Actress Zoe Saldana, who is best known for her roles in films such as "Avatar", "Guardians Of The Galaxy", and the "Star Trek" franchise, is set to act in her new political-thriller film "The Absence of Eden", directed by her husband Marco Perego.
She will essay the character of an illegal immigrant in the film, reports 'Variety'.
The movie takes place in the southern borders of the United States, "a dangerous area inhabited by Coyotes, ICE officers, and filled with desperate immigrants and refugees".
Speaking to 'Variety' about the film, she said: “My family’s from the Caribbean. So our wave of immigration was from the east side of the States, from the Atlantic. It was a different experience. The conversation of immigration has always been a universal conversation in my life.”
Saldana added: “I’m a proud Latina, I’m proud Afro-Caribbean. And it pains me to know my community is judged much more harshly than other communities, when in reality, Latinos compose a great f***** portion of the American economy.”
She went on to say that despite the contributions of the Afro-Caribbean and Latino community in the total American economy, education and military, the narrative against them is always negative.
Saldana said that aside from the humanitarian message, the movie offered her an opportunity to hone her acting skills, shifting to a different paradigm.
She said, “Instead of me being overlooked as “oh, she just does action movies. And she’s green and she’s blue.” I wanted to know what it was like to keep pushing, because before I walk away, and I just become a soccer mom, which I’m gonna gladly accept, I want to see if I have it in me to be in these kinds of films".
A continuation of Marco Perego's art project from 2016, the movie will mark his debut as a film director.
Regarding this, Perego said: “Originally I was researching this for a sculpture. I was thinking of the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and no God. But then it became this movie and although I don’t like to explain art, there’s the palette in there: the red, white and blue of the American flag".
A bold film visually and directorially, while the film has the positive aspect of hope and growth, Perego will not shy away from showcasing the many harsh realities he discovered in his two years of research while striving to maintain his perspective as an artiste.
Perego started by watching an online masterclass by Martin Scorsese and by the end of the production, Scorsese joined in as executive producer.
