An overlooked sci-fi performance left Zoe Saldaña frustrated

One would be hard pressed to find an actress working today who could be considered more quantitatively successful than Zoe Saldaña. Having participated in Star Trek, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy series, and perhaps most importantly, James Cameron’s Avatar films, she has established herself as a powerful actress and someone who is always associated with financial success in the world of cinema. Highest level. short? She’s an actress who delivers the goods on screen and at the box office. But for Saldaña, there is still frustration with her work in science fiction, especially in “Avatar.”

In a recent profile piece for The IndependentSaldaña was discussing her work in The critically acclaimed “Emilia Perez,” which arrived on Netflix in November. Saldaña is in the awards season conversation for her work on the film, and while that’s certainly a nice thing, the actress also reflected a bit on being overlooked for her performances in 2009’s “Avatar” and its 2022 follow-up, “Avatar: The Waterway.” In her opinion, the industry is clinging to old ideas of not recognizing motion capture performances compared to traditional on-camera performances. Here’s what she had to say about it:

“Old habits die hard, and when you have old institutions, it’s really hard to achieve change. And I understand that, so I’m not bitter about it, but it’s very frustrating when you give 120 percent of yourself to something.” I mean, not winning is good, not being nominated is good, but when you’re ignored and then belittled and completely ignored…”

‘Avatar’ became the highest-grossing film of all time (twice)with over $2.9 billion to its name so far. Only “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.79 billion) came close to matching that total. It was also nominated for a fair number of Academy Awards in its day, including Best Picture, but most of them were in the technical categories. Actors excluded.

There has been a bit of controversy surrounding motion capture in the industry for a couple of decades. Andy Serkis completely changed the game with his performance as Gollum In “The Lord of the Rings”. Serkis later took things to another level with his performance as Caesar in the “Planet of the Apes” films. Both performances failed to receive any Oscar nominations, but both films received awards for their visual effects.

Are very talented technicians needed to fully bring these shows to life? Yes. But there’s a big difference between creating lifeless CGI and what Saldaña and others did in “Avatar” or other blockbuster films that rely on motion-capture performances. “I know the difference between that and what we did,” Saldaña added in the interview.

For my money, Saldaña and the other actors were not given their due in such performances. I would argue that she also doesn’t get the credit she deserves And her role as Gamora in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies as well. Fortunately, the industry is changing in some ways. Angela Bassett took home the award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, so at least comic book movies aren’t being overlooked when justified. Saldaña, speaking further, seems to have come to terms with the lack of critical appreciation for her work as a quintieri:

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

Who knows? Maybe by the time Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters next yearAttitudes will change a little. For now, Saldaña will have to settle for being in the three highest-grossing films of all time, and a fair number of top 20 films.