Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario was born on June 19, 1978, in Passaic, New Jersey.[7] Her parents are Aridio Saldaña, who was Dominican,[8][9] and Asalia Nazario, of Puerto Rican ancestry. As a child, Nazario was living with her mother in the Dominican Republic, but they immigrated to New York to escape political unrest.[citation needed] In an interview with Wired, Saldaña has said that she is Dominican and Puerto Rican.[10][11][12] She and her two sisters, Cisely and Mariel, were raised bilingual in English and Spanish; the latter was their first language at home. The majority of her early childhood was spent in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York City.[13]
Their father died in a vehicle crash when Saldaña was nine. Her mother sent the three sisters to the Dominican Republic to be raised by their late father's family. She stayed in New York to work in order to afford private school for the girls.[7] The widowed mother Asalia married Dagoberto Galán, who became the stepfather of the girls. They consider him fully their father.[14][15][9] With regard to her racial identity, Saldaña has said, "There's no one way to be Black. I'm Black the way I know how to be."[16] The family returned to New York City after her sophomore year; she completed her early education at Newtown High School in Queens.[17][18]
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][13][19][20] but describes ballet as her passion.[13][17] 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.[17] In 1995, Saldaña performed with the Faces theater group in Brooklyn.[21] She appeared in plays that encouraged teens 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).[12][19]
Career
Beginnings
Saldaña at Hollywood Life Magazine's Annual Breakthrough Awards in 2007
Saldaña was a member of Faces after her exposure in an episode of Law & Order (titled "Refuge, Part 2") in 1999.[22] Saldaña's 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.[23][24] Saldaña starred in the comedy-drama Drumline (2002), alongside Nick Cannon, earning mixed reviews.[25][26]
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).[27] In 2004, she had roles in Haven and Temptation; both earned little-to-no box-office success.
Saldaña appeared in two roles in 2009, raising her profile considerably.[19] She played Nyota Uhura in Star Trek.[32] The film's director J. J. Abrams asked Saldaña to play the role because he enjoyed her work. She met with Nichelle Nichols to understand the creation of Uhura's background and name of the character.[33] Saldaña's mother was a Star Trek fan, leaving voice-mails during filming, advising on the role.[34] Steven Spielberg taught her the Vulcan salute five years earlier while he directed her in The Terminal.[27]Star Trek (2009) was a box-office success earning $385.7 million.[35]
In 2010, Saldaña performed in The Losers as Aisha al-Fadhil, a native Bolivian woman. For the role, she was required to gain weight to carry weapons for eight hours a day.[40] In 2010, she appeared in Takers, Death at a Funeral, and Burning Palms. Her television ad for Calvin Klein's "Envy" line debuted in 2010.[41] In 2011, Saldaña starred in the romantic comedy The Heart Specialist, and portrayed assassin Cataleya Restrepo in the crime drama Colombiana. Although the latter film earned negative reviews from critics, Saldaña's performance was praised.[42]
In 2012, she appeared in the romantic drama The Words, earning negative reviews from critics with little success at the box-office.[43][44] In 2013, Saldaña reprised her role as Uhura in Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to the Star 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.[45] It earned $467,365,246 worldwide, ranking it in 14th place for 2013, and making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise.[46] Saldaña voiced her character in the 2013 release of the Star Trek video game.
In May 2014, she performed in Rosemary's Baby, a television adaptation of Ira Levin's horror novel. Saldaña also co-produced the four-hour two-part show.[54] In 2014, Saldaña was recognized by Elle magazine during The Women in Hollywood Awards, honoring women for achievements in film, spanning all aspects of the motion-picture industry, including acting, directing, and producing.[55]
2016–present
Saldaña starred in Nina, an unauthorized biography about the jazz musician Nina Simone released in April 2016. The film depicts the late singer's rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson. Simone's family were critical of the decision to cast her in the role.[56] In August 2020, Saldaña apologized for taking on 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."[57] In 2016, she co-starred in the science-fiction sequel Star Trek Beyond released in July, and Ben Affleck's crime drama Live by Night released in December.[58]
In addition to the Avatar sequels, Saldaña will next have a voice role in the Pixar science fiction adventure film Elio.[67][75]
Personal life
Saldaña at the 2014 Alma Awards while pregnant
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 actor Bradley Cooper from December 2011 to January 2013.[78]
In March 2013, Saldaña began dating Italian artist Marco Perego and married three months later in London.[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 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.[88] Saldaña is a supporter of FINCA International, a micro-finance organization.[89] 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.[90] 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.[91]
Filmography
Key
†
Denotes productions that have not yet been released
^Howell, Peter (December 15, 2009). "For Avatar, Star Trek actress Saldaña, a very good year". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved May 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!'
^"The Teenage Women Changing the Face of Boxing." YouTube, uploaded by Great Big Story, 2012, Video on YouTube.
^ abBrady, Tara (August 1, 2014). "Zoe Saldaña: 'I loved Star Trek. I learned later it was unorthodox for women to be obsessed with science fiction". TheIrishTimes.com. The Irish Times Ltd. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2017. Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario was born in New Jersey and raised in New York City. At the age of nine, her father was killed in a vehicle crash. Saldaña and her two sisters were sent to live with their late father's family in the Dominican Republic. Their Puerto Rican mother remained in New York City to earn money to pay for private school for her daughters. This was a culture shift for someone raised speaking Spanish at home.
^"Blackout - Movies". Zurich Film Festival. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
^Gilbert, Matthew (February 2, 2008). "'Blackout' has some bright moments". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
^Saldaña on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, June 11, 2015, cited in Boardman, 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. Retrieved December 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. Retrieved October 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.
^Park, Jae-hwan (September 12, 2023). "아시아콘텐츠어워즈&글로벌OTT어워즈 후보작 발표.. "더 글로리, 무빙, 만장적계절, 그리고 퍼스트러브하츠코이" [Asian Content Awards & Global OTT Awards Nominees Announced... "The Glory, Moving, All Seasons, and First Love Hatsukoi"] (in Korean). KBS. Archived from the original on September 13, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023 – via Naver.
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