Why Zoe Saldana is Perfect for 'Rosemary's Baby'

When I was a teenager, the only terrifying thing I knew about Rosemary’s Baby was that it was haircut Tyra Banks gave America’s Next Top Model contestants to make them cry and leave the competition. (“I’m thinking Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s baby!” Of course you are, Tyra.) Now, as an adult who’s seen the the 1988 Roman Polanski-directed adaptation on screen, has a four-hour Rosemary's Baby miniseries starring Zoe Saldana coming her way this Sunday, and is at a reasonable child-bearing age, the most truthful terror of Rosemary’s Baby has become clear: If you move to the wrong apartment building in New York City, you will become impregnated with the spawn of Satan, no take-backs.

Though the 1968 film adaptation of Rosemary's Baby is known for being highly faithful to Ira Levine’s novel from which it is adapted, NBC’s Saldana-led series claims to stick even more closely to its source material while still taking a few liberties. Most interestingly, the horror and gore quotient is said to be taken up a few notches, and the demonic apartment building will be set in Paris, France rather than New York. It's also worth mentioning that the lead roles of a young married couple with a slight communication problem (“Oh yeah, that baby? Devil’s work.") originally made iconic by Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes will be played by an interracial couple in Saldana and Patrick J. Adams.

Saldana was the first cast actor cast in the miniseries and while the reaction to remakes — especially horror remakes — is generally “WHY?” Saldana’s casting has been met almost unanimously with excitement. The actress has a vibrancy that she brings to all of her roles, both in joy and in pain, that makes her a perfect fit for Rosemary, a woman slowly losing control of her mind and body, from the inside, out. Let’s take a look at how Saldana’s former work may have prepared her to birth the spawn of Satan when Rosemary’s Baby premieres on May 11 on NBC (yes, that is Mother’s Day).

She’s Got A Cult Classic Under Her Belt Already

We know Saldana can slay in popular franchises with a good bit of pressure — Star Trek, Avatar — but let's not forget the role that first brought her into our lives: Center Stage. Center Stage may not have been a box office hit when it debuted in 2000, but it's earned it's dues an accumulated a heap of late-'80s and early-'90s born fans in the 14 years since it's dancers first laced on their ballet slippers. Saldana founded her acting career on knowing how to bring passion and commitment to something that could easily be deemed trite and kitschy.

She's Dealt in Evil Before

Center Stage may have endeared her to us, but Colombiana showed audiences and critics that Saldana was an acting force to be reckoned with. Saldana took the main lead in Colombiana too, playing Cataleya, a young woman turned assassin after witnessing the murder of her parents, set on avenging their death. Cataleya may have been slightly more in charge of her own destiny than Rosemary, but some history playing a character realizing she's surrounded by evil will likely serve Saldana well as she recreates Rosemary slowly discovering that her neighbors seem a little, uh, cult-y.

She’s Used to Taking on Great Physical Transformations

Saldana has said that one of the most exhausting aspects of filming Rosemary's Baby was carrying around the weight of the realistic baby bump (evil probably weights a little extra). Luckily, she's already had some training in taking on huge physical transformations as an actor playing the humanoid Na'vi species in Avatar .

And Even if the Rosemary's Baby Remake Fails...

It couldn't be worse than Crossroads. (OK, but she was still good in that Britney Spears train-wreck.)

Images: NBC (2)