Zoe Saldaña felt ‘stuck’ doing movie franchises

Zoe Saldaña made her mark in Hollywood by starring in popular movie franchises such as “Marvel,” “Avatar” and “Star Trek.”

However, the 44-year-old actress recently admitted that she felt “artistically stuck” by being beholden to the genre of the films as well as her roles in them.

Acting in these big-budget films has also allowed her the unique opportunity to grow into a character so loved by fans, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” star told WWD.

“I feel that for the last 10 years of my life, I’ve been just stuck. I felt stuck doing these franchises,” she said.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunities that they provided, from collaborating with amazing directors and getting to meet cast members that I consider friends and getting to play a role that fans, especially children, love,” she continued. 

She said acting in these roles has prevented her from playing different kinds of roles that might challenge her more creatively.

The “Avatar: Way of Water” actress went on: “It also meant that I felt artistically stuck in my craft of not being able to expand or grow or challenge myself by playing different sorts of genres and different roles.”

Saldaña noted that she’s reached a point in her life where she’s taken “control” over her acting career as well as her relationship with aging.

“But today, now that I’m 44, I’ve been able to have these opportunities, and I took control over my aging and I took control over my voice and how I consider myself as a woman.”

Despite her hangups, the mother of three is proud of her accomplishments.

“I’m so happy that I’m able to collaborate with filmmakers and producers and people in this industry that want that for women, that want women to be ageless and who don’t fetishize women’s youth. And so it’s interesting. It’s really interesting,” she pointed out.

Saldaña previously opened up about what it was like to work on another franchise — “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Her experience on the 2003 Disney action-adventure film almost made her want to quit acting, however, she made peace with it when producer Jerry Bruckheimer apologized to her for her difficult time on set years later.