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From the moment Zoe Saldana appears on-screen, I already know I’m going to love her character. Best known for her work in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Avatar, her starring role as Gamora in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy will inspire little girls across the nation to channel their own inner superheroine.
In the popular comic book series, Gamora is trained by super-villain Thanos to be his personal assassin and now seeks redemption from her past crimes. During a recent press conference, Saldana talked about the impact her role will have on audiences, how she shaped Gamora’s character, and why she wants to have Groot as a friend. Knowing what it means to be a role model for young women like her niece, Saldana only wishes there were more women like Angelina Jolie, Jessica Biel, and Zoel Bell who are stepping up and giving women the information that this is something they can entertain doing. Parents often tell little girls that they are a Princess, but Saldana wants to send the message to little girls that they can also be the King. “They would never think of being the King [but] you don’t have to be someone’s Princess.” Saldana recognized the “beautiful impact” the film would have on young women which compelled her to take on the role of Gamora.
As the sole female superheroine in the film, Saldana spent a significant amount of time reflecting on who she wanted Gamora to be. Crediting her nephew for teaching her about her character, Saldana came to understand how Gamora was taken from her planet and forced into a life of crime. “She’s an assassin [but] she has a great sense of justice. She’s so interesting because she’s so conflicted.” Once she came to an understanding of who Gamora is, Saldana began pondering what she was going to do with her character. After a number of conversations with Director James Gunn, Saldana wrestled with how she would make this character different from the other action characters she had done before. I love how she came to understand that Gamora would be a “very graceful sword fighter.”
My husband is an artist and we were meeting with a colleague of his who was sharing with us her latest work. She shot 65 frames per second of a Spanish Bull Fighter fighting in front of this Picasso painting. The way this man [was] dancing and the seduction [used] to make the Bull run to his death…I thought…that is Gamora and she is a Bull Fighter. She’s not going to be a Marshall Artist and she’s not going to land like all the characters and action figures in Marvel comics.
Saldana pulled from everything she saw in life while pondering what she was going to do with Gamora. Once she delved into the character, she realized that deep down Gamora is a good person. She was taken and forced into a life of crime and violence, but she was “meant for greatness…[her] path completely erased before it even began.” This is Gamora’s last chance to get out of that life.
As you might expect, Guardians of the Galaxy is rich in action, thrills, and striking visuals. What is unexpected is the amount of emotion, particularly surrounding the themes of friendship and family. Not surprising, Saldana’s favorite scene occurs near the end of the film, “when Groot is making that nest frog.” Saldana recalls that she could not stop crying the day they shot that scene. “Just seeing Groot’s face was the most beautiful thing…I thought I just wanna’ have you as a friend.”
See Zoe Saldana as Gamora this weekend in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Images: Marvel
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