Zoe Saldaña Gets “Cool Points” From Her Kids for Making These Types of Movies

Zoe Saldaña’s illustrious acting career has seen her star in award-winning, blockbuster projects from Avatar and Emilia Pérez to Guardians of the Galaxy and Pirates of the Caribbean. Her robust résumé has earned her accolades, dizzying salaries, and fame. But none of that can amount to “cool points” from her kids.

Saldaña shares three sons, twins Bowie and Cy, 10, and Zen, 8, with her husband Marco Perego. She opened up about what they think of her work while promoting her new children’s movie Elio on Good Morning America today.

“Since becoming a parent, incorporating what I do—my art—into a genre that caters to children has always been a great interest to me,” the 46-year-old said. “And I get to relate to them, and I also get some mad cool points as a mom.”

She added that her sons have seen Elio and enjoyed watching her in it. She continued, saying, “They immediately bought into the story. I think that everybody can relate to the themes that Elio talks about: About feeling like an alien in your own skin, feeling like you don’t belong. But longing to be a part of a community that accepts you and sees you for who you are. My boys definitely liked it.”

While her three kiddos approve of these types of projects, whether they actually watch all of her kids’ movies is a different question. Saldaña revealed Bowie and Cy have started to move on to more mature content.

“But I do have to say, my 10-year-olds, they’re watching Friends now. They grow up too fast,” the Avatar star said. “But my 8-year-old cannot wait for Elio to come out.”

Last month, Saldaña and Perego had a rare family outing with all three of their boys. They stepped out at the Centre Pompidou-Metz museum to see Perego’s new exhibit, followed by a seafood lunch and walk on the beach. The actress gave her 11.3 million followers a glimpse at their chic outing on Instagram.