Zoe Saldaña stepped out for the world premiere of new Pixar Animation Studios' animation Elio on Tuesday. But it was during a Q&A session where she shared a particularly touching message, offering insight into why she felt such an emotional connection to this project.
Elio promises to be a "big-screen comedic misadventure", following an "alien-obsessed" boy who is transported to another universe that's home to "intelligent life from galaxies far and wide".
After attending the world premiere with her three sons – Cy, Bowie and Zen – Zoe sat down at an event attended by HELLO! at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood for a Q&A.
© FilmMagic, Axelle/Bauer-GriffinWhen asked about how she connected her character, Aunt Olga, Zoe said: "I think I connected more to Elio at first. Like Elio, I am a child that lost a parent at a very early age [Zoe lost her father, Aridio, in 1987 when she was just nine years old]. I certainly was able to sympathise with Elio's feelings of isolation – but also his bravery."
She continued: "To me, Elio seems to be such a brave little boy. Among all this adversity and volumes of pain that he just can't describe, he still has this courage to be abducted [by aliens].
"He thinks, 'If I'm not needed here, I'm going to be somewhere else.' I think that is so beautiful about him. I was never like Elio. I wish! I never thought, 'Oh, I'm going to go to space.' I just wanted to get through third grade."
Zoe plays Aunt Olga, a NASA analyst and Elio's guardian who's rarely seen without a parenting guide. The mom of three opened up about how she revelled in the opportunity to put the "uncertainty of parenting" into Olga.
© Getty Images for Disney/Pixar"I certainly feel like an [Aunt Olga] sometimes to my own children," she said. "And when I fail hard, I feel really, really bad sometimes. I can feel like such a fraud with them. I always wake up the next day and I think, 'I'm going to do better. I'm going to love them harder.'
"But sometimes you just have to do what Olga realises in the end; you don’t have to understand your kids, you just have to love them. So, any chance I get to relate to my children by being a part of stories that move them like Elio, I’m going to take."
As the story unfolds and Elio journeys to a new universe, he's mistaken for Earth's leader. The synopsis continues: "he’ll have to form unexpected bonds, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and make sure he doesn’t lose the opportunity to live out his ultimate dream."
When asked about what it was like to tell the story of Olga and Elio, Zoe said it was "quite beautiful that they are a brown family – and that they are children of immigrants with wild dreams and great expectations".
"You can tell that Olga is living that right now and she’s trying to bestow that to her nephew, who she has to mother for the rest of their lives," she continued.
"Olga loves Elio deeply and raises him like her own child – and it pains her to watch him struggle to connect with people. He’s trying to find a place where he belongs," she said. "Pixar delivers a heartfelt, funny and beautiful story. It's emotional. It's a ride."
Elio will be available to watch at cinemas on 20 June.
