‘I don’t share your opinion’: Zoe Saldaña finally responds to Mexican backlash to ‘Emilia Perez’ after Oscar win

Despite being an awards tank, Netflix’s Emilia Perez has been the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons. Between Zoe Saldaña has finally responded to the backlash.

The poor press didn’t manage to Emilia Perez still took home statues despite the haters’ cries.

One winner was Saldaña, who took home her first Academy Award for ing Actress. The Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy actor is perhaps the least controversial part of this sordid affair, with her performance widely praised. However, she felt the need to clarify things in the press room when a journalist commented that Emilia Perez was “really hurtful for us Mexicans.”

The Guardian reported she took the point seriously. She responded, “I’m very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended.” She also added that the crew, mostly made up of Europeans, were coming from a place of empathy, not malice. “That was never our intention. We spoke from a place of love,” she said.

Though the Dominican-American star respected the reporter who raised the point, she disagreed with the sentiments. “I don’t share your opinion,” Saldaña shared, seemingly implying that the movie’s setting was not a commentary on Mexico. “For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico. We were making a film about friendship. We were making a film about four women.”

Regardless of her comments, Mexican people, their culture, and the problems immigrants face in the U.S. were major threads in the story. Emilia Perez is, first and foremost, a character drama, but it’s challenging to separate the people in it from their backgrounds, which heavily influenced themes in the narrative.

She continued, “These women could have been Russian, could have been Dominican, could have been Black from Detroit, could have been from Israel, could have been from Gaza. And these women are still very universal women that are struggling every day, but trying to survive systemic oppression and trying to find the most authentic voices.”

Saldaña concluded, “So I will stand by that, but I’m also always open to sit down with all of my Mexican brothers and sisters, with love and respect, [to have] a great conversation on how Emilia could have been done better.” With this topic not going away, it’s clear that conversation needs to happen.