‘Avatar:’ Zoe Saldana Was Emotionally Overwhelmed After Filming: ‘I Couldn’t Stop Crying’
Actor Zoe Saldana isn’t a stranger to starring in blockbuster franchises. She featured in Pirates of the Caribbean and is currently leading the Guardians of the Galaxy. Saldana also has the world’s biggest franchise to her name in James Cameron’s Avatar. But the star once revealed the aftermath of starring in the film was so overwhelming that she couldn’t stop crying.
Zoe Saldana did ‘Avatar’ so she could work with James Cameron
For Zoe Saldana, the selling point of Avatar was its director James Cameron. Apart from his filmography, Cameron also left an unforgettable impression on Saldana because of his work ethic.
“It’s not every day you get a call like that where, ‘James Cameron wants to see you for this role.’ You just know that it’s going to be amazing. To go from J.J Abrams to James Cameron is such a wonderful opportunity,” she told Black Film. “It’s beautiful because you know that it’s going to be something special and very amazing. It took him 10 years between projects because he works so hard and pays attention to detail. It’s undenialably exquisite. That’s pretty much what attracted me.”
Saldana is also simply attracted to sci-fi in general, citing it as a genre that favors empowering women actors.
“I love the fact that in science fiction movies the women get to be much stronger and tougher instead of being dependent on men,” Saldana said in an interview with Conrad. “As a woman, I feel it is important to play active and involved women. These kinds of characters help educate younger generations of women to be leaders and aspire to great things.”
Zoe Saldana couldn’t stop crying after filming ‘Avatar’
Recently, it was revealed that the first 20 minutes of seeing Avatar 2 made Saldana cry. But it wasn’t the only time the franchise moved Saldana to tears.
“The year after Avatar was just emotionally overwhelming. I was traveling all over the world, waking up in different time zones,” she told Latina magazine (via Yahoo.) “Your body gets exhausted and by the end of the year I just collapsed. I was sitting in my hotel room and I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t stay awake.”
It took Saldana some time to recover from the stresses brought on to her from filming the highest-grossing film.
“It took me the rest of the year, even as I was working and shooting Columbiana, to pick myself up. Thank God my family was there,” Saldana said.
The experience also taught her to live a bit more selfishly to take better care of herself.
“I don’t shower if I don’t want to. I don’t answer emails. It’s a healthy way of being selfish,” she added.
Zoe Saldana clarified she didn’t have a nervous breakdown
Following her remarks about filming Avatar, Saldana felt she had to clarify what she meant. Especially since many thought the Marvel actor was experiencing an emotional breakdown.
“It was definitely misconstrued, the statement that I made,” she told Access Hollywood Live (via Digital Spy). “It was such a beautiful rollercoaster and we had no idea we were going to break records on so many levels and that this movie was gonna touch so many hearts from all over the world.”
Saldana later reflected on the impact the film had on her, noting it wasn’t as bad as originally perceived.
“It was such an emotional thing and I do know that everybody from, like, the director, the producer and the rest of the cast went away with their families afterwards and they kind of hid for a while because you needed to refuel. There was no nervous breakdown. It was just a beautiful journey that exhausted me,” she said.
