Zoe Saldaña has always been a lovely actress who fans often find themselves fawning over. She has done various iconic roles including that of Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is unafraid to take on some of the most polarizing roles and that expresses her range even more beautifully. Her talent has been one that has often mesmerized the audience.
One of the biggest movies she has been a part of was James Cameron’s Avatar. The movie broke records one after the other and its sequel was just as big of a blockbuster. With her selection of films, she was surprised more so than not about the role of Neytiri. Even with the depth that her character had, she did not find it as interesting initially.
Zoe Saldaña was Confused After Getting the Script of Avatar
Zoe Saldaña, in accordance with the Wall Street Journal, explained how she had been anticipating a role from James Cameron. She had heard about a project that the director had been on and thought it to be a Japanese franchise owned by him. She tried out for the role, never to get a callback.
“I was still living in New York at the time, and I heard that James Cameron was getting ready to shoot a movie. At first, I thought it was going to be that Japanese franchise that he owns; I read for that and it disappeared. Then, like a month later, they want to put me back on tape… the script excerpts used for auditions were about this girl from a tribe in the jungle and I was like, this is weird.”
She kept waiting and waiting. However, it was only a month later when she once again found herself recording a tape for another project of Cameron’s. There she found herself extremely confused because it was nowhere near what Saldaña had anticipated.
Zoe Saldaña Auditioned Anyway
Zoe Saldaña was heavily confused upon receiving the script and could not understand what a movie about a tribe and the jungle would achieve. According to the Wall Street Journal, she recorded a tape for the audition anyway. Surprisingly enough, they responded a month later.
“But I put myself on tape again and, a month later, around July 2006, they called me and told me that in a week, I was going to L.A. to meet James Cameron. I remember being very nervous, but he was just such a polite and approachable person. It felt like a meeting where we were getting to know each other, as opposed to an audition, where I have to put my act on.” (via Wall Street Journal)
Her experience auditioning had also been extremely unique since she was immediately charmed by James Cameron and knew that working with him wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Despite her nervousness and hesitation, the audition went smoothly and she got the part.
Source: Wall Street Journal
