Zoe Saldaña on Avatar 3 and Shedding Light on Immigration in The Absence of Eden | The Tonight Show

-You look fantastic. How are you doing? Everything good? -Yeah, yeah. -Yeah. How was traffic getting in with the president here? Yeah. -It was fine for me. Like, I'm a native New Yorker, so any chance I get to come to New York, even if it's just for like 26 hours, I'm so grateful. -Yeah. Welcome back, Welcome home. Welcome home. -Thank you. -Last time we chatted, it was right before "Avatar: Way of the Water" was coming out. And obviously, the movie did pretty well. -It did, right? -Yeah, yeah,

yeah. It made -- By the way, it made -- I don't know if you heard this -- over $2 billion. $2 billion. -Yeah. -Congratulations. -Thank you. -Congratulations. -Thank you. -Well done. On top of that, you became the first and only actor to have four movies -- This is four movies -- to make over $2 billion at the box office. [ Cheers and applause ] You're the first actor. This is insane. I mean -- -It never gets old. I'm telling -- I'm pinching myself. I do believe that half of it was luck. Had I pl

anned this, I don't think the outcome would have been this way. -Oh, my gosh. -No, no, no, no. -But this is the biggest thing in the world. -Yeah, yeah. -What do you think when you see that headline? You go, "Oh, wow, that's wild. These are just projects I worked hard on, and they became the biggest things in the world." "Avengers" and everything you've done. -Yeah. And here's what's interesting is that it's -- They were created, written, and directed by kids -- by people that were probably, you

know, bullied when they were younger and considered nerds. Now, I just had an incident at my kid's school where somebody called him a nerd, and I just looked at him and I was like, "Then you turn around and you say, 'Thank you.'" -Wow. -Just say, "Thank you." He goes, "Why?" I'm like, "Well, you're smart." -Yeah. Because nerds are going to rule the world, yeah. -Yeah. And they do get pretty girls, too. Sometimes. Sometimes. -Yeah, you do. -Sometimes. Yeah, they do. Yeah. Was was there ever a mo

ment in your career where you go, "I made it"? -Yes. Yes. When I was 19, I booked a Burger King commercial. -Wow! That is a big deal. -But I didn't think it was a big deal, but when I came home after shooting it, my family -- they were all waiting for me outside. And, like, when you're from Jackson Heights, like, you live, like, in a building, you know, and one block is filled with like six buildings. They were all outside and they had called the neighbors. And I'm like, "Guys, stop." They calle

d everybody in the Caribbean. It's like, "She's in a Burger King commercial. She's eating this French fry, and they're singing this song." -Everyone knew that. It was a worldwide phenomenon. Fans of Zoe Saldana -- Yeah, that's pretty wild. -And I felt like, "Oh, I think I'm gonna go places after this." You know? It was funny. -19 in a Burger King spot? What was the spot? What were you doing? -I was just eating a French fry. It was really stale and cold, but I made it seem like it was the most de

licious French fry. -Yeah, that's what acting is. -Absolutely. -Well, we actually knew that you were coming on the show, and we found this commercial. I wanted to show everybody. -No! -Here's Zoe Saldana in a Burger King commercial. Take a look at this. -Stop. -♪ Just the two of us ♪ ♪ We can make it if we try ♪ ♪ Just the two of us ♪ ♪ You and I ♪ -Oh, I re-- [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ That's a standing ovation. Come on. -Thank you. -That's what I'm talking -- See? That's your big break. That's

our Zoe. -But it was a big break, because I got my SAG card for my commercial. Yeah. -Yeah, it was great. I remember that spot, by the way. That's awesome. -You do? You're lying. -Yeah. I remember that Bill Withers song. That was a whole campaign. "Just the Two of Us." -You remember? my French fry-eating Burger King commercial? -I remember the "Just the Two of Us" and two hamburgers. -Oh, my God! And you remember the special. You're like, "Two for a buck or..." -Like, "That girl eating the frie

s -- Those fries look so good, I gotta get over there. I gotta go over there and figure these French fries out, man." You posted this, and everyone went nuts on the Internet. I'm assuming this is "Avatar 3"? -Yes. We shot 2 and 3. We started shooting in 2017. And it's -- You know, 2 already came out, and 3 -- it's still, like, an ongoing thing where Jim will come back and he will continuously work on it, because just the technology requires so much time. -I love Jim Cameron, James Cameron. He's

