Zoe Saldana has issued an apology to the people of Mexico for any offense caused by her latest film, Emilia Pérez.
The 46-year-old actress had a conversation with a Mexican journalist backstage at the Oscars on Sunday night after winning the Best Supporting Actress award.
The journalist said the film was “very, very hurtful to Mexican people” and that Mexico was “at the heart” of the film.
Saldana responded, “First of all. I’m very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended; that was never our intention, we came from a place of love and I stand by that.”
For the unversed, Emilia Pérez was nominated for 13 Oscars and won two—Saldana’s award and Original Song.
The film faced problems in the Oscar race after people found Lead Actress nominee Karla Sofia Gascon’s old tweets, which were controversial.
Some Mexican people gave the film negative reactions and said it misrepresented Mexico and its people.
However, Saldana did not agree that Emilia Pérez was about Mexico, as she articulated, “I don’t share your opinion. For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico; we weren’t making a film about a country, we were making a film about four women, and these women could have been Russian, could have been Dominican, could have been Black from Detroit, could have been from Israel, could have been from Gaza.”
She added, “And these women were still very universal women, but are struggling every day, they’re trying to survive systemic oppression and trying to find their most authentic voices. So, I will stand by that.”
The Avatar star noted that she was open to talking about the issue, saying, “I’m also always open to sit down with all of my Mexican brothers and sisters with love and respect having a great conversation on how Emilia could have been done better.”
She went on to talk about her struggle as an actress and stated that, “Every time I went after a part and didn’t get it, and I cared so much and I was so heartbroken… but I got up again.”
“Realizing that it’s not about the win, when you learn to let that go, the day that you do win, you just have a deeper appreciation for it, and you feel you appreciate every moment that has led you here,” Zoe Saldana concluded.
