Zoe Saldaña In Cuba For People En Español

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

For the September issue we decided to do something very special with our fall fashion story. That is why we chose Havana, whose cultural richness and architectural beauty are, without a doubt, the perfect background to show the season's most exquisite gala dresses and the actress Zoë Saldaña, the ideal muse to bring to life the story we wanted to tell.

Zoë not only modeled with the elegance and grace of a former ballet dancer the dresses with rich and luxurious textures, with princely cuts typical of a fairy tale that we chose for her. She also knew how to interpret with clothes, as only an actress of her stature knows how to do, to that glamorous Caribbean woman who lived in a time of splendor already disappeared.

Zoe Saldaña in Havana.

How do you feel about being here?

There are many emotions. This is a dream come true for me. I grew up near Cuba [in the Dominican Republic] until I was 17, with Cuban friends and family as well. There was always that curiosity, that interest in wanting to know how to live. I remember that my cousins went with my aunts and uncles and vacationed there, and we couldn't come because [we had an American passport and] it was the nineties, and things were not so easy. So when this pilgrimage was proposed to me, I said yes. My husband [Marco Perego Saldaña] and I wanted to bring our children because we wanted to tell them in the future that they were here. We hope to return when they are older and can have conversations with us about Cuba.

In the movie Live by Night directed by Ben Affleck, you play a Cuban woman in the 1920s and 1930s. How did that project come about?

Ben was gathering the cast of his dreams. It was a time he had wanted to explore as a director. I read the script a long time ago and was not interested. I remember him saying, 'There is no one else, I don't want a person with a different skin color, in the book the character [is] Afro-Latin. You are Latina, you are relevant right now, you don't speak Spanglish. ' So I said, 'OK, let's do it.'

Let's talk about your style. One of the things that stands out to you is your taste for fashion

I like having the backstage approach to art. I'm not interested in being a celebrity or fame. My approach to fashion is not superficial. I don't know how to act that way because I grew up behind a curtain, at my grandmother's feet, with the sound of a sewing machine, seeing a button, feeling a cloth. That is wealth.

So for you, fashion and art go hand in hand…

My fortune has been the fact that my mother knew that the Black Theater in Prague was in the city and instead of taking us to miniature golf or the new Pizza Hut that was opening In the capital in the nineties in the Dominican Republic, he saved his cell phones to go to the National Theater to see a musical, a ballet. She didn't put the computer in our heads. She kept saying, 'Go play outside, climb the trees, read!'

VIDEO: The team of People en Español and Zoë Saldaña in Cuba

Zoe Saldaña in Havana.

Which designers fit your style?

The honest, humble, educated and artists. I like those who follow their own trends. Prabal Gurung is exquisite, he comes from Nepal, he studied in India, England and New York. Speak four languages. He is a connoisseur of art. [I went] with Dolce & Gabbana to the Met Ball and you trust because you know they are artists, Italians, Sicilians and faithful to their roots.

When you are at home with your children, what clothes do you gravitate towards?

I love jeans. I feel androgynous in them, I feel as strong and hard as feminine and fragile. Now I'm obsessed with the 7 [For all Mankind]. You realize that in her design team there are women with curves, big butts, short or long legs because they present you with those options. [Now] that I'm a mom and I've seen how my body has been transformed, I want to wear things that fit me and are comfortable.

What other things have changed since you had children?

I can no longer wear four-inch cleats for four hours. I have to make sure that the shoes have been designed by women who know what it feels like when your back hurts, when you can't feel your toes anymore and avoid it without sacrificing the beauty of wearing heels. I love to celebrate women and make them feel included.

Is that the premise of your new YouTube channel?

Yes, it is called Cinestar and I and [my sisters] are proud to create content for women. We sit at a round table and while we drink wine we talk about work. We work to inspire women to take pride in their bodies.

You lead a very healthy lifestyle, how did you do it?

Our culture is not of tall and skinny people. We don't eat chicken and carrots; We have soup, stews, rice, fritters, everything! Our body reflects that. If God gave you thick legs, work with them and if you are still not happy then be disciplined. I don't believe in tomorrow, I believe in today. Diet should not exist in a woman's vocabulary. It is a lifestyle. To feel proud of yourself you have to be aware of what you are getting into the body and how you are treating it.

At this point in your life, what do you value the most about being a Latina?

Respect, love for family, being private and dedicated. All those principles that I feel today that, if it wasn't for [them], I don't know if I would have reached this point. I apply them every day.

VIDEO: 5 lessons that Zoë Saldaña has learned after being a mother

Professionally, what is your next step?

Lead. It is very difficult for me to have so little control in a project that I am part of. I love to tell stories and I am curious to be the narrator instead of the character. [Also] I want to be with my family. The truth is that as soon as I return home everything is better, more incredible, more enriching and inspiring.

To see more exclusive photos of Zoë Saldaña in Cuba, get our September issue, on sale tomorrow.