Zoe Saldana, a "Loser" Who Saves the Day

Give this girl an RPG over a cookie sheet any day.

After star-solidifying turns in "Avatar" and "Star Trek" last year, Zoe Saldana has proven she can hang with the big boys.

At last weekend's press day for her new film, "The Losers," or, as we like to call it, "The A-Team That Doesn't Suck," the actress, a silver of a woman whose striking beauty is belied by her gregarious convivial personality, says she loves being the only girl in the cast, even if it means pushing well beyond her limits.

As the lone actress on several testosterone-driven sets recently, Saldana says, "I almost feel like you have twice as much work to do because you don't want to be singled out. If you're the one who says 'I can't do this,' everyone's going to say 'She's wimping out because she's a girl.' I really wanted to impress the guys." Plus, she says with a Cheshire Cat grin, "I like being around men. I think I can hold my own."

After her turn as The Losers' resident "bad ass chick," don't expect Saldana to take on the damsel-in-distress role as a follow up.

"I feel that Hollywood has made a living portraying women to be such canker sores," she says, her face crinkling in disgust. "We have to be rescued all the time because we're so incompetent. Art need to reflect what's going on in real life. I'm from Queens in the 80s. Women were the care takers and they were the soldiers. I like holding a gun and participating in the saving of the day. I think it's really sexy. It kind of [reminds me of] my mom."

"The Losers" opens April 23.