
00:05:21
- You know what I'm glad they're not saying much more, much anymore is touch base.
00:05:26
- Yeah.
00:05:27
- Let me touch base.
00:05:28
- Yeah, by the way, yeah.
00:05:29
I'm gonna touch, I'll circle back.
00:05:31
I'm gonna circle back.
00:05:31
- Circle back or in the theater world, they say, oh, it's in a great space.
00:05:36
Oh, we found a great space to do that.
00:05:38
- If we're gonna go deep, if we're gonna go deep, these days, A, welcome in, again, welcome in.
00:05:44
I guess it feels kind of folksy, but the other thing that has exploded in the last couple of years, has, well, for the five years before it was, people all of a sudden discovered that we're narrative who didn't know it and they use it over use it.
00:05:57
- That's true, that's true.
00:05:58
- But the other one is, to your point, everybody go, to this point.
00:06:02
- Oh, but I say it all the time on this show.
00:06:04
- I know you say it a lot.
00:06:05
You sound like a moron.
00:06:05
And it's been you, you do, and it is so over-used as well.
00:06:16
- The one that's very overused now is right.
00:06:19
They will, very educated people will be telling a story and we're going along, right?
00:06:24
And blah, blah, blah, right?
00:06:26
And it's like, no, you don't need to keep pulling me along with, right, I'm with you, I'm nodding.
00:06:31
We don't need the-- - I'm holding me along.
00:06:32
I think that that's been around for a while, though.
00:06:34
I feel like.
00:06:35
- It's, we use much, much, much more often now.
00:06:38
- My God, you guys, we have to get to this.
00:06:39
- Yes, we're going to get you in a second.
00:06:41
- Yeah, okay.
00:06:42
- So I know that I complain a lot and all of that shit drives me crazy and I'm sorry.
00:06:48
So thank you for bringing, however, you know, it doesn't drive me crazy.
00:06:51
You know, I'm really excited about it.
00:06:53
So you know what I'm going to say.
00:06:54
- Uh-oh.
00:06:55
- It's the new smartness media.
00:06:58
- Clueless.
00:06:58
- Clueless.
00:06:59
- It's a new show.
00:07:00
- Don't leave me a new podcast.
00:07:01
- I'll set you up.
00:07:03
- I know, but I wanted to give it to you.
00:07:06
Could it be called a podlet?
00:07:07
- Oh, it's a podlet.
00:07:08
- Oh, it is.
00:07:09
- It's only like 10 minutes long.
00:07:10
- Yes, it's a great podlet, Jason.
00:07:12
You are, I would-- - This is Mewchu right now.
00:07:14
- So this is a new podlet.
00:07:16
- We'll call it smartlet.
00:07:17
- Just have a million little kids and-- (laughing)
00:07:21
- I want to smooch you.
00:07:22
- So, yeah, so that's great.
00:07:24
It's a podlet.
00:07:25
It is called smartlet presents Clueless and it's a bite-sized, twice-weekly puzzle pod.
00:07:30
There's a bunch of puzzles.
00:07:31
Like, if you like, wordle and stuff like that and The New York Times, Crossroads Reptile, you'll love this.
00:07:36
They're 10 to 12 minute podlets.
00:07:38
It's really fun.
00:07:39
The host is Aliet Kaylen.
00:07:42
He's the former head writer of The Daily Show, with John Stewart.
00:07:45
- Yeah.
00:07:46
- So you're the permanent contestant or the permanent host?
00:07:48
- Permanent contestant.
00:07:49
- You're permanent contestant and then other contestants come in.
00:07:51
They work in conjunction with you.
00:07:54
- And you guys were, did the first-- - We did it.
00:07:57
- Yes.
00:07:58
- I was kind of clueless about what it was about until I got on it.
00:08:00
- Yeah, very, very, very nice.
00:08:02
- So every Monday and Thursday, don't miss the fun.
00:08:05
You can subscribe to clueless wherever you get your podcast.
00:08:07
Anyway, let's get on to the guest.
00:08:09
- Smartless, yeah.
00:08:11
- My guest today, this is very exciting.
00:08:14
This is a long time coming for me.
00:08:15
Huge fan.
00:08:16
My guest today is a box office powerhouse.
00:08:18
I refer to her as the triple A actress.
00:08:20
I'll explain in a little bit.
00:08:22
In the early 2000s, you might remember her as a ballet dancer, trying to get picked for the American ballet Academy in New York City or from taking a cross-country road trip with Britney Spears, huh?
00:08:32
Anything?
00:08:32
However, her recent notable characters are mostly blue and green in complexion, and I can't wait for the new movie to come out.
00:08:38
I can't wait to talk about it.
00:08:39
And although she herself is hip and cool, every scythe I nerd like me knows who she is.
00:08:44
It's the magnetic, the most incredible Zoysel Donia.
00:08:47
Oh, he's self-signed, yeah.
00:08:51
Hello there.
00:08:53
Good morning.
00:08:54
I'm so excited.
00:08:55
This is so exciting for me.
00:08:57
First of all, it was exciting to listen to you guys talk.
00:08:59
I was like mesmerizing with the formal conversation.
00:09:02
- We were always nervous that we're like, the person is sitting there thinking, like these guys are ding dong.
00:09:08
- Hey, I'm so excited to see Amelia Perez.
00:09:12
I haven't seen it tomorrow.
00:09:15
- Well, should we watch it tonight?
00:09:18
- Can you have it?
00:09:19
Yes.
00:09:20
- Oh my God, please watch it tonight.
00:09:22
- Okay, and then where should we email our notes?
00:09:26
'Cause you guys aren't locked yet, right?
00:09:27
(laughing)
00:09:30
- We'll get them to you just in time.
00:09:31
- You guys can do pickups, right?
00:09:33
- I'll give you my email and then you can, I'll forward it to Jack.
00:09:37
Actually, I'll give you Jack O'D.R.'s email.
00:09:39
And you can send it to him.
00:09:41
Who will translate it to French though?
00:09:43
He doesn't speak English.
00:09:44
- Is that true?
00:09:45
Was all the communication via an interpreter during the film?
00:09:49
- Yes.
00:09:49
Yes, we had many interpreters and there were many languages spoken.
