Zoe Saldana's Husband Took Her Name Even After She Tried to Stop Him

By Alessandra Foresto

Zoe Saldana looks gorgeous in a Dolce & Gabbana summery dress and bright-orange lipstick on the July 2015 cover of InStyle. In her interview with the magazine, Zoe gets candid about her marriage to Italian painter and sculptor Marco Perego, saying that the birth of their 5-month-old twin boys brought the couple closer than ever and made her finally feel comfortable with her lover. About her postpregnancy body, Zoe maintains her position that she wants to be and feel healthy. Keep scrolling for Zoe's must-read quotes, and pick up an issue of the magazine, on stands June 15, for the entire interview.

  • On her husband taking her last name: "I tried to talk him out of it. I told him, 'If you use my name, you're going to be emasculated by your community of artists, by your Latin community of men, by the world.' But Marco looks up at me and says [she puts on a cute Italian accent], 'Ah, Zoe, I don't give a sheet.'"
  • On her postpregnancy body: "I don't want to get back to where I used to be. I want to feel healthy, and not just fit into the old jeans I used to wear. I'm a woman now. My body has changed forever. It's softer . . . and stronger."
  • On her mixed-race family: "What was important for my mother is that we married somebody who still had dreams and aspirations — not what color or class they were from."
  • On how motherhood changed her marriage: "Finally, when we had our boys, I looked at my husband and I realized: I was meant for you, and you were meant for me. I've always felt comfortable around men as long as they were my friends. Now I finally feel comfortable with my lover."
  • On the controversy around her role as Nina Simone in the upcoming move Nina: "I didn't think I was right for the part, and I know a lot of people will agree, but then again, I don't think Elizabeth Taylor was right for Cleopatra either. An artist is colorless, genderless . . . It's more complex than just 'Oh, you chose the Halle Berry look-alike to play a dark, strikingly beautiful, iconic black woman.' The truth is, they chose an artist who was willing to sacrifice herself. We needed to tell her story because she deserves it."