Gavin Bond
“Who’s not obsessed with Billie Holiday?” Saldaña tells PEOPLE of the 1972 biopicLady Sings the Bluesthat marked Diana Ross’s screen debut. “I remember reading the story of Diana and how much she worked for that part. And when you see the movie, your heart breaks for Billie.” Saldaña says that while she “will always transform into a character,” her off-duty mode means “jeans, a button-down, sneakers. I’m going to be 45 this year, so sneakers are the new heels. Never thought I would arrive here, but I’m comfortable with it finally.”
When the conversation turns to the beret she’s wearing, Saldaña admits she “wasn’t of the generation” of the filmBonnie and Clyde, which starred Faye Dunaway. “But when I saw the movie as a teenager, I was totally transfixed with a woman of her caliber as Bonnie, and [the character] not having a choice and doing an awful lot for love.”
The actress credits her mother for instilling the importance of “not taking any BS, from men or from life, and to make our own choices.” Her life today with husband Marco, 44, is much more of a team effort. “My husband is a very encouraging person. He champions for you. He roots for you. He encourages you. He’s very sincere and he’s honest,” she says. “We tend to be each other’s coaches.”
It’s clear Rita Moreno is more than Anita inWest Side Storyto Saldaña. “She’s the EGOT, the GOAT. A Latina who paved such a beautiful road for so many artists of Latin American heritage,” says Saldaña, who is Dominican and Puerto Rican. She’s intent on letting her own children, twins Cy and Bowie, 8, and Zen, 6, find their way as well. “I don’t want the boys to fear disappointing us as the reason why they’ll do or not do something,” she explains. “I want them to be curious for themselves and think about their happiness first. And to know that what matters is what you think and what you see yourself to be.”
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FromStar Trek’s Uhura to Neytiri in theAvatarfranchise, Saldaña has proved she is one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood. But Uma Thurman’s character in the 1994 cult classicPulp Fictionreally hits close to home. “[She] was this artist that just wanted to make it and kept talking aboutall of her auditions,” Saldaña says. “That reminds me of the first years of me trying to break into Hollywood.”
source: people.com
