Zoe Saldana doesn’t only play intergalactic heroines on the big-screen. In fact, in an interview with Marie Claire, she self-identifies as an “iron-fisted lady” and a woman who “will not take any bullshit.”
And while Zoe may have come a long way since her teenage years in the Dominican Republic, she still stays true to her “bad seed” roots that she was known for while growing up.
“You cross me as a lady, it’s over,” says Saldana.
Keep reading for more excerpts and photographs from the interview, and for the full story, pick up a copy of Marie Claire‘s August issue, hitting stands July 22.
On her love for New York and her family:
“I love coming to New York because my family is here,” says Saldana, 36, who spent the first nine years of her life in Queens, where her mother, stepfather, and grandmother still live. “But I’m always busy working, so I make them all come sleep over with me.” “Them” includes her two sisters, Mariel and Cisely, with whom she runs the L.A.-based production company CineStar Productions, and from whom she is virtually inseparable. “They bring their pillows, and we get extra beds,” Saldana continues. “My grandma lies on the couch. It’s just delicious.”
On her relationship with hubby Marco Perego:
“I don’t do the ABCs. I do what my heart says, what my heart feels. So from the moment I met my husband, we were together. We knew.”
On the greatest lesson she’s learned about love:
“Not to settle. If you’re not happy with a person, leave. And wait until you find that one person who makes you feel good about yourself every single day and is not expecting you to change, but to grow.”
On disrespectful ex-boyfriends:
“I have been in relationships where a man has disrespected me, and I don’t need to be friends with that man anymore. I don’t want to be the one going, ‘I’m cool, because I’m friends with all my exes.’ There’s a reason why you’re called an ex. I crossed you off my list. Moving on. You cross a line, you need to know that you’re going to walk this earth knowing that there’s an individual who has no respect for you.”
PHOTO CREDIT & SOURCE: Marie Claire
