Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego's Relationship Timeline

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Araya Doheny/WireImage

Zoë SaldanaandMarco Peregohave a unique relationship.

The couple were first romantically linked in May 2013. They fell in love quickly and had a private wedding a few months later, which they confirmed to PEOPLE in September 2013.

Saldana and the Italian artist have three sons together: Zen Anton and twins Cy Aridio and Bowie Ezio, who all share their parents' combined last name, Perego-Saldana.

In 2015, theAvatarstar said that she and Perego were"meant" for each other.

“Since I’ve been with Marco, I’ve been lowering my guard,” she said. “Finally, when we had our boys, I looked at my husband and I realized: I was meant for you, and you were meant for me. I don’t want to be separate. I want my church. I want to live inside the religion of our own little family.”

From meeting on an airplane to red carpet PDA, here’s everything to know about Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego’s relationship.

2013:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego meet

Ari Perilstein/Getty

Saldana was instantly attracted to Perego. The two met in 2013 on a flight to New York and sparks flew before she even saw his face. “I just saw him from behind. It was 6:30 in the morning, I was on a flight to New York,” she toldUSA Todayin 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.”

Saldana added that she was skeptical about love at first sight. “I know people don’t believe in it; I didn’t believe in it. I’m a very Sigmund Freud person, I’m very logical,” she added. “But that — I’m OK not having an explanation for that. Because I don’t need to explain that. It was enough that I felt it. And that was it.”

The actress also shared that she had known of Perego’s work since 2008. “I’ve known my partner for five years. I knew of his work. I knew of him. Then we met,” she toldThe Hollywood Reporterin July 2014.

April 2013:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego begin dating

Saldana and Perego were seenleaving Los Angeles' Chateau Marmontin April 2013. Photographers captured the pair driving away from the restaurant dressed for a date night.

May 2013:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego are spotted kissing

The couple were spotted kissingat theStar Trek Into Darknesspremiere afterparty.A source close to Saldana told PEOPLE, “They’re hanging out for sure, but it’s very new. It’s nothing serious yet.”

Summer 2013:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego get married

Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty

In September 2013, a source confirmed to PEOPLE thatSaldana and Perego got marriedin an intimate, secret ceremony over the summer. “They are very happy,” the source added.

In August 2014, Saldana said she trusted Perego from the start. “I don’t do the ABCs,” she toldMarie Claire. “I do what my heart says, what my heart feels. So from the moment I met my husband, we were together. We knew.”

She explained that learning “not to settle” was the most important thing she gained from her relationships. “If you’re not happy with a person, leave,” she said. “And wait until you find that one person who makes you feel good about yourself every single day and is not expecting you to change, but to grow.”

Saldana also shared that she and Perego had “both individually vowed” to never get married before meeting one another. She toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat she initially thought most reasons for marriage were not “natural” to her, until Perego changed her mind. “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 said.

Fall 2013: Marco Perego gets a tattoo ofZoë Saldana

GVK/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

In November 2013, Perego was spotted with a new arm tattoo of Saldana’s face.

“It was the most romantic thing!” the actress later told 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.”

April 29, 2014: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego make their red carpet debut

Bryan Bedder/Getty

In April 2014, Saldana and Perego attended the AOL Digital Content NewFronts event in Brooklyn, New York. The event markedtheir first red carpet appearanceas a married couple. Perego wore a black pinstriped suit and Saldana donned a blue-and-white gown and bright red lipstick.

Kevin Winter/Getty

October 2014:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego are expecting twins, a source confirms

A source confirmed to PEOPLE that Saldana and Perego wereexpecting twin boys. “She is beside herself happy over it all,” the source said.

November 27, 2014:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego welcome twin boys

Jason Merritt/Getty

Saldana and Perego’s twin boys,Cy Aridio and Bowie Ezio, were born on Thanksgiving Day in 2014, Saldana’s rep confirmed to PEOPLE. “Mother and sons are happy and healthy,” the rep added.

June 2015:Zoë Saldana shares why Marco Perego took her last name

Lester Cohen/WireImage

In an interview withInStyle, Saldana revealed thatPerego took her last nameafter they married, though she initially tried to talk him out of it.

May 2, 2016:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego attend the Met Gala

Mike Coppola/Getty

Saldana wore a peacock-inspired Dolce & Gabbana dress with a long train of colorful feathers to the2016 Met Gala. She posed for pictures with Perego, who wore a black tux with his hair tied back. They were photographed kissing on the red carpet.

July 20, 2016:Zoë Saldana celebrates Marco Perego becoming a U.S. citizen

Perego officiallybecame a U.S. citizenin July 2016, which Saldana commemorated on Instagram.