00:09:57
It was Spanish and English and French and some Italian.
00:10:02
- And are you bilingual?
00:10:03
Do you speak all of those?
00:10:04
- I'm kind of.
00:10:05
I was raised bilingual, but I'm kind of trilingual now 'cause my husband's Italian.
00:10:10
- Oh wow.
00:10:11
- And I picked it up after so many years.
00:10:13
- Wow.
00:10:14
- Also, always figuring out whether or not he was hustling me.
00:10:16
(laughing)
00:10:17
Because it's like, it's Italian's our hustlers.
00:10:19
(laughing)
00:10:20
It speaks flow, what is that?
00:10:23
No, but it was great.
00:10:24
But Jack is known for, you know, working outside of his language.
00:10:29
This is not the first foreign film that he's done.
00:10:33
He did a film called Deepon, which was with these Indian actors.
00:10:38
And then he did a film years before called a prophet.
00:10:41
And that was, that had some Arabic as well.
00:10:44
He's not defied by language.
00:10:45
He likes to kind of connect with human beings.
00:10:48
- Oh wow.
00:10:49
- You know, and challenge himself out, and you know, when it comes to whether or not they speak the same tongue, he just likes to find ways to communicate with people and connect with people.
00:10:58
- I love that.
00:10:59
- You know, that would be, don't you think that would be really difficult to gauge somebody's performance if it's not in your native tongue, right?
00:11:06
Because I mean, think about all the ways you can vary a reading of a line and the nuance of it.
00:11:12
And if you don't know the language that they're, it's hard to read intonation.
00:11:18
I can't, I don't know.
00:11:19
- Maybe, but here's the thing.
00:11:21
I think as somebody that speaks, you know, different languages, but also understanding that English is a very distinct,
00:11:32
you know, language.
00:11:33
I feel like that exists mainly in English, rather than like the romantic languages.
00:11:39
It's more of a feeling than the words, like, you know, like, - I was gonna say, right.
00:11:47
- It's hard to explain.
00:11:48
- Jason, I don't know if you've ever heard of this, but love is a universal language.
00:11:51
- Wait, what?
00:11:52
What's love?
00:11:53
Tell me more.
00:11:54
(laughing)
00:11:55
- I know, it's side dish.
00:11:57
- Yeah, why did you guys finish that?
00:11:59
- We shot it, we shot it summer of 2023.
00:12:04
- Okay.
00:12:05
- Oh wow.
00:12:06
- April, from April to like July, right?
00:12:08
And we wrapped right before the strike, like a couple of days before the strike.
00:12:13
- Are you so happy with it?
00:12:14
By the way, it's in my notes to get to, like, at the end of this interview, but we're talking about it now.
00:12:19
You, including three of your co-stars, one, the award and can for best performances, right?
00:12:25
It's pretty outstanding.
00:12:27
I can't wait to see this.
00:12:30
It looks, because I'm paper, I was reading the description, it was like, singing and dancing and this and that and other, but other like, storylines that I wanna give away, but like, it sounds incredible.
00:12:39
- Yeah, and there's like danger and like, a robbery or something too, right?
00:12:42
Or like, I mean, it's, it's got everything.
00:12:43
- You know, it dabbles in so many different genres and it doesn't stay in one place.
00:12:48
And I feel like that just feels fresh, you know?
00:12:52
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:12:52
- We all signed up to work with Jack O'Dear.
00:12:55
I've been a fan of his works as I was a teenager.
00:12:58
And he was, you know, one of those like top three directors in my bucket list that I thought would never happen.
00:13:03
- Right.
00:13:05
- When this opportunity came, it's like a niche of a niche movie.
00:13:08
It's in Spanish, it's a musical.
00:13:09
It centers around four women.
00:13:12
The main character goes through a major transition, you know, trying to find herself and everything about this felt dangerous and super risky.
00:13:24
So it was totally aligned with what I wanna do with who I feel like I am, you know, and I wanna reconnect with that part of me as an artist.
00:13:33
I didn't think that it was going to be seen by many, many people.
00:13:36
I just thought I was gonna scratch something out of my bucket list and it feels so happy that I collaborated with an amazing filmmaker.
00:13:43
Cannes was a surprise for us.
00:13:46
- Isn't that amazing?
00:13:47
- Yeah, it was that there.
00:13:48
Was it just like all like the pomp and circumstance of that festival and it was just like glamorous and fantastic all the way through it?
00:13:57
It must have been amazing.
00:13:57
- Yeah, well, I mean, and he is, you know, he's a fan favorite.
00:14:02
They're very proud of their own, you know.
00:14:05
So Cannes was a wonderful festival to premiere a media, but I think it's the movie.
00:14:10
I think this movie feels really important and it's audacious and it's provocative and it's a bit campy and melodramatic.
00:14:19
And those are things that I think audiences are wanting to have a little bit more of.
00:14:25
Sometimes films can be so linear and that makes them a little, I don't know, cold, sterile, you know.
00:14:32
Stories sometimes can get really sterile when you try to do everything right.
00:14:36
When did you throw everything away and you sort of go off script and you fall and you collaborate with your artist as opposed to sort of kind of being super stuck with a vision and this is the vision and this is the vision.
00:14:49
Jack sort of like is very much a traditional director but he's also a person that is yearning to connect with people, you know,
00:14:59
through cinema.
00:15:01
Otherwise, he would be locked up in his room like just reading.
00:15:04
That's he's an avid reader, he's an intellectual mind and he's a bit shy in social gathering.
00:15:10
So cinema and storytelling is the way that he kind of connects with the world and the way that he allows his artist and also every department to add to the story.
00:15:23
It just felt like an experiment and that within itself became the experience of Amelia Barrios for us.
00:15:31
- Wow, that's so cool.
00:15:33
- Yeah.
00:15:34
- And we will be right back and now back to the show.
00:15:41
- Zoe, you talk about bucket lists.
00:15:45
Where did that bucket list start for you?
00:15:47
Where and when, where were you when you decided that you wanted to be a performer?
00:15:52
- Um, it's funny.
00:15:56
I'm a Gemini, I live a very absent-minded life.
00:16:00
I don't, I don't make conscious decisions.
