Zoë Saldana Says Guardians of the Galaxy Role Gives Her 'Street Cred' with Her Kids: 'It's Great'

JD Barnes/InStyle

Zoë Saldana's young sons know they have one cool mom.

The actress, 44, stars on the cover of InStyle's Winter 2022 digital issue, in which she opens up for a new interview about how her three kids, sons Bowie, Cy and Zen, feel about her popular movie roles.

Saldana, who shares 8-year-old twins Bowie and Cy, and 5-year-old Zen, with husband Marco Perego, says that her kids are starting to understand their mom's role in films like Guardians of the Galaxy.

"I see how he's trying to place me in his mind like, 'OK, you're Mama, but you're also Gamora,' " she says of her youngest son. "They're going to watch these movies, and it's going to be a part of what they like and what excites them."

"And the fact that that gives me street cred with my kids, it's fun, it's great," she adds.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

JD Barnes/InStyle

RELATED: Zoë Saldana's 3 Kids: Everything She's Said About Parenting

The Avatar star also notes that she thinks her sons are "going to grow up to be really pretty nerds."

"I know that every parent finds their children super-handsome. Maybe that's what's to blame," she continues. "But I look at my kids and I'm like, 'My God, you guys are so f---ing handsome.' "

JD Barnes/InStyle

Saldana chatted with PEOPLE back in 2020 about being a mom to all three boys.

"The third one was supposed to be [a daughter] and then my husband just doesn't give any girls," Saldana joked. "I would have been great as a mother of daughters, but the universe, in its irony, and how I became a mom of three boys in the post-#MeToo movement [means] I'm accepting the challenge."

Saldana said she was "having such a wonderful time" as a mom of sons, "because that means I get to witness and really nurture a young boy before he turns into a man, and I think that that's the task for us mothers, as well."

Teaching her sons not to conform to gender stereotypes, the actress said it has "been a treat because allowing your boys to be vulnerable and sensible and not just allowing them to fight physically because, 'Oh, boys will be boys' — those kinds of terms just don't exist in our home."

"'Daddy's little girl' and 'Mama's boys,' we don't have that," Saldana added at the time. "My husband is the father and I'm the mother, but we are [both active] participants in the upbringing of [our kids] and that's really important."