Avatar star Zoe Saldaña, the highest-grossing actor ever, wants to be asked about her “craft,” not “politics.”
The Oscar winner told an audience at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, according to Variety, “One thing that’s incredibly limiting, and frustrating, is when I’m the only person of color or the only woman on stage, and that happens quite a lot for women and for people of color—and I wait for my turn to be asked a question about my craft, and I’m asked the political question.”
Saldaña won Best Supporting Actress in 2025 for her role in the musical drama Emilia Pérez—the Netflix film whose awards run was rocked when a journalist uncovered offensive social media posts made by its titular star, Spanish-Mexican trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón.
Gascón faced calls to withdraw from the Oscars race for Best Actress, and the ensuing scandal cast a shadow over Saldaña’s own awards campaign. The controversy also raised questions about the industry’s record on inclusivity, as Gascón, who was the first trans woman ever nominated for Best Actress, was in the hot seat for racially insensitive posts.
The press regularly asked Saldaña tough questions about Gascón and the film’s politics, even immediately following her win.
“‘What do you think we need to do to make films more inclusive?’” Saldaña told Variety on Monday, giving an example of the questions she’s asked. “I’m sorry, you don’t ask the only person that comes from the marginalized community.”
Saldaña faced a tense exchange with a Mexican reporter backstage at the Oscars last March, who confronted her about the drug cartel-focused film’s depiction of the country.
“First of all, I’m very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended,” Saldaña said at the time, holding her newly minted statue. “That was never our intention. We spoke from a place of love, and I will stand by that. I don’t share your opinion. For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico.” The response only drew more backlash, as the film is set in Mexico.
Prior to the Emilia Pérez press run, the star became the center of a different controversy for her portrayal of the Black music legend Nina Simone in the 2016 film Nina. Saldaña donned a prosthetic nose in the role.
“There’s no one way to be Black,” she told Allure in response to outcry that year. “I’m Black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am Black. I’m raising Black men. Don’t you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain.” The actress shares three sons with her husband, Marco Perego-Saldaña.
The actress said on Monday that she feels the press is asking the wrong people those kinds of questions. “Ask the other 80 [people] that are part of the gatekeepers, and you ask them if they know the answer because I think that we’re making people of color work double to be in a room,” she declared.
Following her third appearance as Gamora in the last installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and the December release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, in which she plays Na’vi princess Neytiri, the Afro-latina star surpassed her fellow Marvel stars, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson, to become the highest-grossing actress of all time in January. She also appears in the Star Trek franchise.
Her films have collectively generated over $15.46 billion worldwide, according to The Guardian.
