"I just want to be a part of great stories, whether I'm part of an amazing ensemble cast or I'm leading it or the antagonist or whatever."
Zoë Yadira Saldaña Perego (née Saldaña Nazario, born June 19, 1978) is an American actress of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent.
She is best known for playing Green-Skinned Space Babes. Most famous for appearing in blockbuster sci-fi films such as Star Trek (2009) and its sequels (not as a Green-Skinned Space Babe here), Avatar, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. She has starred in a staggering four of the only six films to cross over $2 Billion at the box-office to date (Avatar, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Avatar: The Way of Water).
She has been married to Italian artist Marco Perego since 2013, and they have three sons together. The couple adopted each others' surnames as a part of their own upon marrying.
Partial Filmography:
- Law & Order (1999) as Belinca
- Center Stage (2000) as Eva Rodriguez
- Drumline (2002) as Laila
- Crossroads (2002) as Kit
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) as Anamaria
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004) as Gabrielle Vega
- The Terminal (2004) as Dolores Torres
- Guess Who (2005) as Theresa Jones
- Vantage Point (2008) as Angie Jones
- Star Trek (2009) as Nyota Uhura
- Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
- Star Trek Beyond (2016)
- Avatar as Neytiri
- Avatar (2009)
- Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
- The Skeptic (2009) s Cassie
- The Losers (2010) as Aisha
- Death at a Funeral (2010 remake) as Elaine
- Colombiana (2011) as Cataleya Restrepo
- The Words (2012) as Dora Jansen
- Marvel Cinematic Universe as Gamora
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!note (2017)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewindnote (2022)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
- The Book of Life (2014) as Maria Posada
- Live by Night (2016) as Graciela
- I Kill Giants (2017) as Mrs. Molle
- My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) as Captain Celaeno
- Ask the StoryBots as Professor
- Home Movie: The Princess Bride as Princess Buttercup
- The Adam Project (2022) as Laura
Tropes associated with her include:
- Action Girl: She's played these in The Losers, Colombiana, Avatar, the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and even My Little Pony... she's also easy to spot in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, as she's the lone female member of Jack Sparrow's crew.
- BFG: Wields one in The Losers and an even bigger one in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
- But Not Too Black: She came under controversy for her role in Nina, where she wore make-up and facial prosthetics to resemble Nina Simone - who had much darker skin than her. She was notably very annoyed at the criticisms saying she wasn't black enough. However, later on she apologized for taking the role, admitting she wasn't the best choice in hindsight."I made a choice. Do I continue passing on the script and hope that the 'right' black person will do it, or do I say, ‘You know what? Whatever consequences this may bring about, my casting is nothing in comparison to the fact that this story must be told.’"
- Cast the Expert: In her very first role, Centre Stage, she plays a ballet student.
- The Cast Show Off: She's shown off her singing in The Book of Life, Nina and My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), and shows off her dancing background in other films like Center Stage (her film debut) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Casting Gag:
- Playing Uhura when she had played a Trekkie in The Terminal.
- She has played Diego Luna's love interest in The Terminal, The Book of Life and Maya and the Three .
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Her character Anamaria is never seen or heard from again after Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Interestingly, the cast was told in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest that Anamaria would appear at the ending of the film, so the shock and surprise of Captain Barbossa greeting them was genuine.
- Creator Backlash:
- She apparently she didn't like starring in Crossroads (2002).
- She didn't enjoy appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, not for the quality of the movie itself, but for personal issues she faced behind-the-scenes, and did not return for any of the sequels. Given that it was also one her first experiences with a big-budget Hollywood film, she was nearly tempted to quit acting altogether because of how disheartening it was.
"Those weren't the right people for me. I'm not talking about the cast. The cast was great. I'm talking about the political stuff that went on behind closed doors. It was a lot of above-the-line versus below-the-line, extras versus actors, producers versus PAs. It was very elitist. I almost quit the business. I was 23 years old, and I was like, "Fuck this!" I am never putting myself in this situation again. People disrespecting me because they look at my number on a call sheet and they think I'm not important. Fuck you."- She also expressed regret for playing Nina Simone in 2020 following the George Floyd protests, which triggered a media reckoning to try to reassess any potential racism in existing media and prevent any racially insensitive practices in the production of future media, which would include casting actors that fully match the ethnicity of the character they are playing.
- Dawson Casting: Played high schoolers while in her early twenties in Crossroads (2002) and Get Over It.
- Does Not Like Shoes: She goes barefoot in several of her movies, and seems to do so often in real life as well.
- Dyeing for Your Art:
- She had to gain weight for The Losers.
- For the Guardians of the Galaxy films, she had to spend three hours in the make-up chair every morning. The alcohol based make-up also resulted in strange green discharges for months. What's more is that Zoe volunteered to go through the make-up process, rather than rely on CGI or motion capture.
- Enforced Method Acting: To prepare for Avatar the cast playing the Na'vi were put on a trip to Hawaii where they camped in the jungle and lived like a tribe would. Zoe even dressed up as a warrior and wore a fake tail like the one Neytiri would have.
- Fake Nationality: She plays a Bolivian in The Losers and a Colombian in Colombiana.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: The most famous modern-day example. She has played one with blue skin in Avatar and green in Guardians of the Galaxy, leading to fans joking that she needs to play a red-skinned one to get all the primary colours in.
- Irony as She Is Cast: Gamora claims she doesn't dance, and has to be taught how in the sequel. Zoe is a professionally trained ballerina.
- Ms. Fanservice: Her roles in Star Trek (2009), The Losers, the Guardians of the Galaxy films note and especially Colombiana.
- Pirate Girl: She played Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean and years later got bumped up to pirate captain in My Little Pony.
- Romance on the Set: While filming The Words, she dated Bradley Cooper for a bit.
- So My Kids Can Watch: Inverted. She starred in Star Trek (2009) partly because her mother was a huge fan of the original series.
- Stage Name: Her name is truly spelled Zoë Saldaña, but she went by Zoe Saldana for years. She reclaimed her surname as Saldaña in 2021, but with her first name is tolerant of those who forego the umlaut. It's pronounced the same either way, but she appreciates those who remember the umlaut.
- Star-Making Role: Her roles as Neytiri in Avatar and Uhura in the Star Trek reboot (both released in 2009) raised her profile quite a bit.
- Typecasting:
- She has starred in three franchises as a Green and Blue Skinned Space Babe, leading to fans joking about how she needs to play a red-skinned character to get all the primary colours in.
- In both Guardians of the Galaxy and Colombiana she becomes an Action Girl after her family is murdered.
- What Could Have Been: She was the runner-up for the role of Lois Lane in Man of Steel before Amy Adams was cast.
