So many of you were corrected me or correcting each other on Tuesday’s Zoe Saldana post that I think some of you missed one of Zoe’s more ridiculous quotes. The one about Nina Simone got all the attention – Zoe said “Let me tell you, if Elizabeth Taylor can be Cleopatra, I can be Nina” – which caused a lot of debate about what Cleopatra really was ethnically. I referred to Cleopatra as an “Egyptian queen” which apparently caused some kind of flame-war. My bad…?

Anyway, Zoe also had something ridiculous to say about how she’s “androgynous” and the way she used the word made me think that she doesn’t really know what “androgynous” means. Zoe said, “I might end up with a woman raising my children. That’s how androgynous I am.” The definition of androgynous: “having the characteristics or nature of both male and female” or “neither specifically feminine nor masculine.” I get where Zoe was going, and I think I understand what she meant, but it might have been more straight-forward to say “I’m bisexual, sometimes I think I should get a girlfriend and make her my baby-mama.” So when Zoe was asked about her comments at the LA premiere of Star Trek, she seemed to double-down:

Zoe Saldana’s new interview with Allure magazine has attracted a lot of attention — in more ways than one. In addition to posing nude for the June issue, the 34-year-old Star Trek Into Darkness actress allowed the magazine to print her weight on the front cover and opened up about her sexuality in a revealing profile within.

Under Saldana’s name on the gorgeous cover, Allure wrote, “115 pounds of grit and heartache.” Inside the issue, Saldana showed off her slim figure in a sexy photo shoot that included a fully nude shot.

Saldana, who split from Bradley Cooper earlier this year, also said she may consider dating a woman in the future. “[I might] end up with a woman raising my children,” she explained of her sexuality. “That’s how androgynous I am.”

When asked if she’s ever been in a relationship with a woman before, Saldana said, “Promise me one thing: You’re going to ask this question [in the article]—- if you choose to, just put three dots as my response. That’s it.”

At the Hollywood premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness on Tuesday, May 14, Saldana further explained her quotes to reporters. “It wasn’t a generalization. It was a statement that I strongly stand by,” she said of calling herself “androgynous.”

“I said it and they literally put it word for word. I guess what I was trying to let the world understand is that it’s everybody’s decision to do whatever they want to do and who they love is their own personal decision.”

“As of today, I’ve been attracted to the male species but if one day I wake up and I want to be with a woman, I will do that because it is my life and therefore it is my decision.”

[From Us Weekly & ET]

I still don’t see what androgyny has to do with Zoe being with a woman. Androgyny is not sexuality. You can be an androgynous man or woman and be heterosexual, and you can be an androgynous man or woman and be homosexual. Androgynous isn’t a code word for gay or bi. If taken at face value, is she saying that she can be butch and she’ll want to be with a femme lesbian? Or is she completely misconstruing androgyny with bisexuality? She’s either pushing an outdated gender normative discussion or she’s just kind of dumb.

Oh, and Page Six says this morning that Zoe has been quietly seeing a man.

Despite musing that she may one day raise her kids with a woman, “Star Trek Into Darkness” star Zoe Saldana is getting close to handsome Italian artist Marco Perego, Page Six can exclusively reveal. Sources at a private party for the movie in LA Tuesday night said Saldana stuck close to long-haired Perego. One said, “They looked very close and were later seen kissing.” But another source told us, “Zoe and Marco have known each other for a while as friends. It’s too early to say they are dating.” Marco, also known as the Pirate Perego because of his long hair and resemblance to Johnny Depp, is a former professional footballer turned artist after suffering a leg injury. He moved to Spanish Harlem and worked as a busboy and waiter before his first show where he sold work to Giorgio Armani. He famously produced a 2008 sculpture of a bloody, dead Amy Winehouse titled “The Only Good Rock Star Is a Dead Rock Star.” Stunning Saldana ended her 12-year relationship with entrepreneur Keith Britton in 2011, then had a brief romance with Bradley Cooper. Her rep said last night, “We don’t comment on our clients’ personal lives.”

[From Page Six]

Hm. Perego sounds… rich. Interesting.

Photos courtesy of Allure, WENN.

You know I’m not Zoe Saldana’s biggest fan, but I really do try to give her a break sometimes. But I will never understand how Zoe became some kind of “Fashion Girl”. Yes, she’s made a few good choices over the years, and I applaud her for consistently trying new looks, even if they rarely work out. But for the most part, Zoe is on my permanent “Worst Dressed” List. And this dress is a perfect example of that. These are photos from last night’s Star Trek Into Darkness premiere in LA. This post is just for the ladies of the premiere, I’ll do a separate post for the dudes.

