Daijiworld Media Network - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, Oct 11: Hollywood star Zoe Saldana has opened up about the creative friction and personal breakthroughs she experienced while working alongside her husband, Marco Perego, for the first time on a professional project. In a candid conversation with Beyond Noise, the Oscar-winning actress reflected on the making of the 2019 music video for Alicia Keys' single Show Me Love, in which the couple co-starred.

“Working together on that music video was extremely challenging,” Saldana admitted, describing the project as a revealing moment in their relationship. “It was the first time I realized his approach to working — and he realized mine.”

Although Saldana and Perego, who married in 2013 and share three sons — Zen, 8, and 10-year-old twins Cy and Bowie — have long supported each other's careers privately, stepping into a shared artistic space introduced new dynamics. What they had mastered in parenting and life partnership was suddenly tested under the pressures of performance and rehearsal.

“We’ve figured out so many ways of how to be together. We work together at life. We work together with our family. Now, we work together in art,” she said.

However, artistic collaboration brought its own challenges. Saldana recalled a moment of tension during rehearsal: “He was like, ‘I don’t like the way you’re talking to me when we’re rehearsing,’” she said with a laugh. “And I would tell him, ‘I keep telling you to pick me up!’”

Detailing the back-and-forth, she added with humor and candor, “You don’t want me to make an excuse. I don’t want you to make an excuse. That’s why we practice. So can you please remember what we f****** just did?”

Beyond her personal anecdotes, Saldana also reflected on the broader reality of life as an artist — particularly the resilience it demands. Speaking to People, she acknowledged the emotional toll of an industry driven by constant rejection.

“I don’t like the word hustle; it has such a connotation,” she said. “But you have to be determined and persistent. To be an artist means that you’re going to get rejected a lot more than you are accepted.”

Saldana’s honesty offers a rare glimpse into both the intimate and professional complexities of creating art with a life partner, as well as the strength it takes to endure in an industry that seldom goes easy on even its most seasoned stars.