Zoe Saldana (born June 19, 1978) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough role in the 2002 film Drumline, and later gained prominence for her roles as Anamaria in
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Uhura in the 2009 film Star Trek, and Neytiri in
James Cameron's
Avatar. Her latest film,
The Losers, was released on April 23, 2010.
Zoe Saldana was born Zoe Yadira Zaldaña Nazario or Zoe Yadira Zaldana Nazario in New Jersey, United States, to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother, Asalia Nazario. Her first languages are English and Spanish. When she was ten years old, she and her family moved to the Dominican Republic, where they lived for the next seven years. Saldana enlisted in a ballet class at one of the most prestigious dancing schools in the Dominican Republic. After returning to New York at age seventeen, she began performing with the Faces theater troupe, which put on plays geared to providing positive messages for teens, via 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, as she knew 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. Her dance training years before, coupled with her acting experience, greatly helped her land her first big screen role as Eva, the talented and headstrong ballet dancer in the 2000 film Center Stage.
Career
Saldana was still a member of the program when she gained exposure in an episode of
Law & Order (titled "Merger") which first aired in 1999. She left school after Center Stage, which film led to appearances in the
Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002) and the drama Drumline (2002). She played the pirate Anamaria in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and has appeared in a number of television shows and movies, including The Terminal (2004) and Guess Who (2005). Saldana was also the lead in the video for Juan Luis Guerra's song "La llave de mi corazón", and played Uhura in the 2009 film Star Trek. Recently, she played Neytiri, the Na'vi princess, in James Cameron's Avatar (2009), a film which has become her biggest hit to date, and was a leading box office hit.
Saldana has an interest in fashion and has her own fashion line, called Arasmaci, with most of her designs influenced by her Dominican heritage. She is also a global ambassador for Avon, and serves as the face of its color cosmetics line and the inspiration for the fragrance Eternal Magic.
Biography courtesy of
Wikipedia
