Zoe Saldana

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This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Saldaña and the second or maternal family name is Nazario.
Zoe Saldana
Zoe Saldana - Guardians of the Galaxy premiere - July 2014 (cropped).jpg
Saldana at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere in July 2014
Born Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario
(1978-06-19) June 19, 1978 (age 46)
Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.
Other names Zoe Saldana-Perego
Occupation Actress, dancer, director and producer
Years active 1999–present
Spouse(s) Marco Perego (m. 2013)
Children 2

Zoe Saldana-Perego (born Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario; June 19, 1978),[1] Zoe Saldana (/sælˈdænə/ sal-DAN-ə), is an American actress and dancer. Following her performances with the FACES theater group, Saldana made her screen debut in an episode of Law & Order (1999). Her film career began a year later with Center Stage (2000), followed by a role in Crossroads (2002). She first gained some prominence for her role as Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).

Saldana's breakthrough came in 2009 with the roles of Nyota Uhura in Star Trek and Neytiri in James Cameron's Avatar (2009). The latter film received widespread acclaim, and is the highest-grossing film of all time. Saldana continued her successful career with films such as Colombiana (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Early life

Saldana was born Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario[1] in Passaic, New Jersey.[2][3] Her father, Aridio Saldaña, was from the Dominican Republic, while her mother, Asalia Nazario, is from Puerto Rico.[4] Saldana also has Haitian and Lebanese roots.[5][6] She has often spoken of her pride in her ethnicity, and has said: "It doesn't matter how much backlash I will get for it; I will honor and respect my black community because that's who I am."[7] The majority of her early childhood she spent growing up in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, and her native languages are both English and Spanish. 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.[8]

Her father died in a car crash when she was nine years old,[9] 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 [2][8][10][11] but describes ballet as her first passion.[8][12] 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.[12] The family returned to New York after her sophomore year in high school.[12] In 1995, she began performing with the FACES theater group in Brooklyn,[13] 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).[2][10]

Career

Beginnings

Saldana at Hollywood Life Magazine’s Annual Breakthrough Awards in 2007.

Saldaña was still a member of FACES when she gained exposure in an episode of Law & Order (titled "Merger") which first aired in 1999.[14] Saldaña'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). The film was met with negative reviews from critics, but became somewhat of a box office success.[15][16] The same year Saldaña started in the comedy-drama Drumline (2002), alongside Nick Cannon, which was met with generally favorable reviews.

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. As to why she never appeared in any further films in the franchise, Saldaña revealed that she almost quit acting following "disrespectful treatment" on set of the film.[17] She then appeared in The Terminal as Dolores Torres, an immigration officer and Star Trek fan, a role that would later help Saldaña when she came to appear in J. J. Abrams' 2009 film Star Trek.[18] In 2004 she also made appearances in Haven and Temptation, both of which had little to no box office success.

In 2005, Saldaña appeared in Constellation, Guess Who with Ashton Kutcher, and Dirty Deeds. She then starred in the romantic comedy-dramas Premium in 2006 and After Sex in 2007.[19] The same year 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[20] and debuted on BET in 2008.[21] Saldaña also had a small role as Angie Jones in the 2008 box office smash Vantage Point.[22]

Breakthrough and success

Saldana at the "Entertainment Weekly: Wonder Women: Female Power Icons in Pop Culture" panel. Comic-Con 2009.

Saldana appeared in two high-profile roles in 2009, which both went on to raise her profile considerably.[10] She played Nyota Uhura in the film reboot Star Trek,[23] The films director J. J. Abrams asked Saldana to play the role because he had seen her previous work and liked it. Saldana had never seen the original series, though she had played a Trekkie in The Terminal (2004), but agreed to play the role after Abrams complimented her. She met with Nichelle Nichols, who explained to her how she had created Uhura's background and named the character.[24] Saldana's mother was a Star Trek fan and sent her voice mails during filming, giving advice on the role.[25] Coincidentally, it was Steven Spielberg who taught her the Vulcan salute five years earlier when he directed her in The Terminal.[18] The film was a huge box office success grossing $385.7 million.[26]