00:16:02
I just, I go with the flow.
00:16:04
I knew what I didn't want to do.
00:16:07
- But when, sorry, sorry, like, but where was that?
00:16:10
Like, where were you?
00:16:11
Where'd you grow up?
00:16:12
Like, where, the New York?
00:16:13
I was born in New York, I was born in Jersey, but I don't like to say that.
00:16:17
But because we're New Yorkers since 1961, like I'm a daughter of Emma Grant's and my grandma arrived there in 1961 and we're like Native New Yorkers, right?
00:16:26
So in New York partially and then at the age of 10, we moved to the Caribbean.
00:16:31
So we did sort of like the reverse migration.
00:16:33
We went back to where my family's from and I did, you know, my formative years, like, from 10 to 17, 10 to 18, I lived there.
00:16:41
And then we returned back to New York.
00:16:43
I think that my, the beginning of my bucket list happened unconsciously.
00:16:49
I must have been like six or seven and James Cameron was probably the first name there, along with like Steven Spielberg.
00:16:57
There were films that were very memorable to me when I was growing up because of the characters.
00:17:01
Like Sarah Connor was this character that just spoke to me.
00:17:05
She's just an Ellen Ripley.
00:17:07
Ellen Ripley spoke to me.
00:17:09
She was just this amazing woman that found ways to survive against these extraterrestrials that were looking to use her body, you know,
00:17:19
as a host.
00:17:20
And what a gamble for James at the time or for anybody to stick a woman in the lead of that with that with power, yeah, and strength.
00:17:26
And for Steven Spielberg, you know, the ET man, the shark man, to then, you know, direct the color purple and will be Goldberg.
00:17:35
This character became so, you know, when your little life is just bigger and brighter and more impactful.
00:17:43
So I think that, unconsciously, I was tapping into art in the way that films were just taking me with them, you know, and making,
00:17:53
building a reality for me that jet, that was healing, that was medicinal, you know, when I needed it, like, I was very much, I'm one of three girls,
00:18:04
but I'm a solitary person.
00:18:06
Like, I, you know, and maybe there's a little bit of, I'm on the spectrum of some sort, I guess, but in the '80s, nobody really talked about that, you know?
00:18:14
But my sisters are able to sustain relationships and with friends and function.
00:18:20
And I was sort of like this loner, you know, that was protected by my sisters, 'cause sometimes I would annoy people because of whatever, what was, you know, so art and storytelling became my go-to place,
00:18:35
you know, reading books and science fiction and watching films and being these characters, you know, became really real to me.
00:18:42
And it wasn't until I was a teenager and I kept clashing, my dad died when I was in line.
00:18:46
I'm telling you everything, I feel like chunk.
00:18:48
- This is great.
00:18:49
- From the goonies, you know?
00:18:51
- Everything, everything okay, I'll try.
00:18:54
(laughing)
00:18:55
- That's great.
00:18:57
- But now, you know, my dad died in my sisters and I were eight, nine, and ten.
00:19:01
And that was like a big, you know, life-changing sort of event in our lives.
00:19:06
And art became this healing sort of, you know, assistant to my mom and to us that really helped us.
00:19:14
So they did, my sisters became, like she painted and Sicily and I, my younger sister, and I, we started dancing ballet.
00:19:23
And that helped me sort of, art helped me just cope with, with shit, you know, 'cause life is hard when you're little, socializing, starting over in a new environment,
00:19:34
different language, different people, different culture.
00:19:36
Like that's always like a very big thing for kids.
00:19:40
- Yeah.
00:19:41
- And you said, I heard you say in an interview once that you, I don't know if you were joking or not, that you were kind of an arsonist at some point.
00:19:47
(laughing)
00:19:48
- Yes.
00:19:49
- That's it.
00:19:49
- What?
00:19:50
- That's true.
00:19:50
- Well, I have three boys and one of my boy, just lives on his own.
00:19:57
He's like this lone little wolf.
00:19:58
And I guess I feel kindred to him.
00:20:02
Yes, I would do, I would do weird shit that my mom, I think that my mom became an insomnia because of that I would wake up in the middle of the night.
00:20:11
I don't remember these things by the way.
00:20:13
Like she, now she's just jokingly mentioning them.
00:20:17
And I'm just like, well mom, that's some serious stuff.
00:20:18
She was like, I know, I know.
00:20:19
Like one time you just, you, I don't know if you were sleepwalking, you just turned on the hot water and you got in the tub and you burned yourself.
00:20:27
- Oh, geez.
00:20:28
- It was at two o'clock in the morning and she was just like, it's my kid crazy.
00:20:31
Like, am I not really addressing this?
00:20:33
Like is my kid off?
00:20:34
Like I would turn on toasters and or like, you know, like turn on the stove and boil an egg but I wouldn't put water in the pot.
00:20:43
I would just throw the eggs inside the pot.
00:20:45
I would like, I guess she said, and at one point you liked the way the eggs sounded when they broke inside the pot.
00:20:51
And I was like, how interesting.
00:20:54
So I have a little one that does that.
00:20:55
- Well, it was like sleep, it was probably sleepwalking now.
00:20:57
- Or just curious, just a naturally curious child that probably needed a lot of verbal communication in order for me to understand my sensations.
00:21:09
I was a sensory seeker.
00:21:10
I was always like, seeking things that cater to my ears and taste and my feelings.
00:21:18
It's just sensory seeking, I guess.
00:21:21
- I want to know, I think we all want to know how you started performing.
00:21:25
Like was it a school play or was it an inspiration from a show or a movie or something?
00:21:30
Like what was the thing that got you?
00:21:32
What was that first thing that got you going performing?
00:21:37
- I transitioned, I danced ballet for like 10 years and I realized that I couldn't break.
00:21:44
I couldn't shatter my glass ceiling.
00:21:45
I didn't have the feet and that became a very, just painful confession to tell yourself, you know?
00:21:55
But then it was like transition.
00:21:56
I love storytelling and I was able to tell stories of my body.
00:21:58
So I was in this little theater company in the city and I was I was I was playing this as potaphar from Joseph and the amazing type of music.
00:22:07
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:08
- And there was a manager there.
00:22:10
- I was about to sing all the song, go ahead.
