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By Mike Fleming Jr | Deadline Hollywood
Miramax Presents The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists.
Every installment asks the same five questions. This week’s subject is Zoe Saldaña. Fresh from her latest turns in Avatar: The Way of Water and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, the actress met with us at the Taormina Film Festival, where she and her husband Marco Perego premiered The Absence of Eden, a searing look at the desperate attempt by illegal immigrants to try for a better life in the U.S. It is the feature debut of Perego, an accomplished artist, and their first film collaboration.
Saldaña’s star turns in the two Avatar films and Avengers: Endgame make her the only performer to star in the three top-grossing films of all time. She began as an aspiring dancer who turned to acting on the stage in New York. Small parts in series and movies led to a breakthrough in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and Lt. Uhura in the Star Trek reboots. That led to the first Avatar, the crime thriller Colombiana, teaming with Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman in the upcoming Taylor Sheridan series creation Special Ops: Lioness, and Out of the Furnace, which she discusses in this video. Find out how she got her mojo.