This Overlooked Sci-Fi Performance Left Zoe Saldaña Frustrated

You would be hard-pressed to find an actress working today who could be considered more successful than Zoe Saldaña. After starring in “Star Trek,” Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise and, perhaps most importantly, James Cameron’s “Avatar” films, she has established herself as a powerful performer and someone who is constantly associated with financial success at the highest level. Soon? She is an actress who lives up to her expectations both on screen and at the box office. But for Saldaña, there remains frustration with his work in the science fiction genre, and particularly in “Avatar.”

In a recent profile article for the independentSaldaña was talking about her work in the acclaimed “Emilia Pérez,” which hit Netflix in November. Saldaña is in the awards season conversation for her work on the film, and while that’s certainly a good thing, the actress also reflected a bit on being overlooked for her performance in 2009’s “Avatar” and its 2022 sequel. , “Avatar: The Way of Water.” In his opinion, the industry is clinging to old ideas by not recognizing motion capture performances compared to more traditional on-camera performances. This is what she had to say about it:

“Old habits are hard to lose, and when you have old habits, it’s very difficult to make a change. And I get that, so I’m not bitter about it, but it’s pretty discouraging when you give 120 percent of yourself to something. I mean, not winning is fine, not being nominated is fine, but when you’re overlooked and then downplayed and completely ignored…

“Avatar” became the highest-grossing film of all time (twice), earning over $2.9 billion to date. Only “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.79 billion) has come remotely close to matching that total. It was also nominated for quite a few Oscars in its day, including Best Picture, but especially in the technical categories. The actors were excluded.

There has been some discussion about motion capture in the industry for a couple of decades. Andy Serkis completely changed the game with his portrayal of Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings.” Serkis would later take things to another level with his portrayal of Caesar in the “Planet of the Apes” films, both performances failing to earn any Oscar nominations, but both films won awards for their visual effects.

Do you need very talented technicians to bring those performances to life? Yes. But there’s a huge difference between a lifeless CGI creation and what Saldaña and the others did in “Avatar” or other blockbusters that rely on motion-capture performances. “I know the difference between that and what we did,” Saldaña added in the interview.

For my part, Saldaña and other actors have not been given their due for such performances. I’d say she also didn’t get the credit she deserves for her role as Gamora in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. Fortunately, the industry is changing in some ways. Angela Bassett earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” so at least comic book movies aren’t overlooked when warranted. Saldaña, speaking further, seems to have made peace with the lack of critical recognition for her work as Neytiri:

“At some point you have to ask yourself: Why do I do what I do? Is it so others can give me approval? Or is it because I don’t want to do anything else?”

Who knows? Perhaps by the time “Avatar: Fire and Ash” hits theaters next year, attitudes will have changed a bit. For now, Saldaña will only have to settle for being in the three highest-grossing films of all time, and in quite a few of the top 20.