00:22:13
- Joseph, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:15
- It was a great musical.
00:22:16
And there was a manager there and she signed me and I first started going to, like I would book commercials.
00:22:22
So my first gigs were doing, I did a Birken commercial two for two or something, juice, the two of us.
00:22:29
And I remember, I got my sad card from that commercial.
00:22:32
- Yeah, but that's big though.
00:22:33
I mean, that's a big, that's a big goal.
00:22:35
And that's, and that's when I knew, I'm like, one, I didn't wanna do commercials.
00:22:38
I knew then and I was like, I just wanna, I wanna act, I wanna, I wanna play characters.
00:22:42
I wanna tell stories.
00:22:43
I wanna be other people.
00:22:44
- Well, Zoe, the amount of big, huge budget spectacle films that you've done is, it sounds.
00:22:52
- Yeah, I mean, I don't know if anyone's done more.
00:22:56
- Well, Jason, I refer to you in the intro as the triple A actress, which means the top three movies of all time, you're starring in, which is Avatar,
00:23:06
Avatar the Way of Water, and Avengers.
00:23:09
You're probably the only actor in all three.
00:23:13
That's crazy.
00:23:14
- Today, today, I know that these records will always be-- - But then there's guardians and then there's, and then there's, and then like Star Trek.
00:23:23
- Even like the smaller films are cool, like, out of the furnace is one of my favorite movies of all time.
00:23:29
I just think it's just stunningly good.
00:23:32
- And center stage of love.
00:23:34
- Do you have a, I mean, I bet you'll say you like doing both, which I'm sure everybody would, but, you know, when you're on one of those big, huge movie sets, like you might not do much more than like a half a page over the course of a week,
00:23:46
right?
00:23:47
Where you're doing the smaller films, you're doing like five, six pages a day sometimes, and do you have a preference?
00:23:52
- Um, I mean-- - The big ones are exciting.
00:23:56
- I like everything.
00:23:57
I think that I'm gonna answer the way you were expecting, but, you know, Avatar was really special, in the sense that the way that we shoot it,
00:24:07
I wish people can understand that the technology does not substitute the performances.
00:24:16
It only supplements the performances, you know?
00:24:19
- Totally.
00:24:19
- And you got things sticking out of your head, and you're so real.
00:24:22
- I mean, you're like-- - And we go through months of training, because it's basically Jim Pink's, you know, those pixel, pixelated, you know, things over what we do.
00:24:34
So he's, it's not that we sit in a studio and we record like an animation.
00:24:39
Is it all the work that you do is the work that you see, you know, on Avatar?
00:24:45
And that form of acting is incredibly just exciting.
00:24:50
- Yeah.
00:24:52
- So what you guys do is, you'll stand and you will perform the scene and they will shoot it with a camera just like normal.
00:24:59
And then, and there's a question.
00:25:00
And then afterwards, they then take that real footage, which usually is the movie that we all see, but they take that footage, and then they create a digital version of your bodies,
00:25:14
and basically create effectively digitally animated characters from it?
00:25:19
- Yes, okay.
00:25:20
- But it's not an animator that is guessing, you know, or estimating how you're moving.
00:25:27
You know, it is your performance, because they have these reference cameras.
00:25:32
- Yeah.
00:25:33
- But Jim has also created this like, you know, this gimbal of a camera that is, it's in Pandora.
00:25:41
So when you're moving, there are all these big screens, let me know if I lose you.
00:25:46
When we're shooting in a set that we call the volume, and the reason why it's the volume is because all these cameras that are attached in the ceiling of our set are pointing all through this sort of square,
00:25:59
this space that's called the volume.
00:26:01
So once you're in and you have all these dots and you have to, you rom yourself in, so they enter you into the system.
00:26:08
- Yes, all these motion capture points on your body, yeah?
00:26:11
- And you're wearing this helmet that has these cameras here that are also then registering every single muscle on your face.
00:26:20
So they sink all of that information, and you then once you enter the volume, you're in Pandora on real time.
00:26:27
So you and I can be talking standing in the volume, and if we stare at the screens that he has all through the volume facing us, we're seeing ourselves as avatars in Pandora,
00:26:40
where we're standing.
00:26:41
So what he does is he documents everything, and his technicians that he works with people from Weta and New Zealand and he has people from all over the world,
00:26:55
but they're mainly here in Los Angeles and New Zealand.
00:26:59
They're just basically painting over what we're doing 'cause it's already in the system.
00:27:03
Does that make sense?
00:27:04
- Yeah, and is the overall goal of that as opposed to like, let's say in Star Wars, you have like a real person mixed into a later down this down the line created digital environments.
00:27:18
You have a real person in a created digital environment.
00:27:21
- Like a green screen.
00:27:22
- Right, an avatar is the reason that he's taking you and putting you into a digital form so that your digital form is in the same medium as the digitally created environment as well.
00:27:36
So there's no difference between the, say, a human body in a digital environment in Star Wars versus with this.
00:27:44
It's a digital form inside a digital environment.
00:27:48
So everything is the same in the medium.
00:27:50
Is that the reasoning?
00:27:52
- I think so.
00:27:53
You kind of put my mind there, I was like, oh my God, he's really taken it there.
00:27:58
- Yes, yes.
00:27:58
- What you're saying is what I'm understanding, then yes.
00:28:03
- Will you call me later and explain it to me?
00:28:05
What do you think?
00:28:07
- I'm just trying to put everything in the same thing, right?
00:28:10
- Yes.
00:28:11
- Well, Jim has always said that putting a human being with an animation always felt...
00:28:17
- Two different things.
00:28:18
- Unreal.
00:28:19
It looks different.
00:28:20
It's like a cool frame Roger Ravard.
00:28:22
Remember how it's Zemeckis, it's Zemeckis, right?
00:28:25
That's George Lucas.
00:28:27
Is it Zemeckis or Lucas that did Roger Ravard?
00:28:29
- Robert Zemeckis.
00:28:30
- Robert Zemeckis, thank you.
00:28:32
So these filmmakers have always been ahead of their time and they've always tried to sort of invent the technology that is able then to allow them to capture their vision.
00:28:43
Jim is that same.
