Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana

Saldana at the 2010 Academy Awards
Born June 19, 1978 (1978-06-19) (age 32)
New Jersey, United States[1][2]
Occupation Actress
Years active 1999–present
Website
http://www.zoesaldana.com/

Zoe Saldana[3] (born June 19, 1978), also known as Zoë Saldana, Zoe Saldaña, and Zoë Saldaña, is an American actress. She had her breakthrough role in the 2000 film Center Stage, 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. In 2010, she appeared in the films The Losers and Takers.

Contents

Personal life

Zoe Saldana was born Zoe Yadira Zaldaña Nazario[4][5] or Zoe Yadira Zaldana Nazario[1] in Passaic, New Jersey,[2][6] United States, to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother, Asalia Nazario.[7][8][9][10]

Her first languages are English and Spanish. She spent the majority of her early childhood growing up in Queens, New York. At 10, she moved with her family 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.[2] After returning to Queens at age 17, 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 were 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.[2]

On June 30 2010, it was announced in Us Weekly that Saldana was engaged to her boyfriend of 10 years, actor and CEO of My Fashion Database Keith Britton.[11]

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.[12] She left school after Center Stage, which film led to appearances in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002) and the comedy-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.[13] In 2009, she played Neytiri, the Na'vi princess, in James Cameron's Avatar.

Saldana has an interest in fashion and has her own fashion line, called Arasmaci. 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. In August 2010, Saldana's television ad for Calvin Klein's Nothing to Hide line debuted. [14]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
2000 Center Stage Eva Rodriguez As Zoë Saldana
2001 Get Over It Maggie As Zoë Saldana
Snipes Cheryl aka Prolifik
2002 Crossroads Kit As Zoë Saldana
Drumline Laila As Zoë Saldana
2003 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Anamaria
2004 The Terminal Dolores Torres As Zoë Saldana
Haven Andrea
Temptation Annie
2005 Constellation Rosa Boxer
Guess Who Theresa Jones As Zoë Saldaña

Nominated for a Black Movie Award

Nominated for a Black Reel Award

Nominated for an Image Award
Dirty Deeds Rachel Buff As Zoe Saldaña
La maldición del padre Cardona Flor As Zoe Saldaña
2006 Premium Charli
Ways of the Flesh Donna aka The Heart Specialist
2007 After Sex Kat
Blackout Claudine
2008 Vantage Point Angie Jones As Zoë Saldana
2009 Star Trek Nyota Uhura As Zoë Saldana

Nominated for an ALMA Award

Nominated for a Teen Choice Award
The Skeptic Cassie
Avatar Neytiri Empire Award for Best Actress

Saturn Award for Best Actress

Nominated for a National Movie Award

Nominated for a Black Reel Award

Nominated for an Image Award
2010 The Losers Aisha As Zoë Saldana
Takers Rachel Jansen
Death at a Funeral Elaine Nominated- Teen choice award: Actress Comedy
Burning Palms Sara Cotton Post-Production
2011 Colombiana[15] Cat filming
2012 Untitled Star Trek Sequel Nyota Uhura As Zoë Saldana
TBA Avatar 2 Neytiri Being Written
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1999 Law & Order Uncredited Episode: Refuge, Part 1
2004 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Gabrielle Vega Episode: "Criminal"
2006-2007 Six Degrees Regina 5 Episodes

She is the only actress to have three movies in the box office top twenty for three consecutive weeks. These movies are Avatar, Losers, and Death at a Funeral.

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Zoe Saldana Biography (1978-)". http://www.filmreference.com/film/20/Zoe-Saldana.html. Retrieved 2008-10-16. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "The Official Website of Zoe Saldana — Biography". http://www.zoesaldana.com/biography.html. Retrieved 2010-10-10. 
  3. ↑ For the spelling and her own pronunciation of her professional name, please see: "YouTube — Conversation with Avatar's James Cameron and stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana.". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwefL53MhCU&feature=youtube_gdata. Retrieved 2010-01-07.  It is linked from the official website of Avatar.
  4. ↑ "Zoe Saldana, con la crítica a sus pies" (in Spanish). El Informador (Guadalajara, Jalisco). 2010-01-04. http://www.informador.com.mx/entretenimiento/2010/167526/6/zoe-saldana-con-la-critica-a-sus-pies.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
  5. ↑ Debra Bass (2010-01-01). "Celebrities revealed: Gaga, Riri, Zoe and Drew". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/debs-style-file//debs-style-file/2010/01/celebrities-revealed-gaga-riri-zoe-and-drew/. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
  6. ↑ Jason Buchanan (2008). "Zoe Saldana:Biography on MSN". MSN. http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity/zoe-saldana/. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  7. ↑ "PopEntertainment.com: Zoe Saldana interview about 'Haven.'". 2006-09-12. http://www.popentertainment.com/saldana.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-04. "My mom is Puerto Rican and my father is Dominican." 
  8. ↑ Balfour, Brad (September, 2006). "HAVEN : An Interview with Zoe Saldana". Blackfilm. http://www.blackfilm.com/20060908/features/zoesaldana.shtml. Retrieved 2010-01-04. "ZS: My mom is Puerto Rican and my father is Dominican." 
  9. ↑ Boucher, Geoff (2009-11-23). "'Avatar' star Zoe Saldana says the movie will match the hype: 'This is big'". http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/11/avatar-star-zoe-salda%C3%B1a-says-the-movie-lives-up-to-hype-this-is-big.html. Retrieved 2010-01-04. "My family background is from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico" 
  10. ↑ "ZOE SALDANA TRABAJO DE ESTRELLA". El Nuevo Herald. 2003-10-02. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=EN&s_site=miami&p_multi=EN&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0FDFF7B2EDEF083D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2010-04-19. 
  11. ↑ "Avatar's Zoe Saldana Is Engaged!". UsMagazine.com. http://www.usmagazine.com/healthylifestyle/news/avatars-zoe-saldana-is-engaged-2010306. 
  12. ↑ "Merger". Law & Order. NBC. 1999-10-13. No. 4, season 10.
  13. ↑ "Zoë Saldana Cast in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" movie". 2008-03-02. http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/2307054.html. Retrieved 2008-07-04. 
  14. ↑ "Zoe Saldana Calvin Klein TV Ad Revealed! Bares Secrets for Nothing to Hide". UrbLife.com. August 29, 2010. http://www.urblife.com/the-look/zoe-saldana-calvin-klein-tv-ad-revealed. 
  15. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657507/

External links