Zoe’s dress is Rodarte, and believe it or not, it was totally worse on the runway. This red carpet version is actually an improvement!! And that’s sad, because this dress is completely terrible. The ruffles, the netting, the complete design failure. It’s the wrong color for Zoe too – who puts a dark-skinned woman in this fleshy-nude color?! But really, the whole thing just looks impossibly cheap, like someone repurposed some old stockings and some glitter. And OMG that white cardigan?! Jesus take the wheel.

Here’s something shocking – I love this Zuhair Murad on Alice Eve. The design seems futuristic, which is perfect for this particular premiere, it’s a nice, clean, modern look, and it’s tailored beautifully. Well done, Alice. My one complaint: her makeup seems “off”.

Here’s Kate Beckinsale in Alberta Ferretti. She’s not in the movie, it’s not her premiere or anything, so she doesn’t need to steal focus. So she just chose a flattering and cute little black dress. She looks nice. I like the jazzy Jimmy Choos too – the yellow detailing is nice pop of color.

Jennifer Morrison in an Editions by Georges Chakra Spring 2013 jumpsuit. She’s not in the movie either, but she’s been doing a lot of red carpets lately. Anyway, I’m not crazy about this look but I don’t flat-out hate it either.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Zoe Saldana covers the June issue of Allure Magazine, and I have no idea if this is the “naked” issue or whatever, but Zoe completely dropped trou for the photoshoot. She also dramatically changed up her hair, and I really like the long, bouncy curls on her. She rarely wears her hair curly on red carpets, and she should start because it makes her look younger and less… drawn. As for the Allure interview… well, I don’t care for Zoe’s personality that much. She reminds me of Rooney Mara with a dash of Goop – there’s a smugness there, an unearned pretentiousness. You can see the Allure slideshow here, and here are some highlights from the interview:

I don’t think she knows what “androgynous” means: “I might end up with a woman raising my children. That’s how androgynous I am.”

On the idea of raising a child with another woman as her partner? “Yes, I was raised that open.”

Has she had a relationship with another woman? She deliberates, then says, “Promise me one thing: You’re going to ask this question [in the article]—if you choose to, just put three dots as my response. That’s it.”

Dating actors: “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”

She doesn’t “test” relationships: “If I have something good in front of me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a person or a pair of shoes, I’m not going to test something else. It’s insecure and it’s immature.”

Saldana is emphatic about the difficulties she faced when she filmed Pirates of the Caribbean:The Curse of the Black Pearl The “leadership,” she says, “pick[ed] who to be nice to and who to dispose of because they’re not important. Those are signs of a very poor character.” Then she adds: “I can be a nobody according to you at that time. But I’ve always been a somebody.”

The criticism about Zoe playing Nina Simone: “Let me tell you, if Elizabeth Taylor can be Cleopatra, I can be Nina—I’m sorry,” says Saldana, her tone not in the least apologetic. “It doesn’t matter how much backlash I will get for it. I will honor and respect my black community because that’s who I am.”

She’s more concerned about misogyny than racism: The actress is actually far less concerned about her skin shade than about being what she calls “a woman in a man’s world.” She says, “It’s hard enough to be a woman on this earth. So to be an American or black or Latina, it’s arbitrary compared to our battles as women.”

Saldana has found a balance of ambition and self-acceptance. “Now, in the last few years of my life, I’m actually claiming what I want and not being afraid that I’m jinxing it, that it might not happen, that I might be disappointed if it doesn’t happen,” she says. “It’s OK to say, ‘This is what I want’—and go after it. And if it doesn’t happen, it’s OK. Be a reasonable person with yourself.”

[From Allure]

Is she comparing herself to Elizabeth Taylor?! No, I don’t think she is, I think she’s just saying if Elizabeth Taylor can play an Egyptian queen, Zoe can play Nina Simone…? As for her “got the t-shirt” comment – yeah, I doubt there’s much love lost between her and Bradley Cooper. I never really understood their relationship in the first place, and Zoe ended up a lot like Renee Zellweger in that Zoe spent most of the relationship with Bradley’s mother anyway.

Definition of androgynous: “having the characteristics or nature of both male and female.”

Photos courtesy of Allure.

Star Trek Into Darkness is mostly a sausage party. I was culling through our photos of last night’s STID premiere and I had the sudden realization that I was mostly interested in seeing photos of the dudes, so of course we will have a special “Hot Guy: STID” post. But for now, let’s talk about the two women of STID: Alice Eve and Zoe Saldana. Zoe is more well-known, so let’s begin with her.