Saldana's second high profile film on 2009 was James Cameron's Avatar, in which she starred as the alien huntress Neytiri. The film was premiered by 20th Century Fox in London on December 10, and was released in the United States and Canada on December 18, grossing $27 million on its opening day and $77 million during its opening weekend in 3,461 theaters, ranking number one at the box office.[27] Avatar grossed $2.7 billion worldwide, to become the highest-grossing film of all time,[28] as well as in the United States and Canada. It also became the first film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide.[29] Avatar was well-received and accumulated an approval rating of 83% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[30] The film was nominated for ten Saturn Awards and won all ten at the 36th Saturn Awards ceremony. Saldana's Saturn Award for Best Actress win marked a rare occurrence for an all-CG character.[31]

Saldana at the 82nd Academy Awards, 2010

In 2010, Saldana starred in The Losers as Aisha al-Fadhil, a native Bolivian woman. For the role, she was required to gain weight, as she was expected to carry weapons around for eight hours a day.[32] In 2010, she also appeared in Takers, Death at a Funeral and Burning Palms. Her television ad for Calvin Klein's "Envy" line also debuted in 2010.[33] In 2011, Saldana starred in the romantic comedy The Heart Specialist and played Cataleya Restrepo, a professional assassin, in the crime drama Colombiana. While the latter film was met with negative reviews from critics, Saldana's performance was praised.[34] In 2012, she starred in the romantic drama film The Words, which also received negative reviews from critics and saw little success at the box office.[35][36]

In 2013, Saldana reprised her role as Uhura in Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to the 2009 Star Trek. Like the previous film, it was a box office success ending its North American theatrical run with a box office total of $228,778,661, placing it as the 11th highest-grossing film for 2013.[37] It also earned $467,365,246 worldwide, ranking it in 14th place for 2013 and making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise.[38] Saldana also voiced her character in the 2013 release of the Star Trek video game.

In 2014, Saldana played Gamora in the hit film Guardians of the Galaxy,[39][40] Saldana said that she became Gamora through make-up rather than computer generated imagery (CGI) or performance capture.[41] The film became the third highest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, behind The Avengers and Iron Man 3.[42] It was the third highest-grossing 2014 film (behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) and the highest-grossing superhero film of 2014.[42][43] In May 2014, she starred in Rosemary's Baby, a television miniseries adaptation of Ira Levin's best-selling horror novel. Saldana also co-produced the four-hour, two-part show.[44]

In 2014, Saldana was recognized by Elle Magazine during The Women in Hollywood Awards, honoring women for their outstanding achievements in film, spanning all aspects of the motion picture industry, including acting, directing, and producing.[45]

Recent and upcoming projects

Saldana will star in Nina, an upcoming biopic about the jazz musician Nina Simone set to be released in 2015. The film depicts the late singer's rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.[46] Saldana will also reprise her role of Neytiri in Avatar 2 in 2017. A sequel to her 2011 film Colombiana is in development but her reprisal of the role has not been confirmed. She will also reprise her role as Gamora in the Guardians Of The Galaxy sequel to be released in May 2017.[47]

Personal life

Saldana at the 2014 Alma Awards, shown pregnant with twins

In June 2010, Saldana became engaged to her longtime boyfriend Keith Britton, an actor and CEO of My Fashion Database.[48] Saldana and Britton announced in November 2011 that they had ended their relationship after 11 years together.[49] Saldana subsequently dated actor Bradley Cooper from December 2011 to January 2013.[50][51]

In March 2013, Saldana began dating Italian artist Marco Perego. They secretly married in June 2013 in London.[52][53] In her July 2015 cover interview with InStyle, Saldana revealed that, in a reversal of tradition, Perego adopted her surname upon marriage.[54][55] Thereafter, Zoe became Zoe Saldana-Perego or Zoe Perego and Marco became Marco Perego-Saldana or Marco Saldana. Their children will be Perego-Saldana.[56] Saldana and Perego have twin sons, Bowie Ezio Perego-Saldana and Cy Aridio Perego-Saldana, born in November 2014.[57] 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.[58]

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 can—without going against nature."[18] She watches what she eats but does not diet and does Pilates regularly saying "It's the closest thing to dance."[18]

Saldana is a celebrity supporter of FINCA International, a microfinance organization.[59]

