‘I Always Wanted To Be The Warrior'

Actress, wife, mother, activist… Best not to mess with Zoe Saldana, as we found out

- Lottie Lumsden

Zoe Saldana takes a sip of rosé from a white-china cup and looks out towards the mellowing Los Angeles skyline. We’ve been together since 9am, and choosing to drink wine out of a coffee cup is probably the least surprising thing about her.

On set, shortly after she decamped into the makeup chair, a small shoal of children arrived with a handsome, long-haired Italian man and a smiling older couple in tow. This was Zoe’s family – her three sons Cy, Bowie and Zen, her husband Marco, and his parents. The children did what children do – ran about, shrieked – but also snuck a look at mom at work on set. Zoe says it’s important for them to see that she’s happy at work – that’s one of the reasons she tries to bring them to everything she does.

Marco is a quiet, steady presence, always watching and smiling, like a handsome pirate. Zoe, 40, decided last year that her family should join her at work whenever possible. She’d had a crazy few years filming Avengers: Infinity War and Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol 2, and starting work on the long awaited Avatar 2. Then there were the promotional tours for the franchises, moving house and giving birth to Zen. ‘I think 2017 was my most hectic year,’ she says. ‘A lot happened. I was dividing my time between my family life, my personal life and also two of my movies, which were shooting in different locations – Atlanta and Los Angeles. It all became very stressful. I realised that life needs to be more balanced. Not only was it affecting me, it was affecting my children and my husband.’ Twins Cy and Bowie are three; Zen is 18 months old. ‘Many decisions were made for the betterment of our health.’