She wore this Vionnet gown which… I loathe. It’s not even that I have a big hate-on for the design of the dress, I just have a hate-on for how Zoe-in-the-dress made the entire premiere about her dress drama. She kept tripping over her sideburn-train and all of the STID men kept having to adjust it for her. Benedict looked gentlemanly when he tried to make some dress arrangements, but when Quinto leaned down to fix her mess, the look on his face was “gurl, you need to check your couture.” And oh yeah, there’s some Jada Pinkett happening in her face. Ugh.

As for Alice Eve (I keep typing her name as Alive Ece), I don’t think I’ve even heard her voice (unless you count that “scream” she does in the trailer), but this woman already annoys me. The way she poses, the clothes she wears, the look on her face when cameras are around. She’s a Hiddleston – “OMG Attention!! ME ME ME!” Her dress is Ermanno Scervino Pre-Fall 2013 in suede. I like the idea of a suede strapless dress, and this could have been interesting. But the fit is off and I feel like her girls are about to pop out of that bustier. Why are these two ladies so budget? Why are they inviting wardrobe malfunctions?

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction to my admission yesterday that I don’t always find Chris Pine repellent. Shock! I actually think Chris looks really sexy and quite dashing with this beard, and he’s aging really well. He doesn’t seem so much like a Hollywood pretty boy trying to be a big boy. He seems more confident and comfortable these days. Let’s see, how old is he? He’s 32. That’s a good age for most actors. And Chris will probably continue to stay on this level too – not quite A-list, but he’s about where Ryan Reynolds is. No better, no worse. Except Pine heads up a profitable franchise (Star Trek) and Ryan does not (haha on The Green Lantern).

Anyway, these are new photos of the Star Trek Into Darkness premiere in Berlin last night. This is yet another tentpole franchise film which is being sold and promoted first in Europe and Asia rather than America. Is that how it’s going to be from now on? I hate that the American media doesn’t get first dibs on the promotional tours these days. As for these photos, Chris continues to look really good, right? Damn. I’m turning into a Pine fan-girl. What is happening?!

Did you happen to see the latest clip from Star Trek Into Darkness? It’s all Benedict Cumberbatch and Chris Pine. Cumby is the terrorist, Chris is the “good guy” Captain Kirk. Chris doesn’t get me hot in this clip… but neither does Cumby. So it’s a wash right now!

I’m also including pics of Zachary Quinto (because I know many of you crush on him, but I’m not really into it), Simon Pegg (who lost some sexy with that suit), Zoe Saldana (in Balmain ‘gina curtains) and Alice Eve (in a cheap-looking Emilio Pucci).

PS… I didn’t choose photos of Chris Pine squinting on purpose to illustrate some kind of point. He was just squinting IN EVERY PHOTO. I’m over it already!! LOL.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I kind of like how Kerry Washington has arrived, don’t you? She’s been on the cusp of becoming a big-name celebrity for a while, but it feels like over the past year – with Django Unchained and Scandal – she’s really become a big star. She dresses like a woman who knows she’s going to be discussed too. Kerry wore this Michael Kors mullet dress to the MTV Movie Awards. I hate it, I think it’s too dressy for MTV, and I hate that shade of yellow-orange. But props to her because she knows how to get talked about and because while I don’t like this look, I respect it. Mostly because I genuinely like her!

Here’s Ke$ha. She looked like hell but at least she got to get high with Snoop Lion.

Hana Mae Lee and her cigarette-butt hat. I don’t even know. She’s in Pitch Perfect, by the way.

And here’s Zoe Saldana in Givenchy. Now I kind of want Zoe and Tom Hiddleston to get together so we can concentrate all of the cheeseball cringe in one place.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Zoe Saldana covers the InStyle Magazine’s annual issue dedicated to hair. It’s called InStyle Hair, which… I understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, but I just think it’s funny. I had a moment of whimsy where I just sat here and thought about all of the other special editions that we could have. InStyle Wrists! InStyle Boobs! InStyle Belly Buttons! InStyle Knees! I would actually pick up an edition of InStyle Boobs, just FYI. And Christina Hendricks better make the cover. Anyway, Zoe gives an exhaustive interview about her hair, of course, and I actually found it interesting. Go ahead and call me naïve, but I didn’t realize that Zoe had been chemically straightening her hair this whole time.

