Zoe Saldaña talks about Nichelle Nichols and playing Uhura in the new Star Trek movies
"Nichelle made me feel safe, told me to play [Uhura] with all the confidence in the world."
TV icon Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on Star Trek and used her status to promote various ways to support women and people of color, died over the weekend at the age of 89. Nichols continued to be a part of the Star Trek family after the original show ended, popping up in the movies and voicing Uhura in the original animated series, but her part—along with everyone else’s, more or less—was recast for director J.J. Abrams’ hugely successful (if still a little divisive) 2009 reboot.
Zoe Saldaña, who played Abrams’ younger Uhura in that movie and its sequels, has shared a post on Instagram (via The Hollywood Reporter) talking about filling Nichols’ shoes, and she—obviously—has nothing but glowing things to say about Nichelle Nichols. In her Instagram post, Saldaña says that Nichols made her “feel safe” and that her “energy was infectious.” Saldaña also says that Nichols convinced her that “anything was achievable, if you put your heart into it,” noting that Nichols also convinced Mae Jemison (the first Black woman in space) to become an astronaut.
Saldaña says that Nichols told her to play Uhura “with all the confidence in the world,” and she says that she hopes that “we continue to keep her memory alive by celebrating her amazing body of work and by spreading the message of peace and equality amongst all people.” Saldaña’s full statement is below: