Saldana: "I want to be in the small percentage of women who don't settle for conventional roles."

Saldana: “I wasn’t interested in playing submissive women or being categorized in Hollywood to play a certain type. I wanted to play characters that not only I could be proud of but which would offer good role models for young women. If we only play female characters whose point in the story is just to fall in love with a man, that’s very limiting to women. We need to provide better images and better stories.”

Saldana: "I like to look strong and commanding."

Saldana: "I'm so intrigued by women throughout history where the significance of what they were representing at that time is obscured by the fact a man saved them or they were prostitutes."

Saldana: "I'm a very feminine person, but I have this hard shell, man, and I stay focused and don't take things personally."

Saldana: "It takes a lot of courage to face up to things you can't do because we feed ourselves so much denial."

Saldana: "I never like to get political, but when you have the ability, through your media, to influence a large mass of people, I would want to be a part of the evolving cycle of progress vs. keeping things the way that they are."

Saldana: "I just want to be part of great stories that are told and for them to be relevant."

Saldana: “As a woman I feel it is important to play active and involved women. These kinds of characters help educate younger generations of women to be leaders and aspire to great things.”

Saldana: "In dance you use every party of your body except your voice. I wanted to start acting because I wanted to use my voice."

Saldana: "Our brains are very animal but also very strange and egotistical. We're narcissistic."

Saldana: “What I love about New York and New Yorkers is the abrasiveness and flat-out honesty of the people. New Yorkers are in-your-face. You know right away what someone is thinking. In Los Angeles, conversation is much more polite or totally centered around the film business. But New York is another world. I love the way people dress there. They are dressing to express themselves, whereas people in L.A. are dressing to impress other people. As a New Yorker, I consider myself part of a community that is very diverse but we’re all united in some way by being New Yorkers.”

Saldana: "Happiness is nothing but temporary moments here and there - and I love those. But I would be bored out of my mind if I were happy all the time."

Saldana: "I want to be the best daughter, sister, friend and wife I can possibly be - because when I die, I am not going to be buried with my Oscar."

[On Guardians of the Galaxy]

Saldana: "It's just not easy to shoot a 'Guardians' movie. There's a lot of action, there's a lot of dust, there's a lot of makeup, you know, endless hours of makeup... but it the end result is so worth it."

Saldana: "The biggest battle that I have is being a woman in the world. That takes center stage for me."

Saldana: "Every time an adult is going to write something for a teenager and you don't have, physically, a person who is that, you are always going to be a little off."

Saldana: "I think as an American society, when we're paying too many taxes or dealing with war, we don't want to see sad things at the movies."

Saldana: "There's nobody on this earth who can tell you that what you're feeling is wrong. They can tell you it's different to what they're feeling."

Saldana: "I love aging. Why would I want to be 21 for the rest of my life?"

Saldana: "I don't understand labels. I don't need anybody to tell me I'm Latina or black or anything else. I've played characters that were written for Caucasian females, I just want to be given the same consideration as everybody else, and so far that has been happening."

Saldana: "I am hoping for a long career."

Saldana: "I'm a sci-fi girl. If I can have anything in life, I'd want tons of great science-fiction movies and stories. It's so progressive, beautiful, and imaginative."

Saldana: "A child speaks more sense than an adult half of the time."

Saldana: "I just want to be a part of great stories, whether I'm part of an amazing ensemble cast or I'm leading it or the antagonist or whatever."

Saldana: "Physical roles give me a chance to learn something new."

Saldana: "Basically, there's not enough sex in movies, that's it. I'm trying to say it, people. I miss sex in movies because sex is natural, guns are not."

Saldana: "I'm very accepting with my age. It's like notches on your belt: experience, wisdom, and a different kind of beauty. There comes a day when you've become comfortable in your skin."

Saldana: "People think of Latina women as being fiery and fierce, which is usually true. But I think the quality that so many Latinas possess is strength. I'm very proud to have Latin blood."

Saldana: "There are a lot of magazines that are still sort of... that only cater to a certain demographic and only put certain people on their covers."

Saldana: "When I act, a part of me goes into the character I am playing."

Saldana: "Our censorship has sort of gotten a little too far. Too much censorship is just as bad as having none at all. Children need to be exposed to things, because if they don't see it, eventually, it's not like it's not going to happen, but it's just that there needs to be a balance."

Saldana: "I know the responsibility that entails from telling a story. The one thing I despise the most is when I go to a movie and I see a whole bunch of lazy actors making me waste my time and money."

Saldana: "I don't believe actors who say they don't bleed into their characters. It's absolutely impossible not to."

Saldana: "If there's anything that I've always said about myself is that to me, it's much more important for me to get to work with filmmakers that I've grown up loving and admiring."

Saldana: "Every character has their reasons - even the characters who do dumb things."

Saldana: "Dancing for the length of time that I did, it centered me in such a way to be really in tune with my body, and I just feel like I'm physically able to do things because of my ballet background. Without ballet, I don't think I'd look graceful at all on screen."

Saldana: "Growing up, my dolls were doctors and on secret missions. I had Barbie Goes Rambo."