Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario was born on June 19, 1978, inPassaic, New Jersey, and raised inQueens,New York City.[7] Her parents are Aridio Saldaña, who wasDominican,[8][9] and Asalia Nazario, who is half Dominican and half Puerto Rican. In an interview withWired, Saldaña has said that she is 3/4 Dominican and 1/4 Puerto Rican.[10][11][12] She and her two sisters, Cisely and Mariel, were raised to be bilingual in English and Spanish; the latter was their first language at home. When she was nine, their father was killed in a car accident. Saldaña and her two sisters were sent to live with their late father's family in theDominican Republic. Their mother remained in New York to earn enough money to pay for her daughter's Dominican private school.
The widowed mother Asalia married Dagoberto Galán, who became the stepfather of the girls. They consider him fully their father.[13][14][9] While the whole family lived in the Dominican Republic for a time, after Saldaña's sophomore year in high school, the family returned to New York City to escape political unrest. She completed her early education atNewtown High School in Queens.[15][16] The majority of her late childhood was spent inJackson Heights, Queens.[17]
Saldaña discovered her love of dance while living in the Dominican Republic. She was enrolled in the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy studying forms of dance,[12][17][18][19] but describes ballet as her passion.[17][15] She toldVanity Fair that she quit ballet because she did not "have the feet", and had too much pride and ambition to just be in thecorps de ballet.[15]
In 1995, Saldaña performed with the Faces theater group inBrooklyn.[20] She appeared in plays that encouraged teenagers by exploring such issues assubstance abuse andadolescent sex. During these years, she performed with the New York Youth Theater. Her appearance in their production ofJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat led atalent agency to recruit her. Her dance training and her acting experience helped her land her first film role, playing ballet student Eva Rodriguez inCenter Stage (2000).[12][18]
Saldaña atHollywood Life Magazine's Annual Breakthrough Awards in 2007
Saldaña's first on-screen role was a 1999 guest appearance in an episode ofLaw & Order. Her first film role was inCenter Stage (2000), directed byNicholas Hytner, about dancers at the fictitious American Ballet Academy in New York City. She appeared in theBritney Spears vehicleCrossroads (2002). The film earned negative reviews from critics, but was a box-office success.[21][22] Saldaña starred in the comedy-dramaDrumline (2002), alongsideNick Cannon, earning mixed reviews.[23][24]
InPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), she playedAnamaria, a pirate joining Will Turner and Mr. Gibbs for a chance to confront Jack Sparrow for stealing her ship. She appeared inThe Terminal as Dolores Torres, an immigration officer andStar Trek fan, a role helping Saldaña during her portrayal in theStar Trek reboot (2009).[25] In 2004, she had roles inHaven andTemptation; both earned little-to-no box-office success.
Saldaña appeared in two roles in 2009 that raised her profile considerably.[18] She playedNyota Uhura inStar Trek.[30] The film's directorJ. J. Abrams asked Saldaña to play the role because he enjoyed her work. She met withNichelle Nichols to understand the creation of Uhura's background and name of the character.[31] Saldaña's mother was aStar Trek fan, and left her voice-mails during filming, advising on the role.[32] Steven Spielberg had taught her theVulcan salute five years earlier while he directed her inThe Terminal.[25]Star Trek (2009) was a box-office success earning $385.7 million.[33]
Saldaña's second high-profile film in 2009 wasAvatar, where she portrayed the indigenous hunterNeytiri.Avatar was well received by critics, with an approval rating of 83% on the review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes.[34] It grossed $2.7 billion worldwide to become thehighest-grossing film of all time,[35] as well as specifically in theUnited States and Canada. It became the first film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide.[36]
In 2010, Saldaña performed inThe Losers as Aisha al-Fadhil, a nativeBolivian woman. For the role, she was required to gain weight in order to carry weapons for eight hours a day.[38] In 2010, she appeared inTakers,Death at a Funeral, andBurning Palms. Her television ad forCalvin Klein's "Envy" line debuted in 2010.[39] In 2011, Saldaña starred in the romantic comedyThe Heart Specialist, and portrayed assassin Cataleya Restrepo in the crime dramaColombiana. Although the latter film earned negative reviews from critics, Saldaña's performance was praised.[40]
In 2012, she appeared in the romantic dramaThe Words, earning negative reviews from critics and little success at the box-office.[41][42]
In 2013, Saldaña reprised her role as Uhura inStar Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to theStar Trek re-boot. Like the previous film, it was a box-office success, ending its North American theater run with a box office total of $228,778,661, placing it as the eleventh-highest-grossing film of 2013.[43] It earned $467,365,246 worldwide, ranking it in 14th place for 2013, and making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise.[44] Saldaña voiced her character in the 2013 release of theStar Trek video game.
