W&W
Now you're standing here with your first Oscar if you could go back to any moment of your life and let that version of Zoe know this is only going to make you stronger and pre- pare you for this moment, when would it be?
Zoe Saldaya: I think it's every time that I went after a part and I didn't get it, and I cared so much, and I was so heartbroken for sometimes a day, sometimes a week, but I got up again so at the end of the day, if I don't act, if I don't do my art, then what am I who am I and realizing that it's not about the win when you learn to let that go, and it is about the work day in and day out, the day that you do when you just have a deeper appreciation for it, and you feel that you have appreciated every experience and every moment that has led you here.
There's a musical song in the movie Emilia Perez that says let the people talk. How would you sing this song to someone, and how would you react to the politics in South America when the movie Emilia Perez was released?
Zoe Saldaya: You know that the art that is created doesn't have a manual with instructions; it was created with love, hope, and prosperity, and art is a form. It creates topics that sometimes people wouldn't understand right away, and to create these movies, it's to bring more voices to the table for discussion, and that's precisely what the director intended in doing by making this film.
This movie is not inspired by a true story. If I had to make this film again, I would do it 1000 times. This film holds immense importance, is visually stunning, and was created with a great deal of love and sacrifice.
I can only talk about it in this light because that was my personal experience; of course, all the politics that happened with the film really hurt a lot because you, as an actor, create
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE WIN
WHEN YOU LEARN TO LET THAT GO, AND IT'S ABOUT THE WORK
DAY IN AND DAY OUT THAT YOU DO WHEN YOU JUST HAVE A DEEPER
APPRECIATION FOR IT, THAT EVERY MOMENT HAS LET YOU HERE.
a film with a lot of love and with your heart wide open. When the film doesn't receive positive reviews, you begin to question why, what transpired, and what went wrong.
But after you take a deep dive, explore, and process the film, you have to come to an ultimatum decision.
and with that i always follow my heart, and i stay true to myself because I know during this film I did it with a noble conscience, and I know that this film that I created as an ac- tress was in noble art, so therefore i don't regret being a part of this film.
What would you say was the largest obstacle you've had to overcome to get here tonight?
Zoe Saldaya: I think it was myself, you know; there's so many external factors that can impede you moving forward if you stop moving forward, you know, I had a hard time sometimes getting out of my own way and, you know, self-sabotaging and thinking that, oh, trying to believe what others wanted me to believe or trying to believe what others saw in me and not listening to my voice.
we have an instinct, and that instinct that keeps us from fall- ing or helps us put our hands, you know, in front of our face to protect us when we fall, that's the same instinct that when you're reading a script or you're meeting someone and you just know that you're right for that part and you know that you being a part of that will be something exceptional, and you just have to listen to that, so I can spend so much thinking about all the things that I don't have that I should acquire, but I can also think about Fuck it let me just, like my husband says, throw myself into the unknown and see what comes of it, and I'm having a lot more fun when i do that.
COURTESY OF A.M.P.A.S.