In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo crosses into unfamiliar territory to discuss “The Absence of Eden” with star Zoe Saldana (“Avatar,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”) and her husband and first-time director Marco Perego-Saldana. The film follows multiple characters from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border and revolves around the dilemmas faced in dealing with the many hardships brought on by immigration laws and the enforcement of those laws. The Marco Perego-Saldana-directed film is produced by Martin Scorsese and stars Garrett Hedlund, Adria Arjona, Tom Waits, Chris Coy, and more.
During the interview, actress Saldana discussed the unusual path her husband and director, Perego-Saldana, took toward creating their immigration-centered drama. Primarily known as a painter and sculptor, Marco Perego-Saldana first tackled the topic in another medium.
“It’s not unfamiliar territory for [Marco], “Saldana shared. “In 2016, Marco created a concept, a sculpture surrounding this topic that he was deeply moved by. In 2016, there were reported 714 children who had lost their lives emigrating from Syria to Italy in a span of a year. And Marco couldn’t reconcile with that reality and how, at the moment that he’s welcoming his sons into the world, there are people losing sons, and there are families losing children, and they’re just being washed offshore. And so he created this sculpture, this piece with 714 pairs of shoes of children, and he put cement in them, and this piece was bought by the Rennie collection in Toronto and Canada. So conversations around immigration have always been very sensitive conversations for Marco. And I’m just deeply proud of him for choosing another medium to continue this conversation.”
As for why Saldana herself signed on, it was less about lending her star power and more about how affected she was by the material.
“[I joined ‘Absence…’] not just because my husband wrote it and he was going to direct it. He asked me to be a part of it, but he just really created characters that were in very uncomfortable and unconventional situations, and they were acting either poorly or greatly,” Saldana said. “And they would go unseen every day. That felt to me so familiar, so normal. Even though my life around immigration is not close, I don’t have situations where we live deeply affected by immigration, but we are surrounded by people whose stories around immigration we know, we’re curious about, we ask, we were deeply moved by.”
Zoe Saldana is well-known for her blockbuster roles in the “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avatar,” and “Star Trek” franchises, which have either finished their arc or are in a state of limbo for the foreseeable future. Still, Saldana has another project this past year that appears to be moving into developing another installment —Taylor Sheridan’s “Special Ops: Lioness.”
“We are very much in talks for a Season Two,” Saldana teased. “We’re very grateful that the show was received well. There were critics that, if they were harsh in the beginning, after watching the show, they came back for a reevaluation. I was very grateful that they felt compelled to do that. And I’m indebted. I think that Taylor right now is one of the most in-demand film and TV creators right now. And he’s popular for a reason. I think that he writes really, really well. I’m happy that he decided to also write a show like ‘Lioness’ about women in service. And yeah, I just can’t wait. I can’t wait for us to understand and know when, where, how, and what we’re going to be doing for season two.”
“The Absence of Eden” is in theaters on April 12th. You can listen to the full interview below.
