Zoe Saldaña SaysEmilia PerezHair-Ripping Scene Was Her Idea — and the Background Actress Had to 'Fill Out a Form'

Mar. 15, 2025

Zoe Saldana.Photo:Variety/YouTube;  Samir Hussein/WireImage

Variety/YouTube;  Samir Hussein/WireImage

Zoe Saldaña’s hair-pulling moment inEmilia Pérezwas all her idea.

In herVarietyActors on Actorsinterview withKate Winslet, the actress, 46, recounted the dramatic gala scene in the Golden Globe-nominated musical thriller. While singing and dancing on tables throughout the ballroom, Saldaña (as Rita Mora Castro) approaches a blonde woman and rips out a piece of her hair extension.

“Well, I’m obsessed with her, I want to be like her,” Saldaña explains of her character’s motivations in the scene. “And now that she’s here, can I touch her? And I remember the background actress was like, ‘Of course you can touch me.’ And then you have the ADs and the producers like, ‘No, we might need her to fill out a form,’ and I’m like, ‘But she says I can touch her!'”

TheAvataractress said that the crew settled on Saldaña touching the background performer’s hair.

“We all sort of got goosebumps like, ‘Yeah let’s just do that,'” she recalled. “The actress was so complicit on everything.”

Zoe Saldana in ‘Emilia Perez.'.Variety/YouTube

Variety/YouTube

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In an exclusive interview on Monday, Dec. 9, Saldaña said that she spoke to several of her loved ones — includingher husband of over 10 yearsMarco Perego, and motherAsalia Nazario— afterlearning of her nomination, which marks her first Golden Globe nod.

“It feels really overwhelmingly beautiful,” Saldaña shared. “I didn’t know how much I wanted it because I stopped thinking that it would ever happen for someone like me. I’m really having an out of body experience and my heart is full of gratitude. It feels good to be recognized for the hard work that you put into something that you believe so much in.”

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The actress said she woke up her mom with the news but told her husband first. “My husband was awake. He was definitely awake, so I connected with him first and foremost,” she recalled.

source: people.com