Zoe Saldaña on Her Mom Embarrassing Her, Avatar: Fire and Ash & She Teaches Jimmy Her Archery Skills

Our first guest tonight is an Oscar-winning actor who is back on Pandora for the long-anticipated Avatar Fire and Ash. It opens in theaters December 19th. Please welcome Zoe Saldana. Thank you. Very festive as well. Thank you so much. Did you have a good Thanksgiving? We did. This year, Thanksgiving was also paired with my sons, my older sons, their birthday. They turned 11, so. Oh, wow. All right. So we had a Thanksgiving-slash-birthday. It was really nice. Did you put candles in the turkey and bring it out? I mean, we did not put candles in the turkey, and it was hard for us to find a cake that looked like a turkey. That's what they wanted. Yeah. And did they resent the idea that their birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving? No, they actually appreciate it, because we've always told them that they were the biggest gift we've ever received, and we're always so thankful. I know. It is a blessing to have kids on Thanksgiving. And they buy into that, huh? They do. No, they still do. Okay. Growing up, was Thanksgiving a big deal in your house? Yes. I mean, for my sisters and I, it was, because we were first-generation Latinas. But for my parents, we always had to remind them. And I would go, Mommy, it's Thanksgiving. When? Mommy, this Thursday is Thanksgiving. Oh, okay. And she would make a, she would make pork and rice and potato salad instead of a turkey. And then one year, we told her, we just want a traditional turkey like everybody else. And she's like, okay. And she got the recipe from a magazine, and she overstuffed the turkey and undercooked it. It was like, oh, she's so delicious. What'd she put in there? You know? Like a lot of apples. I'm like, how many apples did you put in? She goes, I put like three apples. In a way, your mother pardoned the turkey every year, you know? I know. And this is the irony. Now we're the ones that make the turkey, and every time we have Thanksgiving, we're craving the pork. You want the pork. Yeah. You can have both, you know? I think so. And Thanksgiving is always just about bringing families together. And I feel like today, in age, it's just whatever Thanksgiving means to you, as long as we're all coming together and we're bonding and staying connected, which is, it's beautiful. Yeah. I mean, after what people went through in the airport this weekend, you know, there were like almost 2,000 flights got canceled yesterday. That makes you, you must mean you really love your family, you know? Or it's probably the only time you get to see them, so you have to make it. Yeah. So how about like Christmas time, was that kind of traditional as far as American Christmas No, it wasn't. When did the lights go up for you guys? We would put up lights sometimes right after Halloween. Oh, wow. So I would say like October 31st, like we were trick-or-treating and putting up lights. Really? And sometimes, I remember there was one year where we didn't put our tree down until it was March. You have birthdays on Thanksgiving, and you put up Christmas lights on Halloween. There's a lot of multitasking going on in your family. I know, but my mom, my mom is an Aquarius, so she, you know, she runs to the beat of her own drum. And for her, it was more about like, well, do the lights make you happy, does the tree make you happy? And we're like, it makes us happy. She's like, then let's leave the tree on. So why not leave them up all year then? But here's the thing. Yeah. We could have put it down by the end of January, but I think that we just kept forgetting and kept blaming the other person, like it's your turn, it's your turn. So it stayed up until March. It stayed up until the neighbors had no problem with that? No, they didn't. No smart remarks? Your mother seems like a character. Yes, she is. And I feel like she's like a fine wine. The older she gets, the more, the better she is. The freer she is? No. That, thank God, she's a little more conservative now, but back then, my mom was, you know, she would go to topless beaches. I mean, she would be topless in beaches where you weren't supposed to be topless. Really? And when you're growing up to be like a teenager, that's like, you're embarrassed and you're feeling uncomfortable in your own body. And here's your mom like, hi, hello, like super free. Where were these beaches that your mother was? In Dominican Republic. We're like, Azalea, this isn't Ibiza. This is Dominican Republic. They're all Catholic here. Let's not do this. But she was like, I don't care. Wow. Did that just make you want to bury yourself in the sand? I think I did bury myself in the sand a couple of times. And it wasn't until I became older that I have a deep appreciation for the fact that my mom has always done things her way. Yeah, right. Yeah. She sure did. And you know what? I bet all the young boys on the beach had an appreciation for that too. Trust me. All my friends did. They always wanted to go to the beach with us. Guillermo, did your mother ever go topless on the beach? No, no, never. No? No. It's not too late, you know. She's 75. No, no. Oh my God. She should have hung out with my mom. You guys met, your family met Pope Leo. We did. In September, right? This year. Oh, I have a photograph of it. Here you go. There's the proof. There's you meeting the Pope. And now, did the Pope, like, he know your work? Has he seen Guardians of the Galaxy or Avatar or anything like that? I mean, I hope so, but we were definitely, it was a very beautiful encounter. At first, you tell yourself, oh, it's just the Pope. Like, it's just a human being and what are we doing? But as we were there and everybody was gathering and his sermon was so beautiful. I mean, you can see in the smiles of my sons. They were so, you know, they were so overwhelmed and so happy. Yeah, they do look happy. Yeah, they do look interested. And we are proud. He is American, guys. This is the first time we have an American Pope. