In an excerpt from this interview, Saldana is asked about working with James Cameron on Avatar and J.J. Abrams on Star Trek.
EARTH’S MIGHTIEST: Having worked with J.J. Abrams on Star Trek and James Cameron on Avatar, I wonder if there’s a way to compare and contrast the two of them as filmmakers.
ZOE SALDANA: It’s like comparing every actor or every writer. People are going to be different. They’re both special for being authentic. J.J. is known and there is an essence to him, and there’s a James Cameron essence. I will say that they did meet and I was sort of their connecting point. It was just amazing, because they’re both very much fans of the other. Jim definitely surprised me. He was shooting one day on the set and he said, “I have a surprise for you,” and there was J.J. and J.J. — you should have seen his face. He was so happy to be there as a filmmaker and a fan of Jim. They were both talking and Jim was pretty much putting in a good word for me, and J.J. was, like, “You don’t have to sell me. I’m already sold on Zoe. I want her for the part [of Uhura]. She doesn’t want to do it.” Jim looked at me and said, “What? You don’t want to do it?” I said, “That’s not what I said,” it was just very funny. I was hesitant of Star Trek for a slight second for the same way that J.J. was hesitant to direct. It was stepping into these big shoes that already existed since before I was born, and there was a real fear of failing the fans.
For the rest of this interview with Zoe Saldana, and to check out our just updated photo gallery of the actress, please click on the image below.