Zoe Saldana is gearing up for the big release of the third installment of the Star Trek series, Beyond that’s had its share of controversy and tragedy. Saldana’s co-star John Cho, who portrays Hikaru Sulu in the J.J. Abrams reboot, announced during an interview last week that his character will be shown with his male partner and their daughter when the film hits theaters on July 22. This was met by criticism from George Takei who played the helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the TV series from 1966-1969 as well as in six Star Trek feature films.
Writer and actor on Beyond Simon Pegg as well as Cho are standing by the decision of creating a gay storyline for Sulu. Saldana confirmed her support as well, during an exclusive interview with Variety Latino on Wednesday afternoon.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Simon,” Saldana told Variety Latino about working with Pegg as a writer. “Once we heard he would be writing the script with Doug [Jung], we felt safe, we felt taken care of. Not just because he’s our friend, but I’ve been an avid fan—and my whole family has—of Simon Pegg since Shaun of the Dead. So I know he writes exceptional characters and he doesn’t lose that element of humanity in his characters. They’re funny, quirky, they’re irritating! [laughs] They’re real. They’re tangible. He wanted us to have that. He wanted to give us each a challenge and see how we were going to pull through as our characters. I thought that was so honorable and so considerate.”
She added, “I think what he and Doug did— it wasn’t just he and Doug. It was a decision that had to pass through J.J., Bad Robot, and Paramount, through [director] Justin [Lin] as well and through John Cho. It felt right. It felt beautiful. It felt creative. We tried it and we supported Simon on it and we still do.”
Star Trek Beyond marks the final film in the series for actor Anton Yelchin who died tragically on June 19. Saldana credits her co-star, who she calls ‘our little genius,’ for getting the cast out to promote the film in a time of such sadness.
“I wish I could talk about it but it’s still so sudden, she said somberly. “It hasn’t even been a month since he passed so it’s a little difficult for me at the moment to even skim the surface on the loss of Anton.”
“We’re here because of him because we know he would want us promoting his movie. He always loved Star Trek.