00:28:44
I call them kind of scientists, 'cause they're inventing things that will later on down the line, just to evolve the way that we make films and the way that we view films,
00:28:55
right?
00:28:56
So for Jim, the challenge was to make a human being and an alien, an animated alien look as if they were in the same medium, yes.
00:29:05
So that was his goal and he achieved it with Avatar.
00:29:08
- And you're doing number four and number five right now?
00:29:11
- And yes, we finished three.
00:29:13
So now they're just, you know, they have a year now to basically render all of the information that we shot, everything that we shot.
00:29:20
- So how long did it take to shoot your scenes, the actor scenes?
00:29:24
- Well, I only play a Navi, I'm not an Avatar.
00:29:28
So ours is the shortest sort of shoot and it takes anywhere between five to seven months to shoot.
00:29:36
And then after that, then they go to New Zealand and they spend a year there sometimes shooting live action and they'll do the greens green and then they'll assemble the whole thing in the same medium.
00:29:48
And that takes a lot of time.
00:29:50
It's incredible.
00:29:51
- I mean, the first time I saw it, I have to say, you know, we're getting to your other movies other than just Avatar, but your portrayal of Neteerie is like,
00:30:01
it's so real.
00:30:03
And when I went in, I was like, what's this gonna be about?
00:30:06
I kind of like had a thing and I was like, you know, years and years ago when the first one came out.
00:30:10
And I was like, wow, that's like, that's Zoe being, like, being this person.
00:30:15
It was wild to see, wild to see.
00:30:18
Any credible?
00:30:19
- It's beautiful when actors collaborate with their filmmakers and that was the very first time that I had an experience where I was cast very early on in the process of putting the Navi together.
00:30:34
You know, in terms of how do they walk?
00:30:36
How do they speak?
00:30:37
What is the, how do they speak English with a Navi accent?
00:30:40
All these things, like, I was like, I was 27.
00:30:43
And working with my childhood dream of a director, the Sarah Conner creator, and he was allowing me to collaborate with bringing the Navi to life.
00:30:58
So I was working with Cirque du Soleil performers and dialect people and stun people.
00:31:05
Like, how do they fight?
00:31:06
How do they move?
00:31:07
Do you know that tail?
00:31:09
It's kind of like an extra limb.
00:31:11
It felt like going to school or being in a laboratory and can you see a brand new organ?
00:31:17
Like, you know, like, I didn't expect to feel is what I meant to say.
00:31:22
I didn't expect to feel as much as I felt.
00:31:24
I didn't expect to get emotional and you did it.
00:31:27
So, you know, it's just a feat.
00:31:28
- By the way, sidebar combined your sci-fi films have earned over $4 billion at the box office.
00:31:33
- It's for, oh my god.
00:31:34
- For a billion.
00:31:35
- Yeah.
00:31:35
- Yeah.
00:31:35
- And then I'm amazing.
00:31:36
- Hold on a big deal.
00:31:37
- Yeah, you're the only actor in history to start in four films that have crossed over $2 billion individually.
00:31:43
- Two?
00:31:44
- Can you even wrap your head around that?
00:31:46
- What did you say?
00:31:47
- She's the only actor in history to start in four films that have crossed over $2 billion individually.
00:31:52
- Wow.
00:31:53
- Jesus.
00:31:54
- Yeah.
00:31:55
- I like that you say start, that's really nice.
00:31:57
For half of those projects, I was a part of them, but I feel fortunate to know that I've been a part of great projects that appeal to massive audiences.
00:32:10
It gives me a sensation of connection.
00:32:14
I'm connecting with human beings, that even though I will never ever meet them, I'm connected to them somehow through the stories that impact them, that impact me by being a part of,
00:32:24
you know?
00:32:25
And, you know, I've always said this.
00:32:27
It's not bad for, you know, little brown girl from Queens.
00:32:31
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:32:32
- I feel excited.
00:32:33
We'll be right back.
00:32:36
And now, back to the show.
00:32:40
- Was it any other thing that you ever contemplated doing when you were a little girl?
00:32:47
- Um, I love animals and children.
00:32:52
So, there's...
00:32:53
- Two groups I love to work with.
00:32:55
- I think I would have gone into some form of psychology for working with children.
00:33:03
There's something about just understanding children.
00:33:08
- Yeah.
00:33:09
- And really looking at them for who they are and not overestimating them or underestimating them, that is, you know, it's always, it will always be my goal.
00:33:21
It's to sort of go, oh my god, where are you?
00:33:22
Who are you?
00:33:23
What are you?
00:33:24
And how can I reach you?
00:33:26
You know, it doesn't mean I'm the best mom, but I wake up every day and that's like the only role that I want to pursue every day, you know.
00:33:35
- How old are those?
00:33:37
- They're going, they're 9.9 and 7.
00:33:39
- 9.
00:33:40
- Okay, 9.9 and 7.
00:33:41
So now that you're a parent is there anything that you recognize as being a very sort of American way of parenting as opposed to how you were raised and what you experienced?
00:33:56
- Oh god, I love the American way of parenting.
00:33:59
When it's, you know, in the sense of there's this curiosity to always evolve and figure out better ways of communication with children.
00:34:11
I love that.
00:34:12
- Yeah, that's cool.
00:34:13
- And this quest to verbally just, you know, create freedom.
00:34:21
Where children can communicate their emotions and their feelings early and earlier.
00:34:27
I love that about American ways of parenting and the Latino ways of parenting I love because it's all, it's all heart, it's very much heart.
00:34:36
So the child is allowed to be dramatic and excessively dramatic.
00:34:42
Like it's just, you know, we talk about death, we normalize death and we don't, we don't sterilize it.
00:34:49
We, it's passion.
00:34:51
There's a lot of passion and fire in the way that we raise children, Latinos.
00:34:56
But things that I can live without is this, you respect your superiors, you don't question things.
00:35:02
You just, I love that my kids question everything.
00:35:05
- We'll see Italian way to raise.
00:35:07
- Oh my god, it's just gelato every day.
00:35:10
Gelato every day and, you know, it's a culture that's very, you know, it's very, I mean, Latinos and Italians are very similar.
00:35:19
They're just affectionate.
00:35:21
The father is very affectionate with their children.
00:35:24
And I love that.
