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Get to Know Zoe Saldaña's Husband, Marco Perego-Saldaña

They share three boys

Zoe Saldana husband Marco Perego Saldana
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Sci-fi Queen Zoe Saldaña has made her mark in Hollywood with popular movie franchises like James Cameron's Avatar film series and Guardians of the Galaxy. These days, however, the actress is making headlines due to her work in the musical crime film, Emilia Pérez. Her portrayal of Rita Mora Castro earned her the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, and now, she's up for an Oscar in the same category.

Just a few hours after the full list of Academy Award nominations were announced, the actress took to Instagram and gave fans a glimpse of how she celebrated her first Oscar nod, which is just one among a total of 13 nominations for the Spanish-language film. In the carousel of slides, there's footage of Zoe Saldaña's husband, Marco Perego-Saldaña, celebrating right along with her—and I can't get enough of his unique dance moves. But now I'm curious to know: How did these two lovebirds meet? And for how long have they been married?

Keep scrolling for all the details, from how they first met to their three kids.

zoe saldana husband marco perego 1
Stefano Guidi/Getty Images

1. Who Is Zoe Saldaña's Husband?

Saldaña's husband, Marco Perego-Saldaña, hails from Salò, Italy, and was born in March 1979. He spent his early years playing soccer player and was even selected to join Venice’s professional team. But due to a serious leg injury, Perego-Saldaña decided to switch gears professionally.

In his early 20s, he moved to New York and took on jobs as a waiter, busboy and soccer teacher before pursuing art full-time. And in 2007, the artist made it big after film producer Gilda Moratti bought one of his paintings.

“I was living [in] Spanish Harlem without money and I was living on 104th Street,” he told the Observer. “One day, what happened was, I come to her and I say, 'Listen, look at my work, tell me what you think. If it is a joke I will try to find something else.” 

Fortunately, Moratti loved his work, which gave his career the kickstart it needed. He continued, “I say 'OK, I will do one little show in Italy,' I put 30 pieces, and the first day I sell everything…It was incredible. I live in Spanish Harlem, you know, and now Giorgio Armani would like to buy a painting.”

Currently, Perego-Saldaña works as a producer and director, and he’s best known for his work on The Absence of Eden, Dovecote and Burn to Shine.

Zoe Saldana and Marco Perego
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

2. How Did Zoe Saldaña Meet Her Husband?

Saldaña first met her husband on a flight to New York in 2013 and—get this—they tied the knot in the same year.

In 2014, the actress told Marie Claire that it was love at first sight. She said, “I don’t do the ABCs, I do what my heart says, what my heart feels. So, from the moment I met my husband, we were together. We knew. I met my husband, I wasn't going to try it out and see if it works. No, I felt it. I went with the feeling.”

Rumors of their relationship made headlines in May 2013, when they were spotted showing PDA at the premiere of Saldana's movie, Star Trek: Into the Darkness. Then, in September of that year, the couple were seen with wedding rings on their fingers. It was later confirmed that the happy couple secretly got married in a private ceremony in London.

Zoe Saldana husband Marco Perego
Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images

3. Did Zoe Saldaña's Husband Take Her Last Name?

In her cover story for InStyle in 2015, the Star Trek Beyond star confirmed her husband's progressive move to adopt her surname, although she initially wasn't on board with this idea.

She said, "I tried to talk him out of it. I told him, 'If you use my last name, you're going to be emasculated by your community of artists, by your Latin community of men, by the world.' But Marco looks up at me and says [with an Italian accent], 'Ah, Zoe, I don't give a sheet.'"

The actress also took to Facebook to defend his decision, following some backlash from fans. She wrote, "Fathers, sons, brothers, men everywhere: Your legacy will not perish if you take your partner's surname, or she keeps hers. I’ve been made aware that a comment I made regarding my marriage has garnered some attention. I felt proud that my husband decided to take my last name as his own...and I, his."

Zoe Saldana and Marco Perego with children
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

4. When Did Zoe Saldaña and Her Husband Have Kids?

Saldaña shares three sons with her husband: Twins Cy and Bowie (9) and Zen (7). The actress didn't announce her first pregnancy until after she welcomed the twins in November 2014. And while chatting with Allure in 2016, she got candid about the premature birth of their twin sons. Saldaña said, "The boys came at 32 weeks. They found protein in my urine; my platelets crashed. I didn’t qualify for an epidural, so I delivered under a general anesthetic. I didn’t even meet them until a day later."

Three years after giving birth to her twins, Saldaña announced the birth of their third boy, Zen, in February 2017. She wrote on Instagram, “Marco and I are elated to share the news of the birth of our son Zen. We couldn’t feel more blessed with the new addition to our family. #threeboys…oh boy!”

In an interview with US Weekly, Saldaña revealed that she and her husband intentionally challenge traditional gender roles when it comes to how they raise their kids. She said, "We have a very gender-neutral environment where my husband participates in a lot of tasks that were normally given to women and vice versa. I get to do a lot of male things, which is, I don’t know, put the TV together, fix things that break. We’re sort of a very gender-fluid household. I think it’s important to raise boys in that environment, and girls as well."

Zoe Saldana husband Marco Perego
Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images

5. Have Zoe Saldaña and Her Husband Ever Worked Together?

They sure have. Saldaña and her husband worked together on the 2024 romantic drama, The Absence of Eden. The Italian native co-wrote, produced and directed the film, while his wife starred as Esmee/Carmen.

While discussing his inspiration for the film (which, FYI, marked his directorial debut), which tells the story of an ICE agent dealing with a moral dilemma, Perego-Saldaña told Script magazine, "I was approaching with this idea of the need to be a visual story. The film is designed in three different colors: red, blue, and white. The idea was to write a film about Adam and Eve, because they left Eden and God was not there, in that very conceptual sense. That was the idea when we wrote this film."

In a joint interview to promote the film, Saldaña also discussed what it was like to work with her husband. She said, "This is his element. I feel like Marco's at his happiest and at his sharpest when he's on set or he's sculpting or he's painting or sort of conceiving a concept of art. It's just marvelous just to see how great he is at doing it and how happy hefeels when he's doing it. It's not just the love that I feel for him as a person, it's also the level of respect that I have for him as an artist."

Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper
Jeff Vespa/Getty Images for Weinstein

6. What Is Zoe Saldaña's Dating History?

Saldaña was engaged to former boyfriend Keith Britton, a fellow actor and CEO of My Fashion Database, in June 2010, but they split in November 2011, after eleven years of dating. Saldaña also dated actor Bradley Cooper from December 2011 to January 2013.

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