Zoe Saldaña on how Emilia Perez allowed her to reconnect with her roots; 'It was a gift for me'

Zoe Saldaña is going through a reflective period in her life. The actress is promoting her new film, "Emilia Perez," which has received critical acclaim and is in conversation as we enter awards season. 

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In an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Saldaña discussed her work in the film and the fact that it allowed her to tie together so many different faces of her life that she'd kept apart throughout most of her adulthood. 

"As a daughter of immigrants, also being an artist, having Spanish as my native tongue became a world that was very separate from the world that I lived in when I became an adult," she said. "And it was unconscious, it wasn't a purposeful intention."

Saldaña revealed that being in touch with her roots and the person that she truly is has become one of her main priorities at this stage in her life. "But after I became a mother and now that I'm perimenopausal I'm compelled to look back at all the things I've accomplished," she said. 

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"There's a great level of gratitude but also this desire to reconnect."

She also discussed how special it was to be involved with "Emilia Perez," especially to see how welcoming audience members have been since the film premiered. 

"Emilia Perez felt like a gift for me. It was a very selfish decision to make," she said. "Little did I know that it was going to be a film that was going to resonate for so many people for so many reasons. That's quite special."

You can check out her full interview below.

How Saldaña's background as a dancer paved her Hollywood career

Saldaña also got to dance, a skill that she hadn't utilized in her most recent work. "I'm a New Yorker, so you're born with jazz hands. And then you spend like half of your life unjazzing your hands," she said with a laugh. 

"I wanted to reconnect with that part of me. Ballet gave me so much, and I was able to utilize these skills that I obtained and it catapulted in this whole genre of action in Hollywood."

"I feel like it's the only reason why I'm here talking with you," she concluded, addressing Colbert.

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