Zoë Saldaña is an accomplished actress and dancer known for her roles in four of the six highest-grossing films produced by Hollywood. Born Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario on June 19, 1978, in Passaic, New Jersey, she is the daughter of Aridio Saldaña from the Dominican Republic and Asalia Nazario from Puerto Rico. Zoë has two sisters, Cisely and Mariel Saldaña Nazario. They spent their childhood in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York.
After the tragic death of their father in a car accident in 1987, Zoë and her sisters were sent to the República Dominicana to live with their paternal grandparents. Meanwhile, their mother stayed in Queens to work and finance their education. Zoë studied dance at the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy in Santo Domingo, focusing on ballet, jazz, and Latin dance. In her junior year, she returned to Queens and graduated from Newtown High School in 1996. During this time, she was a Brooklyn-based FACES theater group member, which promoted positive messages to children. She also performed with the New York Youth Theater.
In 1999, Saldaña made her television debut in the 10th season of Law & Order, where she played “Belinca” in an episode. She made her film debut in the dance movie, Center Stage in 2000. Four years later, in 2004, she returned to the Law & Order franchise, portraying Gabrielle Vega, a law student defending her father against murder charges, in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
In 2009, Saldaña starred as “Neytiri” in James Cameron’s blockbuster film, Avatar. She also appeared in episodes of the 2016 version of the film Star Trek Beyond. For her roles she received Best Actress nominations from Black Entertainment Television (BET) and a People’s Choice Award nomination for Favorite Female Breakout Star.
Zoë Saldaña
By 2024, Saldaña had appeared in 31 films and was ranked as the second highest-grossing lead actress and the highest-grossing actress overall, with total worldwide box office earnings of $14,254,606,626. She was ranked fourth among all actors, following Samuel L. Jackson, who had revenues of $14,627,843,117, Scarlett Johansson, who brought in $14,527,030,793, and Robert Downey Jr., with $14,346,904,626.
In 2025, Saldaña won her first Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez, where she played Rita, an overworked lawyer assisting Emilia, a former cartel boss, with her transition from a man to a woman through gender surgery. Later that year she became the first American of Dominican descent to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for that film.
In 2013, Saldaña she married Marco Perego, an Italian producer, director, and writer recognized for his film, The Absence of Eden (2013). The couple have three sons: Cy Aridio, Bowie Ezio, and Zen.