00:35:25
- Do you spend a lot of time over there in Europe with your kids?
00:35:28
You guys go with it.
00:35:29
- We do, we do.
00:35:29
- Yeah, you do.
00:35:30
And Marco, I think it's so cool.
00:35:31
Marco's your husband.
00:35:32
Marco took your last name.
00:35:34
- He did.
00:35:35
- Come on.
00:35:35
- That's so, that's so cool.
00:35:37
- That's great.
00:35:38
- Walk me through that conversation.
00:35:39
- That came from him.
00:35:41
I am, we get married.
00:35:44
I had no intentions of changing my name.
00:35:48
And but we never discussed it.
00:35:50
It was just, I was, I just had it there.
00:35:51
I'm like, in case the conversation comes up, I'm gonna, I'm gonna let him down slowly that I'm going to remain Zoe Saldania.
00:35:58
And maybe throughout the years, if we earn it, then maybe I can take a period of somewhere.
00:36:06
And he was immediately, he's like, I'm gonna be Marco Pereo Saldania.
00:36:11
- Wow.
00:36:12
- And I'm sure you should probably just do it, you know, in our personal lives, but keep your professional name, you know, as who you are.
00:36:20
Society sometimes doesn't really understand.
00:36:21
He goes, I don't give a shit.
00:36:23
- Yeah.
00:36:24
- Like I'm proud of your name.
00:36:25
I love your father's name, you know.
00:36:27
- What was the impetus for that, though, for him, do you think?
00:36:30
- For him, it was, I mean, I get emotional.
00:36:33
My father died when I was nine.
00:36:35
And I've never, I mean, I have a wonderful step, dad, that's been in our life as I was 13.
00:36:40
And he's my dad, you know, but my biological father, that bond, that connection to your blood was lost, abruptly lost very early on.
00:36:50
So it's not something you ever heal from.
00:36:53
It's just you learn to manage that pain of loss.
00:36:55
- Right, right, right.
00:36:56
- And when we fell in love and we got married, he knows how strong of a presence my father still is in my life.
00:37:04
'Cause as Latinos, we keep, we live with our dad.
00:37:08
We live with them.
00:37:09
We actively talk about them as if they're here, you know?
00:37:12
- Did your family or your mom, like back then, like suggest therapy, like for a young child, like yourself to go through such.
00:37:21
- We did it now.
00:37:22
- Or did you get through it as a family?
00:37:24
And we're like, no, we don't believe in that.
00:37:25
We're gonna get through this to go.
00:37:26
- No, no, no.
00:37:27
It was a combination of both.
00:37:28
'Cause we were still living in the States when he passed away.
00:37:32
And, you know, when back in the '80s, public schools in New York were incredible.
00:37:39
They were just incredible.
00:37:40
So immediately as soon as we came back from the funeral, they bombarded us with just love and support.
00:37:47
And for my mom as well, they, you know, they, my mom, you know, had places to go to and sort of cope with this and, you know, gain new tools on how to be like this single parent moving forward.
00:38:00
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:38:01
- And then when we went back to Dominican Republic, then that was when we moved there, then to live, then it was very much like, no, we stick together.
00:38:09
God will always find his way.
00:38:10
So that had his, that had its good things and also bad things, you know, and my mom did feel very isolated at times when it came to just trying to talk to a professional,
00:38:23
but the love and support was always abundant in our family, you know?
00:38:27
- Oh, that's great, that's great.
00:38:28
And, wait, if you don't mind, how did you meet your husband?
00:38:31
I think he didn't hit on you on the plane once or something, and then you turned him down on the plane.
00:38:36
How did he find you after this?
00:38:37
- Well, he just, he's very Italian.
00:38:40
And, and I, you know, I love the Italian culture, but I'm also like, I'm keeping it at bay, you know what I mean?
00:38:45
Like, it's very romantic and seductive culture.
00:38:49
So he meets you and he's this like pirate looking, probably the most handsome as man I'll ever meet in my life.
00:38:56
And, and I met him on a plane, but we knew each other.
00:39:00
We knew of each other through mutual friends.
00:39:02
And it was always like, oh, there's that guy.
00:39:04
There's that really handsome, hot mother fucking guy that I should always stay away from.
00:39:09
'Cause he looks at you and he just has that swall of look and everything and what he talks to you.
00:39:14
He had that little bitch, you know, they, they kind of hide their real manly voice.
00:39:18
And I'm like, why are you such a high pitch that he invokes me to talk to me?
00:39:22
And I'm in New York, I'm very much like, "Gramon, man, talk to me."
00:39:25
And, but he's gentle.
00:39:27
My husband is a very gentle man, you know.
00:39:30
- That's so great.
00:39:31
And you teach, you teach your kids Spanish and Italian at home.
00:39:36
- I mean, we don't necessarily teach it.
00:39:39
We just-- - They catch up on it.
00:39:40
- That's how we, we slip in and out of all these languages.
00:39:44
- That's so cool.
00:39:45
- And it's funny, 'cause I grew up as like a daughter of immigrants where you live a double life.
00:39:51
You feel like you're like 007 where in your house, you're like, "Oh, blah, blah, blah, blah."
00:39:55
And you're very Latina.
00:39:57
And the moment you step by, you kind of go, "Oh, so I was like, "Hey, what's up?
00:40:00
"How are you doing?"
00:40:01
Like you've been there to post what you're trying.
00:40:03
And because it's there, they're so hard on you.
00:40:06
Like you don't forget your culture.
00:40:07
You don't forget where you come from.
00:40:08
And it was very much like that.
00:40:09
And I appreciate that today.
00:40:11
So I went in and I'm marrying an immigrant who's very much about, I'm Italian, Italian forever.
00:40:16
We're Italian, we're da da da da da.
00:40:18
And so when the boys were little, they spoke only Italian and Spanish.
00:40:22
But as soon as they start going to school and I start dialoguing with them, I go into what feels very, you know, I'm-- - And they pick up on it.
00:40:30
- And we became very English-oriented in the way that we bond.
00:40:34
And then that's when my husband's family, 'cause our folks live here in the States and my parents also live in California.
00:40:40
They were just like, "You need to talk to them."
00:40:42
And I had to kind of have an intervention.
