biography of Zoe Saldaña

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Jun 2, 2025 - 21:30

Jun 21, 2025 - 15:26

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Saldaña in 2024
Born	Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario June 19, 1978 (age 46) Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1999–present
Spouse	Marco Perego (m. 2013)
Children	3
Awards	Full list

Zoë Yadira Saldaña-Perego

(/sɑːlˈdænjə/ sahl-DAN-yə, Latin American Spanish: [ˈso.e salˈdaɲa]; née Saldaña Nazario; born June 19, 1978) is an American actress. Known primarily for her work in science fiction film franchises, she has starred in four of the seven highest-grossing films of all time, including the top three (Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Avengers: Endgame). Films she has appeared in have grossed more than $15 billion worldwide and, as of 2024, she is the second highest-grossing lead actress and the highest-grossing actress overall.^[3]^[4] Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.

A trained dancer, Saldaña began her on-screen acting career in 1999 with a guest role in Law & Order. Her first film role was in Center Stage (2000) in which she played a ballet dancer. She received early recognition for her work opposite Britney Spears in the road film Crossroads (2002). Beginning in 2009, Saldaña achieved a career breakthrough with her roles as Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek reboot film series and Neytiri in James Cameron's Avatar film series. She portrayed Gamora in five films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).

In addition to franchise work, Saldaña has starred in the science fiction film The Adam Project and the romantic drama miniseries From Scratch, both for Netflix in 2022. In 2023, she began playing the lead role of a CIA officer in the Paramount+ spy series Lioness. In 2024, Saldaña starred in the musical crime film Emilia Pérez, for which she received several accolades, including the Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a SAG Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Critics Choice Award, for Best Supporting Actress.

Early life

Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario was born on June 19, 1978, in Passaic, New Jersey, and raised in Queens, New York City. Her parents are Aridio Saldaña, who was Dominican,^[8]^[9] and Asalia Nazario, who is half Dominican and half Puerto Rican. In an interview with Wired, Saldaña has said that she is 3/4 Dominican and 1/4 Puerto Rican. 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 the Dominican 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. 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 at Newtown High School in Queens.The majority of her late childhood was spent in Jackson Heights, Queens.

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, but describes ballet as her passion. She told Vanity Fair that she quit ballet because she did not "have the feet", and had too much pride and ambition to just be in the corps de ballet.

In 1995, Saldaña performed with the Faces theater group in Brooklyn. She appeared in plays that encouraged teenagers by exploring such issues as substance abuse and adolescent sex. During these years, she performed with the New York Youth Theater. Her appearance in their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat led a talent agency to recruit her. Her dance training and her acting experience helped her land her first film role, playing ballet student Eva Rodriguez in Center Stage (2000).

Career

Saldaña's first on-screen role was a 1999 guest appearance in an episode of Law & Order. Her first film role was in Center Stage (2000), directed by Nicholas Hytner, about dancers at the fictitious American Ballet Academy in New York City. She appeared in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002). The film earned negative reviews from critics, but was a box-office success. Saldaña starred in the comedy-drama Drumline (2002), alongside Nick Cannon, earning mixed reviews.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), she played Anamaria, a pirate joining Will Turner and Mr. Gibbs for a chance to confront Jack Sparrow for stealing her ship. She appeared in The Terminal as Dolores Torres, an immigration officer and Star Trek fan, a role helping Saldaña during her portrayal in the Star Trek reboot (2009). In 2004, she had roles in Haven and Temptation; both earned little-to-no box-office success.

In 2005, Saldaña appeared in Constellation, Guess Who with Ashton Kutcher, and Dirty Deeds. She starred in the romantic comedy-dramas Premium (2006) and After Sex (2007). Saldaña starred in Blackout, a television film set in New York City during the Northeast Blackout of 2003. The film premiered at the 2007 Zurich Film Festival, and debuted on BET in 2008. Saldaña had a supporting role as Angie Jones in the action thriller Vantage Point (2008)

MINI BIO :

Zoe Saldana was born on June 19, 1978 in Passaic, New Jersey, to Asalia Nazario and Aridio Saldaña. Her father was Dominican and her mother is Puerto Rican. She was raised in Queens, New York. When she was 10 years old, she and her family moved to the Dominican Republic, where they would live for the next seven years. While living there, Zoe discovered a keen interest in performance dance and began her training at the prestigious ECOS Espacio de Danza Dance Academy where she learned ballet as well as other dance forms. Not only did her training provide an excellent outlet for the enthusiastic and energetic youngster, it would also prove to be a fortunate precursor for the start of her professional acting career. At age 17, Zoe and her family moved back to the United States where her love for dance followed and an interest in theater performance became stronger.

She began performing with the Faces theater troupe which put on plays geared to provide positive messages for teens with themes dealing with issues such as substance abuse and sex. These performances not only gave her valuable experience but also a source of great pride knowing that she was making a difference in the lives of young people like herself. While performing with the Faces troupe and also the New York Youth Theater, Zoe was recruited for a talent agency and her dance training years before coupled with her acting experience greatly helped her land her first big screen role as Eva Rodriguez, the talented and headstrong ballet dancer in the film Center Stage (2000). Since her professional career began several years ago, Zoe's talent and determination have allowed her to be involved in blockbuster films and act with major actors, actresses and industry insiders at a pace that very few young professionals have experienced.