amazing. -He's a scientist, I'm telling you. But they did -- they called me back in January, out of nowhere, and they're like, "We just have some pickup shots. Can you please come in?" I was like, "Okay." He's like, "It's super -- You know, no hassle. It's just little close-ups." And all of a sudden, they're like, "Hey, so, now this shot is you on your ikran." The Akron is my dragon that I ride. And I'm like, "Are you kidding me? Like, I haven't gone to the gym in like... And they're like, "Oh,

it's gonna be fine. It's super-easy." Guys, I took a squat and I couldn't get up. I was just like -- I was literally like this. And they're like, "Cut, Zoe." I'm like, "I need help. I need y'all to come and help." -Yeah, exactly. "What's the next scene? Is my character like this?" Yeah. I couldn't do it. -I did the ride. Have you done the ride or -- -Yes, yes. -You did do the ride? -Yes, at Disney World. It was amazing! -Wait, I would freak out to do the ride with you, if you're in Disney. -We s

hould do it. And, like, the mist and everything. -You're on this -- Yeah, you're sitting on the dragon thing and you're going through. And then the machine starts breathing. -Yes. And I go, "This is the most craziest ride ever." -It's insane. -You did it? -Yeah. -That's so cool of you. You're awesome. -I want to go back. -Yeah. So, let's talk about this movie you're here to talk about tonight, "The Absence of Eden." You star in it, you produce it, and your husband directed and co-wrote this. Wow

! That's a family affair. [ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you. Thank you. -A lot of work. -I'm really proud of him. My husband -- you know, he's been living here from Italy for almost two decades, became a citizen, got married here, started a family. And the whole conversation around immigration just -- As time goes by, we just become more and more aware how complex it is. And I guess that his desire to jump into my medium of art and to make a film about it just was the natural course for him in

terms of, like, how he's reconciling what this means to him. And, you know, in Italy in 2015, I believe, 714 children died, lost their lives crossing from Syria to Italy. And this is all happening while my husband was sort of welcoming his sons. So that affected him. And he created this amazing conceptual piece of 714 shoes. And he filled him up with cement and he sold it to the Rennie Collection. Bob Rennie is this huge collector in Vancouver. And after that, the continuation of that conversati

on was just a story. He wrote Esmeralda, my character, with me in mind, and obviously, I want to support him, but also, I didn't have a choice, you know. -Well, I mean, of course. -But I have a great level of respect for Marco and what he does. He's an exceptional artist. I feel like I work in art. Marco makes art. Like, he is art, you know? -Yeah. I got to meet him backstage, and I was like, "Yeah --" But, also, so much work goes into this. He's so proud of this. -Yes. -Is the first time you gu

ys are working together? -First time. I mean, I feel like we are working together having three boys. It is sort of a labor of love. -Yeah, absolutely. It is a job. It is a big job. That is working. Three boys? -Yeah. -Three boys, yeah. -They're so delicious. But it's like Marco says -- our home is, like -- Our life is like a big, wonderful disaster. It's so great. But, yeah, he wrote this, and it was great to just see him, like, build a playground of his own and be so happy in it, you know? And,

yes, it was a very heavy subject. He dedicated the film to my grandmother, who arrived -- who was our matriarch. And she, you know, lost her life in 2019. She lost her battle with cancer a month before we started shooting the movie. But she was his biggest champion, my biggest enabler, all of ours. And this film is dedicated to her, because, thanks to her, when she arrived here in 1961, running away from a dictatorship, from Dominican Republic, New York, America, opened its doors to her, and sh

e was able to manifest her dreams. And part of that was providing a better life for her children. And here I am, a fruit of that labor, a product of her sacrifices. And I'm always grateful, but always very well aware that that conversation around immigration is not as simple and it's not as easy and as glorious for everybody. And all we wanted to do was just remind people that it is about humanity, that these are people. Whether we agree as to why they're crossing any border, these are women and

children and fathers and sons and disabled people and doctors and scientists. They're not just, you know, service providers. And we just need to have -- We need to make more space to understand the human side of this complex subject. -Let's keep the conversation going. -Yes. [ Cheers and applause ] -Great. Great for you. -Yeah. Thank you. -You got someone rooting for you up there, yeah. I want to show everyone a clip. Here's Zoe Saldana in "The Absence of Eden." Take a look at this. -We come he

re, plant your seeds with our dirty hands, and then we help them grow while you get to put your feet up. Your crops, your children, your future. We make it all grow. And what do you do? You just take and take and take and take and take and take! You take because you're empty! -Fantastic. -Thank you. -Zoe Saldana, everyone. "The Absence of Eden" is in theaters April 12th. Neal Brennan joins us after the break. Stick around, everybody.