If that's what I have to witness, and have to go through, to do a Hollywood movie, I'd rather do something else." Saldana's frustrations were also felt by star Johnny Depp, who revealed in a 2018 interview with GQ that, " The trouble with working with these big studios is they can get uncomfortable about certain creative decisions you make.
To me, that's what a Hollywood movie felt like. These statements expanded on previous comments from a 2011 interview with The Independent, in which Saldana said, “ I didn't like the experience of working on Pirates and I feel that it is my job to be completely honest. People disrespecting me because they look at my number on a call sheet and they think I'm not important. I was 23 years old, and I was like, ‘F- this!’ I am never putting myself in this situation again. It was very elitist.” She then went on to discuss the film’s impact on her career, saying: “ I almost quit the business. It was a lot of above-the-line versus below-the-line, extras versus actors, producers versus PAs. I'm talking about the political stuff that went on behind closed doors. Talking with THR in 2014, Saldana said, “ Those weren't the right people for me. Unfortunately, in Saldana’s experience, this on-screen camaraderie wasn’t reflected in the film’s production - though she insists that the cast were not to blame.
Related: Zoe Saldaña's 5 Best & 5 Worst Movies (According to IMDb) By the end of the film, having crossed blades with undead pirates, Anamaria and Jack (Johnny Depp) appear to be on better terms skeleton battles clearly at the heart of any good relationship. She hunts him down for stealing her boat, and - after dealing out a few deserved slaps - ends up joining his crew.
In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Saldana plays Anamaria: a no-nonsense pirate from Jack Sparrow’s past. Abrams-led Star Trek reboot, Saldana’s earlier experience with the then-fledgling Pirates franchise left a sour taste in her mouth and almost led her to quit Hollywood filmmaking altogether.
Though she later made waves starring in James Cameron’s Avatar, and the J.J. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a box-office smash for Disney, skyrocketing its cast to global-stardom - but actress Zoe Saldana neglected to return for any of its many sequels, citing her treatment off-screen as the reason why.