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of awesome. Did you by any chance tell the Pope that your mom would go topless on the beach? No. No, but if I ever meet him again, I will definitely tell him about Asadio. Did you have like a, it's weird to, so weird to have an American Pope, isn't it? It is. The idea that, like, he watches baseball games and probably watches the Bears on, well, probably not on Sunday. He's not watching the Bears, but when the Bears are on Monday night, he's probably watching those games. He's from Chicago, right? Isn't he from Illinois? He's from Chicago, yeah. So he would have like a Chicago accent, which is kind of awesome. You didn't have, I would have been, if I was meeting the Pope and I was you, I'd be like, geez, I wonder if he's seen any of my movies. And I, you know, because, you know, he's meeting people all day long. And he's, you know, he wasn't always the Pope. He's now the Pope. But before, he was just, you know, he was a priest. And before that, just a guy. Yeah. Right? Exactly. He must have had those 3D goggles on at Avatar. I hope so. I really hope so. But next time I meet him, I am going to ask him, like, have you seen Avatar? At least Avatar. Because he can't lie and say, oh, yes. Or can he? Like, can he do that? I hope he doesn't. Yeah, well, if he had the Pope, I guess a white lie is even whiter when it comes to the Pope. Where are you going with that? Probably to hell is where I'm going, yeah. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to see a clip from the new Avatar movie, Avatar Fire and So what am I supposed to do? I can't run. I can't fight. Well, that's right. Ewa will provide. Yeah. So where was Ewa? Where was Ewa when our son? Jake! I'm in this place where I have nothing. Not my people. Not my forest. Even my father's bow is gone. All I have is my faith. That is Avatar Fire and So that was the first one was like what, like 16 years ago, something like that? It came out in 2009, but I was cast in 2006. The second one was 2000, came out in 2022. And now here we have number three. You shot number two and three at the same time. Yes, we did. What was different about the jump between those number one, number two and three? Was anything significantly different? I mean, we acquired more skills in the beginning. I was able to infer for Avatar one. I became an archer. I'm not professional, but but I learned archery and to ride a horse without a saddle and and like really big region. Those are those big Scottish horses. I also learned to I learned to ride any gun. But, you know, when we're shooting in performance capture, you're not really riding a big dinosaur looking bird. You're just riding big men. And by big. What do you mean by big men? I just like how tall. Yeah, really, really athletic, tall, you know, stunt men that are. And we would we would put a saddle on them. I would ride them. Yes. You didn't learn to ride them without a saddle. Just the horses. Just just the horses. Yeah. So these guys would have saddles on and like you'd be riding them for hours. I mean, nobody would believe me. I was just like, literally, I booked the biggest movie for the most amazing filmmaker. And I'm here writing big men like. So there were no more big men in this most recent one. No, no. Then then for for Avatar, Way of Water, we all took up free diving lessons and we learned to hold our breath for a long period of time underwater. And in this one, some of the actors learn to play with fire because now we're introducing a clan called the Mungwan clan and they're called the ash people. And it's because they grew up in areas that are closer to volcanoes. And and and fire is their element. I see. So they can do like tricks and stuff with fire. Yeah. But you learned well, archery. Yes. Among other things. Yes. And tonight you're going to demonstrate and maybe teach me to shoot an arrow. OK. Yeah. Would that be. I would love that. Yeah. We have. Yeah. Would you like to? Is that OK? Let me know. We have a we've got a bow for you. OK. This is mine. I'm a lefty. Hold on. OK. Oh, you're a lefty. Yes. Oh, all right. All right. Did you know that all Navis are lefty? No, I didn't know that. And when we were putting together the Navi culture back in 2006, he was like, well, if you're a lefty, I'm a lefty. Let's just make them all lefty. Like, OK. All the right handed people on set were like, oh, I didn't notice that you only have four fingers. So did that affect your three fingers? Three fingers. So what doesn't count? Oh, and a thumb. Yeah, right. Yes. I count the thumb. Oh, wait. I'm going to borrow some. OK. Oh, you got the arrows already. Yes. Sorry, I'm having trouble putting on my equipment. Oh, you need help? No, I think I can do it. OK. You're doing great. OK. Good. All right. Come on, Jimmy. Thank you. All right. I've got some arrows, too. So I'm going to go first, right? Yeah, they're very nervous about us doing this, by the way. Can I just tell you, I don't know which way is... But I heard the fire department gave us the green light, so we can do it, right? Is anybody back there? I think we're supposed to do it from over here. That's... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Otherwise... Oh, the way over there. Yes, we may penetrate that. You want to go first? You want me to go first? No, you go first, because I need to watch. OK, so I don't know how to... I don't know how to shoot it, like, regular. I do it the way the Na'vi do. OK. Ooh! OK, OK. Very Na'vi. Ooh! Very good. Tell me what to do. I've only been given two arrows. I'm not sure why. Well, I used them all. All right. OK, let's see. Now, tell me what to do here. You're righty. Yeah. All right. OK. All right. Let's see. I'm already screwed up. OK. You got to lift your elbow. There you go. Lift my elbow. There you go. Lift my elbow. Yeah. You're doing great. Am I OK? Don't close your eyes. Keep them open. Do I have a... And then pull it all the way back a little more. And there you go. Just let it go. Oh! Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. It's OK. Are you OK? I'm OK. This has happened before? No, this is the first time. Oh, well... Sorry, Guillermo. I'm so sorry, Guillermo. Sorry. Zoe's the one who taught me how to do it. It's really her fault. No, it's your fault. OK. All right. Well, you know what? This is why I'm not in the movie, I guess. Zoe Saldana, everybody. Thank you, Zoe. Thank you. Avatar Fire and Ash opens December 19th. We'll be back with Paul Anka.