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Zoe Saldana Admits to Accidentally "Flashing" Star Trek Co-Stars: ''I Remember Always Being Exposed''

Actress' Uhura uniforms may have been a little too short

By Marc Malkin Oct 04, 2014 2:00 PMTags
Zoe Saldana, Star TrekParamount

Remember those very short dress uniforms Zoe Saldana wore in the Star Trek movies?

Well, the actress now says her itsy-bitsy Uhura attire was more revealing than we would have ever imagined.

"I kept being reminded by all my male cast members that I was flashing," Saldana told me at the opening of the Academy of Arts and Sciences' Hollywood Costume exhibit in L.A. "I would sit down and it would be like, 'Oh, Zoe, cross those legs.' And I would say, 'They are crossed.' [They would say], 'Well, then put something over that because I'm just seeing everything.'"

She asked the movie's costume designer Michael Kaplan for some help.

"I just remember always being exposed no matter how hard I would try," Saldana said. "I would tell Michael that we had to work on this and [he would say], 'But it looks so cute.'"

Flashing aside, Saldana said her Star Trek wardrobe is among her favorites that she's worn for the big screen. "There's something about those costumes that Michael Kaplan definitely honored the old but also brought in that innovative spunk of today," she said. "They were just really likable. They weren't comfortable all the time. It was rather cold sometimes, but they certainly looked great."

Saldana has experienced other wardrobe malfunctions throughout her career. "There's a little bit of unwanted nipple in the frame sometimes. [but] there' s this beautiful, safe environment where everybody—your crew, your director and everybody—surrounds you and you feel really safe," she said. "Usually people are absolute gentlemen when things like that happen. You're going to have costumes fail sometimes, but you're never going to run out of people that are going to be there to help you."

Hollywood Costume's 150 costumes include pieces worn by Charlie Chaplin in 1914's The Tramp, Judy Garland's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz and a Mary Poppins umbrella used by Julie Andrews.

There are also costumes from The Hunger Games, Moulin Rouge, The Breakfast Club, Milk, Titanic, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Man of Steel and many other films spanning 100 years.

The exhibition is located in the Wilshire May Company building and is open every Saturday from tomorrow until Oct. 25.

Watch: Zoe Saldana Talks On-Set Costume Malfunction