The devil is in the! details — but they didn't scare her.
Zoe Saldana wasn't afraid to step into Mia Farrow's shoes for the remake of the mother of all '60s horror flicks.
"I believe a new version doesn't have to replace the old one," says the soon-to-be real-life mom of her latest big-ticket starring role in NBC's mini-series "Rosemary's Baby." "It just offers a new perspective … and I think we do a pretty good job of it."
The new take on the 1968 Roman Polanski classic about an unsuspecting expectant mother who gives birth to the son of Satan, plays out over four hours. It stars big-screen names like Jason "The Patriot" Isaacs and Carole "For Your Eyes Only" Bouquet, and features Paris standing in for the original New York setting.
"Like everybody else, I'm a fan of the original," says the self-assured Saldana, 35. "But I haven't seen it in years and I didn't want it to color my performance. I didn't want to copy what Mia did. I wanted to do it my way, according to my age and the time and generation I belong to."
The Queens-bred Saldana has become a queen of blockbuster flicks with significant parts in "Avatar" and its upcoming sequel; the hotly anticipated "Guardians of the Galaxy," and the mega-hit "Star Trek" reboots. "I'm not hating it," she says of the big box-office wave she's riding. "It's great to me because these are all movies I'd pay to watch … and I get to be in them."
While the original "Rosemary's Baby" has a dedicated following, it's nothing compared to the geek fleet that feels ownership of the "Star Trek" franchise. "People were very protective of Uhura and I know it was a groundbreaking role for women of color in its time," Saldana says reverently of her character. "But I play her as a powerful and versatile woman who would be a natural leader in her or any time, and I've gotten a great response from the fans."
Though she's encouraged that race was not a concern in the recasting of "Rosemary's Baby," she admits she was more than a little troubled by the continued reality of racism recently revealed in the hateful statements by now-banned L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
"I just thank God it came from an old man from another era," she says. "He's a dying breed and that's a great thing. And I don't mean that to wish harm on him. We're the first generation born of the last generation of ignorance. Those beliefs will perish with them."
"Star Trek," however, will seemingly live forever. A new mission for the Enterprise is a certainty, according to the communications officer. "We're boldly going to go somewhere," she says. "I just don't know where or when yet."
Source : http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/saldana-bearing-trouble-rosemary-baby-article-1.1781706
