When pressed on the critique of her “not being Black enough” to play the jazz icon Nina Simone, the Star Trek star stressed, “There’s no one way to be Black.” She adds, “I’m Black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am Black. I’m raising Black men. Don’t you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain.”
On having no regret playing Nina Simone:
“The fact that we’re talking about her, that Nina Simone is trending? We fucking won,: she said. “For so many years, nobody knew who the fuck she was. She is essential to our American history. As a woman first, and only then as everything else. The script probably would still be lying around, going from office to office, agency to agency, and nobody would have done it. Female stories aren’t relevant enough, especially a Black female story. I made a choice. Do I continue passing on the script and hope that the ‘right’ Black person will do it, or do I say, ‘You know what? Whatever consequences this may bring about, my casting is nothing in comparison to the fact that this story must be told.’”
On the premature birth of her twin sons:
“The boys came at 32 weeks. They found protein in my urine; my platelets crashed. I didn’t qualify for an epidural, so I delivered under general anesthetic. I didn’t even meet them until a day later.”
On loving her babies fiercely:
“Looking back, I think the boys were three or four months old, and one morning I woke up with just this flood of emotions. Marco had them, too, and we were able to have our deconstruction session in the bathroom while they were napping, to say to each other, ‘Holy shit, did we come close to it all changing forever?’ We allowed ourselves to have a moment of ‘poor us.’ And that was it. Then somebody cried, and it was ‘Got to go!’
Zoe Saldana amd Her Baby Bump Get KISSY With Husband Marco Perego Zoe two yrs ago