Zoe has not only held her own in major motion picture productions but gained the respect and praise from industry insiders such as Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Spielberg and actors/actresses such as Tom Hanks, Bernie Mac, Keira Knightley, Ashton Kutcher, Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom. According to many of her co-stars, producers and directors, the sky is no limit for this young star who has incredible range, intense concentration, and a steely determination to be involved with projects that challenge her professionally with wide-ranging subject matters and characters. Just to ask practically anyone who she has worked for or with about her, glowing comments abound and earned friendships and respect are readily revealed. A star has been born, and growing every day.

Personal life

In June 2010, Saldaña was engaged to her longtime boyfriend Keith Britton, an actor and the CEO of My Fashion Database. In November 2011, she and Britton announced they had ended their relationship after eleven years. Saldaña was in a relationship with actor Bradley Cooper from December 2011 to January 2013.

In March 2013, Saldaña began dating Italian artist Marco Perego and they married three months later in London. In July 2015, Saldaña revealed Perego adopted her surname upon marriage. Thereafter, Zoë became Zoë Saldaña-Perego and Marco became Marco Perego-Saldaña. They have three sons together. Saldaña has stated her children will be multi-lingual because she and her husband speak Spanish, Italian and English around them.

In July 2016, during an interview with Net-a-Porter's The Edit, Saldaña revealed she has Hashimoto'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. Saldaña is a supporter of FINCA International, a micro-finance organization. In 2017, she founded BESE, 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. In September 2020, Saldaña used her social media presence to participate in the VoteRiders #IDCheck Challenge to help spread the word about voter ID requirements for that year's presidential election.

In October 2023, Saldaña signed the "No Hostage Left Behind" open letter in support of the desire for "Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace".

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Center Stage	Eva Rodriguez
2001	Get Over It	Maggie
2001	Snipes	Cheryl
2002	Crossroads	Kit
2002	Drumline	Laila
2003	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	Anamaria
2004	The Terminal	Dolores Torres
	Haven	Andrea
	Temptation	Annie
2005	Constellation	Rosa Boxer
	Guess Who	Theresa Jones
	Dirty Deeds	Rachel Buff
	The Curse of Father Cardona	Flor
2006	Premium	Charli
2006	The Heart Specialist	Donna Chaisson
2007	After Sex	Kat
2007	Blackout	Claudine
2008	Vantage Point	Angie Jones
2009	Star Trek	Nyota Uhura
	The Skeptic	Cassie
	Avatar	Neytiri
2010	The Losers	Aisha
	Takers	Lily Jansen
	Death at a Funeral	Elaine
	Burning Palms	Sara Cotton
2011	Colombiana	Cataleya Restrepo
2012	The Words	Dora Jansen
2013	Blood Ties	Vanessa
	Star Trek Into Darkness	Nyota Uhura
	Out of the Furnace	Lena Warren
2014	Infinitely Polar Bear	Maggie Stuart
	Guardians of the Galaxy	Gamora
	The Book of Life	María Posada	Voice role
2015	Unity	Narrator	Documentary film
2016	Nina	Nina Simone
	Star Trek Beyond	Nyota Uhura
	Live by Night	Graciella Corrales
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Gamora
	I Kill Giants	Mrs. Mollé
	My Little Pony: The Movie	Captain Celaeno	Voice role
2018	Avengers: Infinity War	Gamora
2019	Avengers: Endgame	Gamora
2019	Missing Link	Adelina Fortnight	Voice role
2020	Vampires vs. the Bronx	Becky	Cameo appearance
2021	Vivo	Rosa	Voice role
2022	The Adam Project	Laura Shane
	Amsterdam	Irma St. Clair
	Avatar: The Way of Water	Neytiri
2023	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	Gamora
	The Absence of Eden	Esmee
	Good Burger 2	Herself	Cameo appearance
2024	Emilia Pérez	Rita Mora Castro
2025	Elio †	Olga Solis (voice)	Completed
2025	Avatar: Fire and Ash †	Neytiri	Post-production
2029	Avatar 4 †	Neytiri	Filming

Saldaña spent much of her childhood in Queens, New York. She and her two sisters were raised speaking Spanish at home by their Puerto Rican mother and Dominican father. However, when she was nine years old, her father died in a car accident, and she moved with her family to the Dominican Republic. There she studied dance at the Ecos Espacio de Danza dance studio. When she was 17, she returned to New York City and began performing with youth theater groups. After two small guest appearances (1999) on the television series Law & Order, Saldaña was cast in a prominent role in the movie Center Stage (2000), about students at a New York City ballet school.

She next appeared in a series of teen flicks, including Get Over It (2001) and the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002), and then had a supporting role in the higher-profile movie Drumline (2002). Saldaña had a small but memorable part as a female pirate in the surprise hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), and she played an immigration agent in Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal (2004), which starred Tom Hanks as a man forced to live in an airport terminal. For the next few years, however, Saldaña appeared in only minor movies and TV fare.