Zoe on Latina hair: “In Latino culture, hair carries a lot of history, a lot of weight, and a lot of energy. I always liked my hair. I never wanted to have any other skin but my own, any other hair but my own. Women who spend so much of their lives wanting to have something else miss out on learning to appreciate what they do have.”

Her mother’s words of wisdom: “My mom raised my sisters and I with a strong sense of self. [My mother] always said, ‘Honey, there is nothing that a red lipstick and a pair of red shoes can’t heal, cure, or solve.’ And I absolutely believe that. They can get you out of anything, even the biggest funk of your life.”

She dreams of pixie cuts: “At some point I might just want to chop it all off and go really short. I’ll just wake up in the morning and, well … you know. [I want to] learn to enhance my other virtues, instead of depending so much on my hair.”

She cuts her own hair sometimes: “If I want to chop off my hair, I’ll take scissors and do one side before I even go to the hairdresser. It’s all about trusting my instincts. Plus, that way I can’t change my mind!”

Letting her chemically straightened hair grow out: “It’s been eight months since my last straightening treatment, and I’m going to let it all grow. It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up with my hair looking like an Afro. I can’t wait to have that again.”

[From People & InStyle]

I’m not trying to be nit-picky about something I clearly know nothing about, but I think there’s a contradiction between “I always liked my hair. I never wanted to have any other skin but my own, any other hair but my own” and her admission that she’s had chemically straightened hair. I’m not saying that Zoe shouldn’t do whatever she wants to her hair – seriously, go wild, I have no judgment – but if you’re going to go in for heavy chemical processes, don’t try to convince me that you’re all about owning your natural look. I can’t claim to be “natural” anymore – I’ve been dyeing my hair for a few years now to cover the grey. Therefore, I’m not going to give some thundering “love thyself” speech about how we should all accept and embrace our natural selves. I hate my grey, so I dye it. I’m still me, I still accept myself, but I also acknowledge my own vanity.

Photos courtesy of InStyle Hair, WENN.

One of the first times I ever acknowledged my dislike of Zoe Saldana was when she made an appearance on The Rachel Zoe Project several years ago. Before then, I didn’t have strong feelings about Saldana either way. But when she came into Rachel’s styling studio, she just seemed pretentious and presumptuous, like a girl who didn’t know what looked good on her body but who was really smug about her “vision” for how great she looks in couture. Anyway, as I was startled to discover, Saldana is no longer being styled by Rachel Zoe these days. Her stylist is Petra Flannery, and Saldana and Petra sat down together for The Hollywood Reporter’s epic multi-cover coverage of Hollywood actresses and their powerful stylists. You can read the cover story here at THR. THR says that Rachel Zoe is still the most powerful stylist in Hollywood – she’s on top because she styled the two actresses who won Oscars this year, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence. But Saldana isn’t crying about it – to hear her talk, Petra knows everything!

What Saldana learned from her stylist Petra: “She taught me that you don’t necessarily need to wear less to look sexy. You go through those phases where sometimes you feel super sexy and you want to wear something tight and short. We’re prone to tacky every now and then… [Petra] always makes me see it on another end, and you end up feeling so much sexier. We always choose class over anything else.”

Saldana on what’s “tacky”: “The trend of trying to dress like everybody else is the tackiest and most dishonest thing you can do to yourself. You suffer so much because you don’t ever really find your own true voice.”

Her style must-haves: “I’m into jeans on jeans. There’s a Johnny Depp thing to it that I’m digging and I feel really sexy wearing it. Red lipstick will never go out of style. There’s no such thing as not pulling it off. My grandma taught me this. Every woman can pull off red lipstick; you just have to find the right shade. Red looks good on all of us. Nature made red for us.”

Saldana pulls rank for Petra: “We’ve managed to convince a lot of directors who now have respect for what we put together and for Petra’s essential place in a huge press tour like Star Trek or Avatar.” When Saldana takes a memorable turn on the carpet, “Those directors are like, ‘Oh my God, Petra really knocked it out of the ball park,’ and you’re like, ‘Yeah, she did.’ She killed it, which is very important for me and for her and for selling a movie.”

[From People & THR]

Yeah. This would be more interesting if I thought Zoe Saldana was some big Fashion Girl who always delivered some spectacular look on the red carpet. While I do think her style has improved over the years, Zoe still falters a lot (style-wise). It might not be Petra’s fault, maybe Saldana just doesn’t listen when people tell her “you shouldn’t wear that ugly dress, it looks like a cheap bedspread.”

