Zoe Saldaña Details the Important Lesson She’s Passed on to Her Kids

Zoe Saldaña wants her kids to know the value of hard work.

That’s why the Emilia Pérez star—who shares twin boys Cy Aridio and Bowie Ezio, 9, as well as son Zen Anton Hilario, 7, with husband Marco Perego—has reframed the way she talks about her own professional life at home.

“I've replaced, throughout the years, two very important words,” Zoe exclusively told E! News at Variety’s Power of Women event Oct. 24. “I used to tell them I have to go to work, and now I tell them I want to go to work.”

“I just feel like it teaches them that work is a part of life,” she explained, “and that if you're doing things that make you happy, all you have to do is just share it with the people that you love around you.”

Besides imparting life lessons, the Guardians of the Galaxy star, 46, revealed what aspects of motherhood bring her the most satisfaction.

“When my kids have a full night's sleep,” she shared. “When they eat all their vegetables, when they get in the car without having a meltdown, when I get in the car without having a meltdown.”

Zoe also noted that family balance extends beyond her little ones, adding, “When I'm supportive and absolutely just present with my partner as well, and when I call my mom on a regular basis, that's when I feel the most powerful.”

And when the actress and her husband, whom she wed in 2013, want a little private time, they’ve got a code word to make that happen. The couple appeared together on The Drew Barrymore Show in April, where Zoe revealed, “[Marco] just found a way to call ‘sexy time,’ like, ‘playing Legos naked.’”

However, their perfect plan was seemingly short-lived as their older sons figured out the phrase’s hidden meaning.

“They were like, ‘Are you guys kissing? Are you guys gonna go play naked with your Legos?’” Zoe recalled. “And we're like, ‘No, we're not going to do that.’”

-- Reporting by Amanda Champagne-Meadows

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