Filmography

Film

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
2004 Haven Andrea
2004 Temptation Annie
2005 Constellation Rosa Boxer
2005 Guess Who Theresa Jones
2005 Dirty Deeds Rachel Buff
2005 The Curse of Father Cardona Flor
2006 Premium Charli
2006 The Heart Specialist Donna
2007 After Sex Kat
2007 Blackout Claudine
2008 Vantage Point Angie Jones
2009 Star Trek Nyota Uhura
2009 The Skeptic Cassie
2009 Avatar Neytiri
2010 The Losers Aisha
2010 Takers Lily Jansen
2010 Death at a Funeral Elaine
2010 Burning Palms Sara Cotton
2011 Kaylien Short film; director
2011 Colombiana Cataleya Restrepo
2012 The Words Dora Jansen
2013 Blood Ties Vanessa
2013 Star Trek Into Darkness Nyota Uhura
2013 Out of the Furnace Lena Warren
2014 Unity Narrator Documentary
2014 Infinitely Polar Bear Maggie Stuart
2014 Guardians of the Galaxy Gamora
2014 The Book of Life Maria (voice)
2015 Nina Nina Simone In post-production
2015 Swindle Producer
2016 Star Trek Beyond Nyota Uhura In post-production
2017 Live by Night Graciella Suarez Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Law & Order Belinca 2 episodes
2004 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Gabrielle Vega Episode: "Criminal"
2006–07 Six Degrees Regina 5 episodes
2013 Comedy Bang! Bang! Herself Episode: "Zoe Saldana Wears A Tan Blouse & Glasses"
2014 Rosemary's Baby Rosemary Woodhouse 2 episodes; Also producer

Video games

Year Title Role
2013 Star Trek Nyota Uhura

Awards and nominations

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Saldana with her Alma Award for Favorite Movie Actress Drama/Adventure in 2012
Year Association Category Work Result
2003 MTV Movie Awards Best Kiss (with Nick Cannon) Drumline Nominated
2005 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Breakout Performance – Female Guess Who Nominated
2006 Black Reel Awards Best Actress Nominated
2009 ALMA Awards Actress in Film Star Trek Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Ensemble Cast Won
Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Actress – Action/Adventure Nominated
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards Best Ensemble Nominated
People's Choice Award Favorite Breakout Movie Actress Nominated
Scream Award Best Science Fiction Actress Nominated
Breakout Performance – Female Nominated
Best Ensemble Nominated
2010 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Best Actress[citation needed] Avatar Won
BET Awards Best Actress Nominated
Black Reel Awards Best Actress Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Acting Ensemble Star Trek Nominated
Empire Awards Best Actress Avatar Won
Kids' Choice Awards Cutest Couple (with Sam Worthington) Nominated
Favorite Movie Actress Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Female Performance Nominated
Best Kiss (with Sam Worthington) Nominated
Scream Award Best Science Fiction Actress Nominated
Saturn Award Best Actress Won
Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Actress – Sci-Fi Won
Choice Movie Actress – Action/Adventure The Losers Nominated
Choice Movie Actress – Comedy Death at a Funeral Nominated
2011 ALMA Awards Favorite Movie Actress – Drama/Adventure Takers Nominated
BET Awards Best Actress The Losers Nominated
Death at a Funeral Nominated
Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture The Losers Nominated
2012 BET Awards Best Actress Colombiana Nominated
Black Reel Awards Best Actress[60] Nominated
Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Actress – Action Won
ALMA Awards Favorite Movie Actress Drama/Adventure Won
2013 Teen Choice Awards Choice Summer Movie Star: Female Star Trek Into Darkness Nominated
2015 Black Reel Awards Outstanding Actress, TV Movie or Mini-Series Rosemary's Baby Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actress Guardians of the Galaxy Nominated
Outstanding Voice Performance The Book of Life Nominated
People's Choice Awards Favorite Action Movie Actress Nominated

References

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External links

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Zoe Saldana Heats Up the Sundance Film Festival With 'The Words'
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2703398/How-golden-girl-Zoe-Saldana-quit-Hollywood-disrespectful-treatment-Pirates-Caribbean-set.html
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Powell, Ahna. Mila Kunis: A Woman of Talent, Beauty and Passion: the Multifaceted Actress.
  20. ↑ http://zff.com/en/programme/movies/2928/blackout/
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Travis, Pete (Director). (2008). Vantage Point [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.
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  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=words2012.htm
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  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ http://www.gamesradar.com/zoe-saldana-updates-on-guardians-of-the-galaxy/
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 http://deadline.com/2014/10/international-box-office-fury-annabelle-hercules-happy-new-year-china-guardians-861602/
  43. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2015/01/27/disney-reveals-guardians-of-the-galaxy-was-over-budget-at-232-million/
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/g8789/women-in-hollywood-2014/
  46. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493076/
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Zoe Saldana Supports FINCA's Hand Up for Haiti Campaign "FINCA International website," March 20, 2011.
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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