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Zoe Saldana Reveals Her Fight With Deadly Autoimmune Condition, Says It’s Women’s Fault That There Are So Many Male-Driven Movies

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 15:52 PST, Aug 20, 2016

Zoe Saldana revealed that she has a serious autoimmune condition, according to E! Online. The 38-year-old actress said she now eats clean in order to not worsen her condition.

In her recent interview with Net-a-Porter’s The Edit, Zoe Saldana revealed she suffers from a condition called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The Guardians of the Galaxy actress, who revealed both her mother and sister have the same autoimmune condition, explained what it does to her body.

“Your body doesn’t have the energy it needs to filter toxins, causing it to believe that it has an infection, so it’s always inflamed. You create antibodies that attack your glands, so you have to eat clean.”

So Zoe Saldana said that now she has to follow a clean gluten- and dairy-free diet. In fact, her husband, Marco Perego, is so supportive that he has chosen to follow the same diet as the Star Trek Beyond star.

Zoe Saldana also said that she had a “great time” in her 20s and complains that she never thought she would ever get to live to the age when your doctors tell you you’re losing calcium in the bones. In fact, she had thought she was going to “live forever.”

“But all of a sudden it hits you. I sh*t you not, it’s from night to day.”

A clean diet also apparently helps Zoe Saldana to boost her energy levels. And a busy actress such as Saldana sure needs to have her energy levels in check. Saldana is currently working on five films, three of which are upcoming Avatar films directed by James Cameron.

Apart from Star Trek Beyond, which was released last month, Zoe Saldana is also filming for Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 and Ben Affleck’s Live by Night. The actress also said that while male actors dominate in Hollywood movies today, the tide is turning, according to News Max.

“As women in positions of power, we have to use it to help other women. I got used to being the only girl in the room. Look at The Losers, look at Star Trek… It’s lonely!”

Zoe Saldana also added that she doesn’t care about male-driven plots as well as films about war because she wants to know what’s happening to women. And the Avatar star admits that actresses can’t fully influence the situation as it is the audience who has “the power.”

Zoe Saldana thinks that moviegoers are the ones who motivate filmmakers to create more male-driven stories, and even women are not buying enough tickets to films directed by females, written by females, and played by females.

“We’re going with our boyfriends to hold their f***ing hands to go see a movie that we couldn’t care less about!”

Female actresses earn less money than male actors, as revealed in the scandalous Sony hack two years ago. And Zoe Saldana believes there are indications the situation is changing for the better and more and more actresses are speaking out about the unfair treatment and asking filmmakers to pay them equally.

But Zoe Saldana assures that she is saying that not because she wants more acting opportunities to come her way, but because she wants to surround herself with “better people than me.”

And while she says she is not being hard on herself, she is just being honest. Zoe Saldana also added that she tends to get lost in environments she creates for herself, which is why she feels the need to look up to her husband, her sisters, parents, and friends.

“And I’m like, as long as I’m surrounded by you people, every time I want to go shallow, you guys always remind me that it’s not about me.”

[Photo by Jim Ross/Getty Images]

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