“Awards Chatter” with Zoe Saldaña

Written by Trinity Ray. Photo courtesy of SCAD film festival.

On November 1, Scott Feinberg with The Hollywood Reporter visited the SCAD Film Festival to record a live conversation with Zoe Saldaña for their podcast. Feinberg and Saldaña greeted an auditorium filled with admiring SCAD students and began to discuss her booming career. 

Feinberg started off by asking Saldaña about her background and the beginnings of her career. Saldaña spoke on being a first-generation Caribbean American. She discussed how it felt to be born in America and then later move back to the Dominican Republic. Dance, specifically ballet, became a form of emotional release for her as a child. This later brought her toward her future as an actress.

FACES, a teen theater group created by Susan Montez, was a place of refuge for young people to express themselves through art. Saldaña began her career as a student at FACES. Through this program, Saldaña was able to transition from dance into theater. 

Feinberg brings up Saldaña’s first acting role in “Center Stage.” Saldaña tells us that this was her sign that she was meant to act because “Center Stage” is a film about dance. Feinberg then transitions further through her acting career to discuss impactful roles in her career. 

Saldaña discusses how “Pirates of the Caribbean” had not been everything she had hoped for, but later working on “Avatar” restored her faith in Hollywood. We heard about the inspiration that she pulled from Stephen Spielberg and one of her favorite quotes by him, “In order for you to know where you are, you need to know where you come from.”

Saldaña continues to speak on the most memorable roles within her career and how they have led her to where she is now, with “Emilia Pérez” having just released. Thank you, Zoe Saldaña, for visiting SCAD and sharing your journey with us!

You can find the full “Awards Chatter” podcast with Feinberg and The Hollywood Reporter here: 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/awards-chatter/id1039032256 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3FVrMC7m9dWVXfEZyucaF9?si=77c7c1375efa489f