“On our way to be sworn in as a US Citizen,” Saldana wrote. “Marco has been dreaming about this moment for a long time. It was a process – as it should be, but we are finally here.”

She added, “We are aware it isn’t as easy for many immigrants to obtain their citizenship, we say to them NEVER GIVE UP. Stay the course, America would not be what it is if not for the immigrants that come for better opportunities. We send love and good vibes to you all today.”

December 12, 2016: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego welcome their third son

Zoë Saldana Instagram

Saldana and Perego welcomed their third son,Zen Anton Hilario, in December 2016. Saldana announced his birth nearly two months later with a picture of her three boys on a playmat together.

“Marco and I are elated to share the news of the birth of our son Zen,” she wrote in February 2017. “We couldn’t feel more blessed with the new addition to our family. #threeboys… oh boy!”

January 2018:Zoë Saldana says she and Marco Perego have a “give-and-take” relationship

Venturelli/Getty

Saldana told PEOPLE thatshe and Perego coordinate outfitson the red carpet “all the time,” without dictating what the other should wear.

“There’s no directing my husband and there’s no him directing me,” she said. “We are definitely the kind of artists and individuals that follow our own hearts, but we’re very supportive and very opinionated. It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to consider what the other person is thinking or what the other person is saying to us — we will hear it. There is a lot of respect and it’s like a give-and-take.”

March 2018:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego remind their twins to play with their little brother

Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Saldana and Perego want to teach their sons about compassion — andit starts with little brother Zen.

“We’re in a constantGroundhog Daywhere we’re repeating the same messages of compassion: ‘Don’t forget about little brother!’ " Saldana told PEOPLE. “I mean, he’s not a pushover, so that’s a good thing. But it’s really hard to be the little brother to two twin older brothers.”

She continued, “They’re identical twins and they’re really attached at the hip and their connection is really majestic. So it takes a lot of conscious action to not forget about Zen — but Zen never lets them forget either. He’s really persistent.”

Saldana also shared that they are teaching their sons three different languages: Italian, Spanish and English.

“I think they’re doing much better than we are,” Saldana said. “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.”

June 2018:Zoë Saldana says she and Marco Perego are raising their sons in a “gender-fluid environment”

Saldana told PEOPLE that the Time’s Up movement inspired her to change her parenting.

“​​When you look at parenting, the whole thing about matriarchy and patriarchy, and Daddy’s little girl and Mama’s boys — my husband and Ifind that completely ludicrous,” she said. Saldana added that, to combat this worldview, they are raising their kids in “a very gender-fluid environment” where they, as parents, don’t take on any particular role.

“He’s the bad cop, I’m the good cop and vice versa,” she explained. “There’s no such thing as, ‘Mom’s the boss, listen to your mother.’ No, listen to your father as much as your mother because we stand as a unit.”

She continued, “I think what’s very important in this Time’s Up movement is that a lot of these men that are abusers still have prominent female figures in their lives that raise them and either overlooked something that they shouldn’t have or encouraged something that they shouldn’t have in their sons. Females' mothers are just as much at fault as fathers would be, whether you were present or not in the distorted image that males have had of females.”

December 2018: Zoë Saldana shares how her and Marco Perego’s multilingual dinner conversation led to her role onFrom Scratch

Victor Chavez/Getty

In a 2022 interview withEmmymagazine, Saldana shared how a dinner withReese Witherspoonand her husbandJim Tothled to a role on the Netflix seriesFrom Scratch.

“We switch from Spanish to English to Italian,” Saldana told the outlet, recalling howWitherspoon paid close attentionto their trilingual conversation that night. “We’re very passionate, almost a bit dramatic in how we communicate.” Saldana is of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent and Perego was born and raised in Italy.

That 2018 dinner led to Witherspoon offering Saldana a role in her limited-series adaptation of Tembi Locke’s book,From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home.“She said, ‘I shouldn’t be telling you this … but I think you’re so right for the part,’ " Saldana recalled.

April 2019: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego are teaching their sons not to talk to strangers

Saldana told PEOPLE that she’ll “panic” if fans want photos with her when she is with her kids. The actress said she and Perego areteaching their sonsnot to talk to strangers, which makes for “very confusing” encounters with fans.

“I feel really uncomfortable,” she said. “They’re still at that tender age where they don’t understand why a stranger is coming over and touching their mother. Like there’s no sense of like, you know, boundaries.”

She continued, “So that’s why I’m mostly tense. Usually, before that I was OK. If I felt like it I would do it. If the environment dictated for that, it was OK, I would do it.”

Back in March 2017, Saldana told PEOPLE of her plans to keep their sonsout of the spotlight. “Marco and I have a great deal of respect for the privacy of our kids,” she said. “They’re dependent on us so they’re not in a position to make choices for themselves. … This is the path that we’ve chosen, we have to wait for their choices to be heard so in the meantime, we need to protect their environment and we’re all about that.”

