Zoe Saldana says studios will pay for male stars' private jets but won't pay for day care

Zoe Saldana has worked on all sorts of movie productions, from big-budget franchise movies to small indie movies like her new drama Indefinitely Polar Bear. During an interview for that film, which is coming out this weekend even though it was filmed two years ago, Saldana claimed that studios will go out of their way to make a male star comfortable, but won’t pay for day care.

While chatting with USA Today, the mother of six-month-old twins said that there was one big project where her character was about to be written out of just because she was pregnant. She didn’t say what film she was talking about (Would Paramount actually make a Star Trek movie without Uhura?) but she was thankfully not written out of any film.

Saldana explained further that studios will “spend more money sometimes 'perking' up male superstars in a movie” with private jets, bodyguards and assistants. She said they could even get a penthouse or a yacht to stay in during production.

“But then a woman comes in going, 'OK, I have a child. You're taking me away from my home. You're taking my children away from their home. And you're going to make me work a lot more hours than I usually would if I was home. Therefore, I would have to pay for this nanny for more hours — so I kind of need that,’” Saldana said. “And they go, ‘Nope, we don't pay for nannies.’”

Saldana’s next job is Star Trek 3, in which she’ll play Uhura again. A rep for Saldana told USA Today that Paramount has already figured out the child care issue for that production. After that, she will make Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Ben Affleck’s Live By Night. Eventually, she’ll also be starring in the Avatar sequels.

image courtesy of INFphoto.com