Zoe Saldana defends former co-star Britney Spears

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Zoe Saldana says she has nothing but respect for Britney Spears.

The 36-year-old actress came to the 32-year-old singer's defense during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live. Saldana starred as Kit alongside Spears as Lucy in the 2002 movie Crossroads, and said the songstress was a kind and gracious co-star.

"I have a huge amount of respect for Britney Spears," Saldana declared. "I've always said this, and I will always continue to say it: She was the one big, big celebrity that I met when I was starting to work in Hollywood, who was literally humble, and whatever was going on in her mind there in her world, it was never about hating her neighbor."

"She was the only pop star at the time -- and I can name a lot of prominent figures right now that are today more famous than Britney that literally got to where they were at by hating on Britney, because it was cool at one time to just diss her," she continued. "Britney never did that."

Spears became the center of controversy when a "warm-up" of her song "Alien" leaked without Auto-Tune in July. Many criticized the singer's vocals, but Saldana asserted, "That's mean because I'm pretty sure that 80 percent of our musical artists would be mortified if they were caught singing without their own Auto-Tune."

Saldana last appeared as Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy, and is scheduled for Nina later this year. Spears released her eighth studio album, Britney Jean, in November 2013.