Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego’s Relationship Timeline

Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego have 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, the Avatar star 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’ve always felt comfortable around men as long as they were friends. Now I finally feel comfortable with my lover. 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

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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 told 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.”

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 told The Hollywood Reporter in July 2014.

April 2013: Zoë Saldana and Marco Perego begin dating

Saldana and Perego were seen leaving Los Angeles’ Chateau Marmont in 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 kissing at the Star Trek Into Darkness premiere 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

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In September 2013, a source confirmed to PEOPLE that Saldana and Perego got married in 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 told Marie 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 told The Hollywood Reporter that 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 of Zoë Saldana

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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

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

July 21, 2014: Zoë Saldana debuts her baby bump on the red carpet

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Saldana appeared to debut her growing baby bump at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere, wearing a form-fitting Louis Vuitton dress. At the time, Saldana hadn’t yet confirmed her pregnancy.

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

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

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

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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.

On Jan. 2, 2015, Saldana tweeted a picture of two baby bottles. “Happy #2015! Starting our #NewYear with a fullhouse,” she wrote. “Our boys are finally here! Thank U 4 all the beautiful wishes!”

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

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In an interview with InStyle, Saldana revealed that Perego took her last name after they married, though she initially tried to talk him out of it.

“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,’ ” she recalled. “But Marco looks up at me and says [she puts on his Italian accent], ‘Ah, Zoë, I don’t give a sheet.’ ”

Saldana later clarified her comments in a Facebook post. “Fathers, sons, brothers, men everywhere: Your legacy will not perish if you take your partner’s surname, or she keeps hers,” she wrote. “I felt proud that my husband decided to take my last name as his own … and I his. … he also asked me, ‘Why not? What are you so afraid of?’ And it made me wonder … What am I so afraid of?”

She continued, “Why is it so surprising, shocking- eventful that a man would take his wife’s surname? Women have never been asked if its ok for them to give up their names — why doesn’t that make the news? Men, you will not cease to exist by taking your partner’s surname. On the contrary — you’ll be remembered as a man who stood by change. I know our sons will respect and admire their father more because their father lead by example.”

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

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Saldana wore a peacock-inspired Dolce & Gabbana dress with a long train of colorful feathers to the 2016 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 officially became a U.S. citizen in 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

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Saldana told PEOPLE that she and Perego coordinate outfits on 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

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

“We’re in a constant Groundhog Day where 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 I find 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 on From Scratch

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In a 2022 interview with Emmy magazine, Saldana shared how a dinner with Reese Witherspoon and her husband Jim Toth led to a role on the Netflix series From Scratch.

“We switch from Spanish to English to Italian,” Saldana told the outlet, recalling how Witherspoon paid close attention to 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 are teaching their sons not 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 sons out 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

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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. “But we don’t know when 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

The couple were spotted kissing at The Hand of God premiere at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. Saldana donned a red Dolce & Gabbana dress while her husband wore a classic black tuxedo with Chelsea boots and ruby earrings.

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

Zoë Saldana Instagram

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 Day I 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.”

She continued, “If by any chance time were to stop and my life would hit a reset, I would still choose you, a million times over. And I would do it again and again- I would still choose you. All four of you. My favorite people. I love you x infinity.”

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

Saldana told PEOPLE she connected with her character in Netflix’s From Scratch, which was based on Tembi 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 attend Avatar: The Way of Water premiere in Los Angeles

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Saldana, who stars in the highly-anticipated Avatar sequel, 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 on Instagram.

“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,” the Avatar star wrote.

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

Perego joined Saldana for the 2023 Oscars, where the pair were seen holding hands on the red carpet before the ceremony. The Avatar: The Way of Water actress 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 and Instagram, viral French pastry chef Cédric Grolet and Saldana make 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

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

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Source: HIS Education