Petra also styles Emma Stone (ugh, that explains a lot), Claire Danes (that’s interesting), Mila Kunis (huh), Megan Fox (RLY?) and Faith Hill (meh). Doesn’t that explain so much? Like, remember when Claire refused to wear a maternity gown at the Emmys and she wore that weird chartreuse Lanvin? Petra had a hand in it. Remember when Emma went from a beautiful, bubbly redhead to a sleek, super-skinny blonde “Fashion Girl”? Petra had a hand in it.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Last year, Zoe Saldana filmed Nina, the long-gestating Nina Simone bio-pic. When we had photos from the set, I discussed them – go here to see. I’m including some of those photos in this post, where you can see Zoe’s dramatic makeup and prosthetics. Nina Simone was an iconic, complicated and insanely talented woman, and it was no surprise to me that her life story would be made into a bio-pic. But the choice of Zoe Saldana to play Simone was disconcerting to me and many, many others, including Nina Simone’s family. Nina Simone’s daughter Simone Kelly said (upon Zoe’s casting): “My mother was raised at a time when she was told her nose was too wide, her skin was too dark. Appearance-wise this is not the best choice.” The family reportedly refused to participate with the filmmakers, which is going to come up when the film is released, which will probably be later this year. Throughout the controversy last year, Zoe didn’t say much of anything to her critics, but she’s talking now:

Star Trek actress Zoe Saldaña has defended her casting as Nina Simone in the upcoming biopic Nina about the jazz and blues singer-pianist who died in 2003 aged 70. The singer Mary J. Blige was first cast to play Simone until she had to bow out for what Cynthia Mort, the writer and director of the film, described as “scheduling issues”.

The casting of Saldaña has caused a major backlash for a film due out later this year. American academics have written about the controversy, and an online petition at Change.org, which calls for Mort to “replace Zoe Saldaña with an actress who actually looks like Nina Simone”, has attracted 10,500 signatures. Simone’s daughter, Simone Kelly, said that the family estate had not participated in the film. “My mother was raised at a time when she was told her nose was too wide, her skin was too dark,” Kelly said. “Appearance-wise this is not the best choice,” she added, referring to Saldaña.

But now, in an interview with HipHollywood, Saldaña — who is of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, and describes herself as black and Latina — said: “What keeps me focused and what kept me from getting stressed from being hurt by the comments is I’m doing it for my sisters, I’m doing it for my brothers, and I don’t care who tells me I am not this and I am not that. I know who I am, and I know what Nina Simone means to me.”

“I can only rely on that and maintain as much humility as possible, so that when I have to face the world and we have to then give the movie to the world to see, and share it with them, that if it comes back in . . . a negative fashion or positive, I’m gonna keep my chin up. And Nina was like that too. I did it all out of love for my people and my pride of being a black woman and a Latina woman and an American woman, and that’s my truth.”

[From The Telegraph]

I have mixed feelings about criticizing Zoe for this role. I would imagine that playing Nina was one of Zoe’s dream roles, and it’s not her fault that Hollywood producers were like, “Eh, maybe Zoe can play this iconic role, why not? Who will complain?” And if Zoe feels like she was capable of playing the role, why wouldn’t she be proud? Shouldn’t we applaud that? On the other side… it seems clear from these photos that Zoe is wearing much darker makeup to give her skin a similar shade to Nina’s, and it seems like Zoe is also wearing a prosthetic nose too. Is that offensive? Is that considered blackface? Or is the racial/color issue not so binary in this particular case because of Zoe’s racial background? See – it’s really complicated.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Structurally, Charlize Theron’s white Dior gown reminded me of Anne Hathaway’s Chanel gown at the Golden Globes. Two-piece white gowns with faux-peplums, done in different ways and worn completely differently. I mean… for Charlize, you actually have to TRY to make her look bad, she’s such a red carpet goddess. While I don’t think this was her best look ever, I really liked it overall. What I love about Charlize is that she can wear Dior Haute Couture and it never overwhelms her. My favorite part of this look? Her hair. I LOVE her short hair and I love that she bleached it. She looked young and fresh and gorgeous. Also: I loved Charlize presenting with Dustin Hoffman. I kind of want them to work together now.

And here’s Zoe Saldana in Alexis Mabille Couture. I wasn’t into it, but I thought it was Givenchy when I first saw it. My mom loved it, if that makes any difference. I don’t think Zoe looks bad at all, it just wasn’t my favorite dress and I didn’t understand why she was there, unless she was just trying to create an awkward moment with her ex, Bradley Cooper.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.