April 2019:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego aren’t planning on more kids

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Later that month, Saldana told PEOPLE that she and Perego are at “capacity” in their household. “If we were individuals that lived a much more consistent life, then we would entertain [having more kids],” the actress told PEOPLE. “Butwe don’t knowwhen we’re going to be traveling and for how long, so bringing more children into an already hectic and full life just feels a bit irresponsible for us.”

She added, “Of all the things that I have going on right now, my children are my most important priority. And I know that my husband can say the same.”

September 2, 2021:Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego share a kiss at the Venice Film Festival

Marilla Sicilia/Archivio Marilla Sicilia/Mondadori Portfolio

May 8, 2022: Zoë Saldana says Marco Perego and their kids are her “favorite people”

In a Mother’s Day Instagram post, Saldana called Perego and her kids her “favorite people.”

Alongside photos of her family, Saldana wrote, “My reason, my destiny, my mirrors. On Mother’s DayI have you to thank. I hold you responsible for my sleepless nights, my guilt, my painful growth, my salty tears, my endless obsession with being responsible for you- for all that, I thank you.”

October 21, 2022: Zoë Saldana talks about relating to her character inFrom Scratch

Saldana told PEOPLE sheconnected with her characterinNetflix’sFrom Scratch, which was based onTembi Locke’s memoir detailing her experience as a Black American woman who married into a Sicilian family. “The fact that I would laugh out loud to all the things that she, as a woman that is not Italian, marrying a very Italian man, went through; it’s an ongoing thing for me,” she explained. “It’s a saga that never ends, that I love. I’ve learned to embrace a lot of it.”

“And a lot of it is just perfect and beautiful and blissful and exactly what I wanted,” she continued. “But it’s not for the faint of heart when you marry somebody who comes with a big baggage of 4,000 years of history and art and philosophy. And great cuisine. It’s a lot to handle in just one simple day.”

December 12, 2022: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego attendAvatar: The Way of Waterpremiere in Los Angeles

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Saldana, who stars in the highly-anticipatedAvatarsequel, walked the red carpet with Perego. She stunned in a strapless Schiaparelli dress and a statement choker necklace, while her husband looked handsome in an all-black ensemble.

February 19, 2023: Zoë Saldana shares her appreciation for Marco Perego on Instagram

Shortly after Valentine’s Day, Saldana penned a sweet post about Perego onInstagram.

“Thank you for the life we are building together, thank you for your heart and the acts of service you continuously do for everyone you love and respect, thank you for your squared jawline and thank you for letting me borrow your clothes- you have the best taste,” theAvatarstar wrote.

March 12, 2023: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego step out for the 2023 Oscars

Perego joined Saldana for the2023 Oscars, where the pair wereseen holding hands on the red carpetbefore the ceremony. TheAvatar: The Way of Wateractress wore a blush-colored Fendi gown while her husband looked dapper in a classic tuxedo.

June 30, 2023: Marco Perego’s film starring Zoë Saldana premieres at Taormina Film Festival

Perego’s thriller,The Absence of Eden, starring Saldana premiered at Italy’s Taormina Film Festival. The movie, which follows an ICE agent and an undocumented woman trying to save the life of an innocent girl, marked Perego’s first feature film.

July 2, 2023: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego give away pastries in Paris

In a video shared on TikTok andInstagram, viral French pastry chefCédric Groletand Saldanamake fruit tarts. At the end of the clip, Perego, Cy, Bowie and Zen join the actress to help her pass out desserts to fans waiting outside the shop.

December 2, 2023: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego attend the Red Sea International Film Festival

Marco Perego and Zoe Saldana attend the screening of “The Absence Of Eden” during the Red Sea International Film Festival 2023 on December 02, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Daniele Venturelli/Getty

Daniele Venturelli/Getty

Perego joined Saldana in Saudi Arabia for the Red Sea International Film Festival. While there, the couple attended a screening of the actress' filmThe Absence of Eden.

April 3, 2024: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego appear onThe Drew Barrymore Show

The Drew Barrymore Show/Ash Bean

During a joint appearance onThe Drew Barrymore Show, the couple gushed about their love — and revealed that they used to refer to sex around the house as “playing legos naked” until their kids caught on.

February 16, 2025: Zoë Saldana gives Marco Perego a shout-out at BAFTAs

Marco Perego and Zoë Saldana in 2025.Kate Green/Getty

Kate Green/Getty

While accepting the supporting actress award at the British Academy Film Awards in London, Saldana gave Perego a sweet shout-out.

“My husband, you are God’s favorite and I hate it — butyou are so beautiful!” she said from the stage. “Thank you for my children: Cy, Bowie and Zen.”

source: people.com