Zoe Saldaña’s husband, Marco Perego-Saldaña, is an Italian producer and director who doesn’t shy away from the Hollywood limelight. He’s one of the Oscar-nominated actress’ biggest fans.
The dynamic duo has been together for almost 13 years, and they are always happy to share their love on the red carpet. Saldaña and Perego don’t seem to worry about taking their relationship to work either — he made his directorial debut in the 2024 film, The Absence of Eden, starring his wife. It’s a dynamic that works well for them, but sometimes their marriage does creep onto the set.
“Being directed by him is incredible because he knows exactly what he wants. Yes, we bicker, but we’ll go away from set to talk,” Saldaña explained to Peoplein May 2024. “So, we’re still a marriage in how we make art, but also we’re not gonna apologize for it. We’re not robots.”
While you might have caught her dramatic performance in Perego’s film, it might have you wondering about the man behind the camera lens.
WHO IS ZOE SALDANA’S HUSBAND, MARCO PEREGO-SALDANA?
Perego is a director and a producer who began his career as a professional soccer player and then became an accomplished artist — he’s a true Renaissance man! He and Saldaña have been married since 2013 and share three sons.
He was born in Italy and was considered somewhat of an athletic prodigy, joining a professional Venice soccer team when he was only 17. A career-ending leg injury forced him to retire at 21 when he pivoted his career and moved to New York City to pursue his love of art.
Perego’s fortunes changed just five years after his arrival when his first solo art show in 2007 became a huge success. He was nicknamed “Pirate Perego” because the art world thought his long hair and stylish swagger reminded them of Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. He’s known for his paintings and sculptures, but now, he’s exploring the film world as a director and producer.
Perego grew up in Italy
Perego was born and raised in Salo, Brescia, Italy where he came from rather humble beginnings. “My story was unbelievable because I come here and I come from a very normal family, you know?” He shared with the Observer in 2007, “My father is a waiter, my mum stays at home.”
He’s lived an international life
His career as a professional athlete was short-lived, lasting only four years, but his ambitions took him all over the world. Perego traveled to Brazil to recuperate from his leg injury and eventually made his way to New York City to pursue his artistic ambitions. He now lives in Los Angeles with Saldaña and their young family.
Saldaña & Perego met in 2013
Love was in the air when the couple met for the first time on a flight to New York City in 2013. “I just saw him from behind. It was 6:30 in the morning, I was on a flight to New York,” she revealed to USA Today in 2015. “And I can’t even describe to you, it was a vibration. He turned in that moment because he felt the vibration as well.”
Even though it was their first in-person meeting, Saldaña was well aware of her future husband’s talents in the art community since 2008. “I’ve known my partner for five years,” the Avatar star told The Hollywood Reporter about Perego. “I knew of his work. I knew of him. Then we met.” They were first spotted kissing together at the Star Trek Into Darkness premiere afterparty in May 2013.
They married just months after meeting
Fans never got a specific timeline of when their wedding ceremony occurred, but it was sometime in the summer of 2013. It might have seemed like a quick decision, but Saldaña knew it was love at first sight.
“And as soon as we decided we were going to get married, we didn’t wait. We did it three weeks later. That part was very, very quick,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. Despite the hurry to walk down the aisle, Perego showed his romantic side when it came to the proposal.
“I say to Zoë, ‘I’m going to New York, I need to do something for work,’” the director revealed during a joint appearance with his wife on The Drew Barrymore Show in April 2024. “I actually went to the Dominican Republic, [thankfully] her stepfather and her family supported me and I went to see.”
Saldaña then chimed in, “My father, my father’s grave.”
Perego concluded, “And I ask him if I can marry her.”
Perego has a tattoo of his wife
By November 2013, Perego was sporting a tattoo of Saldaña’s face on his left forearm — and the decision to get the ink pleased his bride. “It was the most romantic thing!” She gushed to People. “I didn’t stop him, but I did sort of try to talk him out of it. I’ve done crazier things than that, and I’m pretty sure he has, too.”
Perego became a dad
Saldaña appeared to have a baby bump at the red-carpet premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy in July 2014, but the news wasn’t confirmed until October of that year — and it was twins! She and Perego welcomed sons Cy Aridio and Bowie Ezio on Nov. 27, 2014.
A little over two years later, the couple had a third son, Zen Anton Hilario, who was born on Dec. 12, 2016. Their family was complete!
Perego took Saldaña’s last name
He’s officially known as Marco Perego-Saldaña because he took the Emilia Pérez star’s last name — and Saldaña was concerned at first.
“I tried to talk him out of it,” she said to InStyle, via People, in 2015. “I told him, ‘If you use my name, you’re going to be emasculated by your community of artists, by your Latin community of men, by the world.’ But Marco looks up at me and says [she puts on his Italian accent], ‘Ah, Zoe, I don’t give a sheet.'”
Their sons speak Italian like their dad
Perego is honoring his European heritage by making sure his sons speak Italian while mom is teaching them Spanish so the boys can appreciate her Dominican and Puerto Rican lineage. And of course, they also speak English!
“They understand all three languages, and they also choose who they speak the languages with. So, with their Italian grandparents they will speak in Italian, with their [Spanish-speaking] grandparents they speak in Spanish, and with Mama and Papa they will speak back in English — but they understand in any language we speak to them,” Saldaña told People in 2018.
Perego is a U.S. citizen
On July 20, 2016, Perego took the final step to becoming a U.S. citizen and Saldaña was so proud. “On our way to be sworn in as a US Citizen,” she wrote on Instagram while sharing a photo of Perego dressed in a suit on the way to the ceremony. “Marco has been dreaming about this moment for a long time. It was a process – as it should be, but we are finally here.”
He is Saldaña’s biggest cheerleader
Just one glance at Perego’s Instagram account and you will see multiple images of his wife. From their collaborations together on The Absence of Eden to his recent short film, Dovecote, it’s evident that he’s a superfan of Saldaña and she appreciates his unwavering support.
“These decisions were made with so much consciousness and heart,” she told Gold Derby in December 2024 of her critically acclaimed year in film. “But I couldn’t have made these decisions if it wasn’t for the support that I have at home. I have a partner that is a full-blown artist, much more of an artist than I am. I feel like I work in art. Marco makes art.”
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity couples with the best stories behind how they met.
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