Zoe Saldana (‘From Scratch’): Bringing this true story to life on-screen was ‘therapeutic’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

Rob Licuria
·4 min read
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“Deep, deep down, I knew it was going to be an uphill experience, and I was ready. I was all for it, and it ended up being much harder than I was expecting, but we showed up every day,” admits Zoe Saldana about starring in and co-producing the hit Netflix limited series “From Scratch.” For our recent webchat she adds, “the cast, the LA crew, the Italian crew; we showed up every day, and we gave it 120%. It didn’t matter if it was 16 hour days or 10 hour days. We were in it because we had all been moved by [writer and co-creator] Tembi’s story. But also we all had our personal share of grief, and we were there for ourselves as well, and Tembi gave us that space. That’s the thing about death and grief is it’s not an exclusive walk in life, it is inclusive of everyone and of everything.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

SEE Exclusive Video Interview: Attica Locke (‘From Scratch’ co-creator and showrunner)

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In “From Scratch,” Saldaña plays Amahle “Amy” Wheeler, an American student studying in Italy, who meets and falls in love with Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea), a Sicilian chef. After Amy and Lino embark on building a life together in Los Angeles, Lino is blindsided by devastating news about his health, which threatens the couple’s future, but ultimately brings their two very different families together. The eight episode limited series was co-created by Attica Locke and her sister Tembi Locke, based on sister Tembi’s true-story memoir “From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home.” The series’ ensemble cast also features Danielle Deadwyler (“Station Eleven,” “Till”) as Amy’s sister Zora (a character loosely based on Attica Locke herself), Judith Scott, Kellita Smith, Keith David, Lucia Sardo, Paride Benassai and Roberta Rigano.

SEEEugenio Mastrandrea interview: ‘From Scratch’

“This memoir is just stunning and what drew me to the book was I was able to channel my inner child and how we feel and experience the sensation of loss through my nine year-old self, when I lost my father,” Saldaña says about how this story resonated with her in a profoundly personal way. “I didn’t remember the last time I saw a story through the eyes of a child, losing their superhero and having to reconcile with this. And then on the other side, I do remember that as a child,” she explains, “my mom just was unable to pick up the pieces for a couple of years because she was dealing with losing the love of her life, her soulmate, her partner, her husband, her lover. But when I was nine, I just didn’t understand that at the time,” Saldaña says. “Reading ‘From Scratch,’ I was able to feel my mother, and have so much respect for her journey, knowing that my mom, after losing my dad, she still had to get up and put on a smile and make breakfast for these 3 little girls that aren’t even teenagers yet.”

“‘From Scratch’ was therapeutic,” she adds. “I would just lay in the bath and read the book and after closing that final page, there was this sunset. It’s okay to have this pain. You don’t have to put it away. You don’t have to ignore it, you just have to manage it and live with it. And then I thought, this is important. We have to send this message out there for all these caretakers out there that are going through this on a daily basis, for all these children that are burying a loved one and are unable to understand that this is their story.”

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