In May 2014, she performed inRosemary's Baby, a television mini-series adaptation ofIra Levin'shorror novel. Saldaña also co-produced the four-hour two-part show.[52] In 2014, Saldaña was recognized byElle magazine during The Women in Hollywood Awards. Women were honored for achievements in film and the motion-picture industry, including acting, directing, and producing.[53]
Saldaña starred inNina (2016), an unauthorized biography about the jazz musicianNina Simone. The film depicts the late singer's rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson. Simone's family criticized Saldaña's being cast in this role.[54] In August 2020, Saldaña apologized for taking the role, saying "I'm so sorry. I know better today and I'm never going to do that again. She's one of our giants and someone else should step up. Somebody else should tell her story."[55]
Also in 2017, Saldaña played Mrs. Mollé inI Kill Giants,Anders Walter's adaptation of Joe Kelly's graphic novelI Kill Giants. Shooting commenced in Ireland in September 2016.[59] Also that year, she appeared in the animated filmMy Little Pony: The Movie, performing the voice of pirate parrot Captain Celaeno.[60]
On May 3, 2018, she received a star at 6920 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Pictures section of theHollywood Walk of Fame.[61][62][63]
In June 2010, Saldaña was engaged to her longtime boyfriend Keith Britton, an actor and the CEO of My Fashion Database.[76] In November 2011, she and Britton announced they had ended their relationship after eleven years.[77] Saldaña was in a relationship with actorBradley Cooper from December 2011 to January 2013.[78]
In March 2013, Saldaña began dating Italian artist Marco Perego and they married three months later inLondon.[79][80] In July 2015, Saldaña revealed Perego adopted her surname upon marriage.[81][82] Thereafter, Zoë became Zoë Saldaña-Perego and Marco became Marco Perego-Saldaña.[83] They have three sons together.[84][85][86] Saldaña has stated her children will be multi-lingual because she and her husband speak Spanish, Italian and English around them.[87]
In July 2016, during an interview withNet-a-Porter'sThe Edit, Saldaña revealed she hasHashimoto's thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease, along with her mother and sisters. To combat the effects of this disease, Saldaña said she and her husband adhere to a gluten- and dairy-free diet.[88] Saldaña is a supporter ofFINCA International, amicro-finance organization.[89] In 2017, she foundedBESE, a digital media platform designed to "combat the lack of diversity in the mainstream media" with an interest on positive stories within the Latino community.[90] In September 2020, Saldaña used her social media presence to participate in theVoteRiders #IDCheck Challenge to help spread the word aboutvoter ID requirements forthat year's presidential election.[91]
In October 2023, Saldaña signed the "No Hostage Left Behind" open letter in support of Israel.[92]
^Howell, Peter (December 15, 2009)."For Avatar, Star Trek actress Saldaña, a very good year".Toronto Star. Archived fromthe original on December 14, 2013. RetrievedMay 28, 2019.Zoë Saldaña [...] appreciates anyone remembering the umlaut over the 'e' in her first name. She doesn't insist upon it—she is accustomed to writers leaving it out—but this courtesy indicates to her somebody cares about the details. 'I really like the umlaut!'
^Saldaña onJimmy Kimmel Live!, June 11, 2015, cited inBoardman, Madeline (June 12, 2015)."Zoe Saldaña "Was a Gentleman" and Put Marco Perego First in Their Kids' Names".Us Weekly.Archived from the original on September 5, 2017. RetrievedDecember 27, 2017.We hyphened, I'm Saldaña-Perego and he's Perego-Saldaña. I was a gentleman and I allowed the boys to be Perego-Saldaña. I'm, like, 'Your name, like, needs to go, like, first'. But 'no', it was his decision!
^abcdef"Zoe Saldana (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. RetrievedOctober 7, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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