Zoe Saldaña explains why working with her husband was difficult

Zoe Saldaña talks about the challenges – and breakthroughs – resulting from her first collaboration with her husband, Marco Perego, on a creative project.

In a conversation with Alicia Keys for the latest cover story of Beyond the noisethe Oscar winner, 47, reflects on what it was like filming the 2019 music video for Keys’ single “Show Me Love,” directed by Keys and featuring Saldaña alongside Perego.

“Working together on this music video was extremely difficult,” Saldaña admitted. “Because it was the first time I realized his approach to work, and [he realized mine].”

The couple, who married in 2013 and share three sons — Zen, 8, and twins Cy and Bowie, ages 8 and 10 — have long supported each other’s careers behind the scenes. But entering a shared creative space led to some unexpected friction.

“We found so many ways to be together,” Saldaña said. “We work together in life. We work together with our family. Now we work together in art.”

This change, she explained, exposed a new dynamic between them, especially when it came to rehearsals.

“He said to me, ‘I don’t like the way you talk to me when we’re rehearsing…,’” Saldaña recalls with a laugh. “I would tell him, ‘I keep telling you to come get me!'”

“You don’t want me to make an excuse. I don’t want you to make an excuse. This is why we train. So can you please remember what we just did?”

Saldaña also spoke about the realities of being an artist and the resilience needed to continue in an industry where rejection is constant.

“I don’t like the word hustle; it has such a connotation,” she said. “But you have to be determined and persistent. Being an artist means you’re going to be rejected a lot more than you’re accepted.”

For the future, the Avatar The star said she wanted to branch out into a new creative space: writing.

“Maybe I want to write a story,” she shared. “I would like to see if I have the courage to create a meaningful story that others will want to participate in. Because I am a storyteller, I grow from stories. I am saved from within by stories. And I want to continue telling them.”

Saldaña also expressed excitement over director James Cameron’s interest in developing a documentary about the Avatar films, especially the behind-the-scenes work that goes into capturing performances.

“I am delighted that [James Cameron] is considering a documentary on the making of Avatar“, she said. “This gives us the opportunity to explain, in a meticulous way, why performance capture is the most challenging form of acting.”

“With the technology he creates – because Jim is truly a scientist, as well as being a storyteller – he gives us the ability to own 100 percent of our performance on screen.”

Avatar: Fire and Ash is in theaters December 19