00:40:44
I'm like, "Y'all need to chill."
00:40:46
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:40:47
- You guys all chose to come here.
00:40:51
We're all here.
00:40:52
They are American as well as they are this and this.
00:40:55
So share, like we're gonna-- I'm gonna allow you guys to share who we are inherently.
00:41:02
But they don't force them.
00:41:05
'Cause we're eating in Italian and Spanish.
00:41:08
We are dancing and we are communicating in it.
00:41:10
That's already enough.
00:41:11
It's going to be there.
00:41:13
But don't force it to them.
00:41:15
'Cause then they're going to reject it.
00:41:17
Like I tried to reject it when I was little.
00:41:19
And they kind of like, it was a nice intervention.
00:41:21
'Cause even my husband had to sit him down.
00:41:23
I'm like, "You need to like, you know, just lay off the gas a little bit."
00:41:26
- Yeah, yeah.
00:41:27
- Now they understand it fluently.
00:41:28
They'll speak it with their grandparents.
00:41:30
But with me, they speak mainly English.
00:41:34
I do speak to them in Spanish a lot when we're in public when I don't want people to know what I'm saying.
00:41:39
And then my husband does the same.
00:41:42
- Yeah, yeah.
00:41:43
So wait, I'm gonna get back to career stuff because I'm obviously a massive fan.
00:41:47
That's why you're here.
00:41:48
- True.
00:41:49
- But lioness, season two, that we'll talk about that in a second.
00:41:52
- I hear that.
00:41:52
- Melee Perez, we're gonna watch tonight.
00:41:54
Center stage, I loved.
00:41:56
I know, it was 2000 so long ago and I loved that movie.
00:41:59
And then after that, you did crossroads with Britney Spears.
00:42:02
It's such a young age when Britney was a huge, where you like, oh my God, I'm in a movie with Britney Spears.
00:42:08
I mean, what year was that?
00:42:09
That was like 2000.
00:42:11
- That we started shooting right after, no, by part of me, we started shooting early 2001.
00:42:18
- One, okay.
00:42:19
- It was before 9/11, I remember that.
00:42:21
- And because you auditioned a lot when you came back from the Dominican Republic and you were still so young when you auditioning.
00:42:28
Do you have any crazy audition stories?
00:42:31
- Did you have to do one for the Britney Spears thing?
00:42:33
Did you have to read with her?
00:42:34
- I did, yes, I auditioned.
00:42:36
I mean, I auditioned for a media Paris too, so it's, I mean, it was, but it's more like an interview, like you just do a conversation.
00:42:43
I auditioned a lot.
00:42:45
I remember I auditioned for a film that you were doing, Jason, years ago.
00:42:50
- I had nothing to do with it.
00:42:51
- No, no, it took me, what was the one that you did about the funeral, the pay, you know?
00:42:56
- Oh, this is where I leave you?
00:42:57
- Yes, yes, but I bombed, I was so bad.
00:43:00
I was so bad at that audition.
00:43:02
- Wasn't it terrible, right?
00:43:05
You can practice as much as you want at home and then you get in that room and the nerves take over and your inability to do what you planned on is just, oh, it's so frustrating.
00:43:16
- It's awful, I hated that process.
00:43:18
I really did because it really fed into my anxiety in a way that wasn't healthy.
00:43:27
I just, you know, competition and fighting for it to prove you are is so hard.
00:43:35
I do remember that if it wasn't for just warm people, amazing casting directors, like New York has amazing casting directors that were just human beings, you know,
00:43:45
they were nice and gentle and I loved walking in and feeling like they were rooting for me.
00:43:50
- Right, yeah.
00:43:51
- Whenever I put, I would put myself on tape 'cause remember, you have to put yourself on tape when you live in New York, that's what you got to do.
00:43:59
And if it wasn't for the fact that people were nice, I would have never booked parts.
00:44:04
It's what people are super cold and they were so despondent and I would, I would thank all of those auditions, yeah.
00:44:10
- It doesn't help, it doesn't help.
00:44:11
And then you did, by the way, I mean, we could spend two hours with Pirates of the Caribbean, the terminal with Star Trek, Marvel with Guardians of the Galaxy, but I have to say,
00:44:22
my husband, Scottie, he's a massive, massive, massive Star Trek fan.
00:44:25
I'm more of a Star Wars, but because of your film.
00:44:29
- This is the only thing they fight about.
00:44:30
- Yeah, but because of your films and JJ and everybody involved, I was blown away by you and those films, they're so well made and it's completely gripping and suck you in and in the best way.
00:44:43
- Yeah, another one, do soon, right?
00:44:45
Another Star Trek movie?
00:44:48
- They're talking about it and it would be nice.
00:44:51
It would be nice for us to come back and sort of do a proper send-off to the next generation.
00:44:56
Look, I don't, honestly, I wish I had like a formula.
00:45:02
I feel like the only thing that I kept doing was saying yes.
00:45:07
- Yeah, well that's interesting.
00:45:09
- You know, it was just like if I was shooting Avatar and all of a sudden my agents at the time were calling me and he's like, well, JJ Abrams really wants to meet you for a horror, he's gonna shoot this next Star Trek.
00:45:21
I was like, who what?
00:45:22
I was in a Star Trek fan, my mom was.
00:45:25
And I was like, okay, but I'm like, but I'm working and he's like, well, I think he's gonna come to set.
00:45:32
I think I'm like, oh, okay, 'cause I would go to the set of Avatar and every day he's like, oh, there's Robert and Mackas, there's Steven Spielberg, there's George Lucas, there's, you know, there were always there and Jim was giving him the whole walks through,
00:45:44
so it was very normal for us to see these amazing filmmakers and one, you know, Jim walks to set when they go to have a surprise for you and I think you're gonna owe me for this one.
00:45:54
And I was like, what are you talking about?
00:45:56
And JJ was there.
00:45:58
And JJ was like, hi, Zoe and Jim, like, let's touch the camera and into the whole tour.
00:46:04
And then JJ was like, well, are you, I definitely wanna meet you for horror for Star Trek and then, you know, JJ left and Jim just comes over and goes, you're welcome.
00:46:14
And I'm like, for what?
