Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario (born June 19, 1978), known as Zoë Saldana or Zoe Saldana (/sælˈdænə/ sal-DAN-ə), is an American actress and dancer. She had her breakthrough roles in the films Center Stage (2000) and Crossroads (2002). She later gained prominence for her roles as Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Nyota Uhura in Star Trek (2009) and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Neytiri in James Cameron's Avatar (2009) and its upcoming sequels, and Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
Early life
Saldana was born Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario in Passaic, New Jersey. Her father, Aridio Saldaña was from the Dominican Republic, while her mother, Asalia Nazario is from Puerto Rico. Saldana also has Haitian and Lebanese roots. She has often spoken of her pride in being from a Latin culture. Her first languages are English and Spanish. She spent the majority of her early childhood growing up in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. She has two sisters, named Cisely and Mariel, and a half-brother named Nipo, known as "Nipo 809", who is a Dominican artist and producer. Her father died in a car crash when she was nine years old, and Saldaña and her mother subsequently moved to the Dominican Republic. There, Saldaña discovered her love of dance and soon enrolled in the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy; she studied various forms of dance but describes ballet as her first 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. The family returned to New York City after her sophomore year in high school. In 1995, she began performing with the FACES theater group in Brooklyn, which put on plays geared toward providing positive messages for teens via themes dealing with issues such as substance abuse and adolescent sexuality. Concurrently, she performed with the New York Youth Theater; her appearance in their production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat led a talent agency to recruit her. Her previous dance training, and her acting experience, helped her land her first film role, playing Eva Rodriguez, the talented and headstrong ballet student in the film Center Stage (2000).
Career
Saldana was still a member of FACES when she gained exposure in an episode of Law & Order (titled "Merger") which first aired in 1999. Saldana's first film role was in Center Stage (2000), directed by Nicholas Hytner, about a group of young dancers from various backgrounds who enroll at the fictitious American Ballet Academy in New York City. She left school after Center Stage, subsequently appearing in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002) and the comedy-drama Drumline (2002). In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), she played Anamaria, a female pirate who signs up to join Will Turner and Mr. Gibbs for a chance to confront Jack Sparrow for stealing her ship. Saldana appeared in three films in 2004, including The Terminal, Haven and Temptation. She appeared in Constellation, Guess Who with Ashton Kutcher and Dirty Deeds in 2005 and in Premium in 2006.
Saldana appeared in two high-profile roles in 2009: Nyota Uhura in the film reboot Star Trek, and the alien huntress Neytiri in James Cameron's Avatar, both of which raised her profile considerably. Coincidentally, it was Steven Spielberg who taught her the Vulcan salute five years earlier when he directed her in The Terminal, in which her character was a Trekkie.
In 2010, Saldana starred in The Losers as Aisha al-Fadhil, a native Bolivian woman. She also appeared in Takers, Death at a Funeral and Burning Palms. In August 2010, her television ad for Calvin Klein's "Envy" line debuted. In 2011, Saldana starred in the romantic comedy The Heart Specialist and she also starred in the crime drama film Colombiana as Cataleya Restrepo, a professional assassin. In 2012, she starred in the romantic drama film The Words.
Saldana reprised her role in Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to the 2009 reboot which was released in May 2013 and played Gamora in the film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and will reprise her role of Neytiri in Avatar 2 in 2015. In May 2014, she starred in a television miniseries adaptation of Rosemary's Baby.
Personal life
In June 2010, Saldana became engaged to her longtime boyfriend Keith Britton, an actor and CEO of My Fashion Database. Saldana and Britton announced in November 2011 that they had ended their relationship after 11 years together. Saldana subsequently dated actor Bradley Cooper from December 2011 to January 2013.
In March 2013, Saldana began dating Italian artist Marco Perego. They secretly married in June 2013 in London. Saldana and Perego have twin sons, Bowie Ezio and Cy Aridio, born in November 2014. During her pregnancy, Saldana stated that her children will be bilingual as she and her husband plan to speak both Spanish and English around them.
In 2009, Saldana said she would avoid plastic surgery, telling Women's Health magazine "God as my witness, I am going to try to do everything I can to keep this ass together for as long as I possibly canâ€"without going against nature." She watches what she eats but does not diet and does Pilates regularly saying "It's the closest thing to dance."
Saldana is a celebrity supporter of FINCA International, a microfinance organization.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- "Zoe Saldana". (Official site). Archived from the original on July 5, 2011.Â
- Zoe Saldana at the Internet Movie Database
- Zoe Saldana at the TCM Movie Database
- Zoe Saldana at AllMovie
- Zoe Saldana, IDI Diamond Celebrity of the Week
- "Zoe Saldana Shines on ESSENCE's April Cover". Essence. March 9, 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-09.Â
- Sandell, Laurie (March 1, 2010). "Zoë Saldana: The Most Elegant Member of the Glam New Guard". Glamour (Condé Nast). Retrieved 2011-10-09.Â