Zoe Saldana is admittedly disappointed with the lack of women typically available on movie sets, including supporting actresses and crew members.

As a result, the Guardians of the Galaxy actress often feels lonely at work. She explained to Time magazine: “I feel lonely on set. And it’s not just that you’re the only woman in the cast. There are very few women on the crew. You hardly ever get to work with a female director.

Some female producers try to blend in with their male colleagues and won’t stand up to them. You’re completely outnumbered. And you take a hit in your paycheck as a woman too. I’m so f**ing tired of it.”

And the star has learned to embrace and appreciate fellow actresses over the years, given how she once considered them rivals.

“Like all other young actresses, I saw other women as competition. If there were 50,000 of us going out for the role, and if I got it, I must be the best.”

Despite a lack of diversity, Zoe is hoping to at least be a role model to younger women and looks forward to a bright future.

She explained: “I feel I have a greater chance of setting an example for young women when I do movies [that take place] in the future because I’m less likely to be boxed in. I’m not playing someone’s girlfriend. I can be tougher. The future represents hope.

I look at the films I love so much, like the beautiful Jane Austen adaptations, but someone like me doesn’t exist in those narratives – at least not in a way that I would want to be a part of. Honestly, it makes me sad. I think about how someone like me would have been treated.”