00:46:15
I wasn't really tapping into it and then I get the call, like, can you please play a horror?
00:46:20
I was like, apps are fucking Luke Lee.
00:46:22
- Yeah, yeah, let me think about it, yeah.
00:46:24
- Yes, and then after that, it was just, and then after that, James Gunn comes over and, you know, years later goes, can you play Gamora?
00:46:31
I'm like, yeah, of course.
00:46:33
And I said yes because I wanted to experience prosthetics.
00:46:38
- Yeah.
00:46:39
- Make up, like waking up at three o'clock in the morning and going through the whole nutty professor transformation.
00:46:43
Like, I was like, I wanna do that.
00:46:45
And then a month and I was like, I hate this thing.
00:46:48
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, two, three hours sitting in the chair and not doing anything, eating through a straw.
00:46:54
Yeah.
00:46:54
- What about the series, a Star Trek series, where those people have to be on that every single day for nine, 10 months a year.
00:47:02
- I wouldn't be able to do it.
00:47:03
- It never doesn't make me laugh though.
00:47:05
The idea of an actor and a cling on, all the cling on make up, walking through craft service.
00:47:11
That always will make me laugh, just like getting fried chicken and like, you know.
00:47:14
- Eating the everything to put it in a blender right through a straw.
00:47:17
- Yeah.
00:47:18
- Like, call or napkin always to not get makeup on the house.
00:47:21
- Yeah, exactly.
00:47:21
- Wait, so all of the travels and all of the places you've worked in the world, I wanna ask where you would choose to live if you had to pick a place either fictional or non-fictional.
00:47:33
- Paris.
00:47:36
- Oh really?
00:47:37
- Yes.
00:47:38
- You love Paris.
00:47:39
- I love Paris.
00:47:40
- Why?
00:47:40
- I love art.
00:47:41
I love the fact that people are always outside.
00:47:45
I love to walk as a New Yorker.
00:47:47
I just, I live to walk down streets of ancient ancient Dito history and I love eating and drinking wine.
00:47:56
So it's just, it's really romantic and there's something really nice about Paris, but also like when you go to Italy 'cause my second favorite place in Italy and then it's a Caribbean, 'cause I'm from the Caribbean.
00:48:04
I love a beach, I love the water.
00:48:06
But there's just something very free about Europe.
00:48:11
That in the summers, you see people in love, living in love in public, you know?
00:48:19
And you'll see these younger couples like on the Vespa making out while you're like, you know, taking your kid for a walk.
00:48:28
But then the same couple, you come back and they're in the same Vespa and she's slapping the crap out of them.
00:48:34
(laughing)
00:48:36
But like you see, and then also he grabs her and shakes and he kisses her.
00:48:41
And you're like, oh, that's so romantic and dramatic.
00:48:45
- Yeah, Jason and I are gonna do that later tonight.
00:48:48
Oh yeah, yeah.
00:48:49
Which one do you wanna be?
00:48:50
You wanna be shaken or the shaker?
00:48:52
(laughing)
00:48:54
- Both, both turns.
00:48:55
- Well, listen, I could talk to you for 19 hours.
00:48:59
We've taken up way too much of your time.
00:49:01
- Me too, you guys.
00:49:01
Thank you for this conversation.
00:49:03
I've been thinking.
00:49:04
- Thank you so much.
00:49:04
- I can't wait to see the movie and lioness.
00:49:07
We're gonna talk about lioness but Nicole, you and Nicole Kidman love the show.
00:49:11
It's second season, of course you're getting a second season.
00:49:13
So I can't wait, but thank you for being your gigantic fan.
00:49:18
- Thank you guys for this conversation.
00:49:20
- Any time, I'll come back.
00:49:22
- Okay, thank you so much.
00:49:24
Love you.
00:49:24
- All right.
00:49:24
Enjoy the rest of your day.
00:49:26
Bye.
00:49:26
- You too.
00:49:27
- Bye, Jay.
00:49:27
Oh, Shawnee.
00:49:29
- Yeah, I love her.
00:49:30
I want to talk to her forever.
00:49:32
And she's like, you know, how many people can say, you know, we already said in the show.
00:49:35
- The biggest, I mean, the three, there's no other, there's no other actor that was in the top three show, movies of all time.
00:49:43
- No.
00:49:44
- There's no other actor.
00:49:45
- There's very few, yeah, it's very wild.
00:49:48
I mean.
00:49:49
- It's stunning accomplishment.
00:49:50
- What, you know what I was thinking about during it is that she's been in all those big, right?
00:49:54
And then on the other end, I was in Brother Solomon.
00:49:57
And if you think about the gap.
00:49:59
- It's between a lot of daylight.
00:50:01
- There's a lot of daylight.
00:50:03
It's all daylight.
00:50:04
Let's be honest.
00:50:05
- But I didn't even get to the terminal.
00:50:07
Remember, she was in the terminal at times.
00:50:08
- Terminal, yes.
00:50:10
- She was great.
00:50:11
- Yeah.
00:50:12
- I really like her a lot and I want to hang out with her.
00:50:14
- Sure.
00:50:15
- And to your point, Sean, I mean, it's such an accomplishment, you know?
00:50:19
- To my point.
00:50:20
- Well, welcome in.
00:50:21
- Velcomen, maybe they mean Velcomen.
00:50:26
- Velcomen.
00:50:27
- Velcomen.
00:50:28
- By the way, if they were German, then I'm going to take it obviously.
00:50:31
- They're close to the candles.
00:50:32
- Okay, you don't mean.
00:50:34
- Anyway, she's wonderful.
00:50:37
- She's amazing.
00:50:37
- She's amazing.
00:50:38
- She's one of a kind.
00:50:39
- She is one of a kind.
00:50:40
She's so rare.
00:50:42
I would dare to say.
00:50:45
- Uh-oh.
00:50:46
- Do it.
00:50:47
- Be brave.
00:50:47
- You can feel it.
00:50:49
This is where it's embarrassing.
00:50:50
Where you can feel it.
00:50:52
Is that she's so, you know, people who have been in so many huge films like that.
00:50:57
They're not every day.
00:50:58
In fact, they're pretty hard to come by.
00:51:03
(laughing)
00:51:05
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