Zoe Saldana recently ended her tenure in the MCU with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. She has played Gamora for over a decade in multiple movies of the MCU and managed to give the character an emotionally satisfying arc with her relationships with Thanos, Nebula, and Star-Lord.
The original Guardians including her, Karen Gillian, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, and Pom Klementieff have become extremely close through the films and have now bid farewell to the franchise.
Saldana and the gang debuted with much scrutiny in the MCU with the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. She was particularly enamored with one particular co-star in the film whom she didn’t expect would do such a good job in the film. Bautista, who had just come out of WWE, and was a giant individual, surprised Saldana in the best way with his performance in the film.
Dave Bautista Surprised Zoe Saldana With His Subtle And Natural Acting Skills
Zoe Saldana entered the MCU with Guardians of the Galaxy with other fellow newcomers in the franchise including Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, and Dave Bautista. Saldana was particularly impressed with Bautista who was fresh off of the WWE and had no acting experience before.
Being a wrestler, Saldana thought he would just be a giant strong man beating up people in the film. But she was so surprised seeing his subtle and natural approach to portraying his character Drax.
She told Movies.IE
“You’d think because he’s so big and comes from the wrestling world that his acting is going to like a big, stomping giant but he’s actually so subtle and natural, and James would just explain the scene to Dave, and Dave would say, ‘Oh, okay, I understand that’, and it would be like one time he’d take a direction, and then on the next take he would have it just right. And I just thought ‘Oh my God, he’s such a natural at this, and he has such a love and passion for it.’”
Bautista’s funny yet relatable portrayal of Drax won the hearts and minds of people and he has gone on to become a fan favorite in the MCU. He has even addressed many times about how the role has changed his life and has portrayed the character for over a decade, recently ending it with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Zoe Saldana Is Extremely Proud of The Ending of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3
Zoe Saldana’s Gamora had a bittersweet ending concerning her dynamic with Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord over the Guardians trilogy and the last two Avengers films. The third film did not rekindle or force a new romance between Quill and the new Gamora, which Saldana really appreciated. She talked about how the bittersweet ending is the right way to end the film telling The Hollywood Reporter,
“It was a bittersweet decision, obviously. I wanted to know that in the final chapter, Gamora stays on and finds a way to become a Guardian again in the future. But this felt like the right way to end things for her, because of what she had been through. At the end of the day, any multiverse that she would’ve come from, she was still going to have the same experience with Thanos, and she was still gonna have the same guilt and the same trauma.
So she finally found solace with the Ravagers, and she felt more open than she had ever been. I think the whole thing with Peter bothered her, because even though she had no recollection of who he was, she had a sense that it must have been special. And I appreciated that takeaway, because it kind of gave us the hope that if the Guardians seek help again from the Ravagers, maybe Gamora and Peter will find a way back into each other’s lives, even if it’s just as friends.”
Saldana also recently appeared in Taylor Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness. The series received positive reviews from critics and audiences. There are hopes of the series getting a second season. It remains to be seen if Paramount+ renews the series for a sophomore season.
