Actress Zoe Saldana says she tried to convince her husband and Italian artist Marco Perego not to take her last name.

Zoe, who got married to Perego in 2013 and has twin sons -- Bowie Ezio and Cy Aridio -- with him, told InStyle magazine for its July issue that she knew about his decision, reports eonline.com.

"I tried to talk him out of it. I told him, 'If you use my name you are going to be emasculated by your community of artists, by your Latin community of men, by the world'. But Marco looks up at me and says, 'Ah, Zoe, I don't give a damn'," she said.

"Since I have been with Marco, I have been lowering my guard. Finally when we had our boys, I looked at my husband and I realised I was meant for you and you were meant for me," the `Avatar` actress added.