Zoe Saldaña

December 19, 2009 – 9:47 pm

Zoe Saldaña (born Zoe Yadira Zaldaña Nazario June 19, 1978; also known as Zoë Saldana, Zoe Saldana, and Zoë Saldaña) is an American actress, known 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 the 2009 James Cameron film Avatar.

Early life

Saldaña was born in New Jersey, United States she is of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent. She spent much of her childhood in the Dominican Republic before returning to the United States to pursue acting.” Her first languages were English and Spanish. Saldaña enlisted in a ballet class at one of the most prestigious dancing schools in the Dominican Republic, gaining experience as a dancer, which benefited her later for her role in Center Stage. She returned to the U.S. after her sophomore year in high school and enrolled in the Faces Theater Program, an acting course.

 Career

Saldaña was still a member of the program when she got her first screen experience on an episode of Law & Order, which aired October 13, 1999. She left school after her major film debut in Center Stage (2000), which subsequently led to appearances in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002) and the 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 movie Star Trek.

 Personal life

Saldaña has a keen interest in fashion and has her own fashion line called Arasmaci, where most of her designs are influenced by her Dominican heritage.

 Awards and nominations

• ALMA Awards
  • 2009, Best Actress (Film): Star Trek (nominated)

• Black Movie Awards
  • 2006, Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Guess Who (nominated)

• Black Reel Awards
  • 2006, Best Actress: Guess Who (nominated)

• NAACP Image Award
  • 2006, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Guess Who (nominated)

• MTV Movie Awards
  • 2003, Best Kiss: Drumline Shared w/ Nick Cannon (nominated)

• Scream Awards
  • 2009, Breakout Performance-Female: Star Trek (nominated)
  • 2009, Best Science Fiction Actress: Star Trek (nominated)

• Teen Choice Awards
  • 2009, Choice Movie Actress (Action/Adventure): Star Trek (nominated)
  • 2006, Choice Movie Actress (Breakout): Guess Who (nominated)

• People’s Choice Awards
  • 2009, Favorite Breakout Movie Actress: Star Trek (TBA)

 Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Center Stage	Eva Rodríguez
2001	Snipes	Cheryl
	Get Over It	Maggie
2002	Drumline	Laila
	Crossroads	Kit
2003	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	Anamaria
2004	Temptation	Annie
	Haven	Andrea
	The Terminal	Officer Torres
2005	La maldición del padre Cardona	Flor
	Dirty Deeds	Rachel Buff
	Guess Who	Theresa Jones
2006	Premium	Charli
	Ways of the Flesh	Donna
2007	After Sex	Kat
	Blackout	Claudine
	Constellation	Rosa Boxer
2008	Vantage Point	Angie Jones
2009	Star Trek	Uhura
	The Skeptic	Cassie
	Burning Palms	Sarah Cotton
	Avatar	Neytiri
2010	Takers	TBA
	Death at a Funeral	TBA
	The Losers	Aisha
2011	Untitled Star Trek sequel	Uhura

Tags: actress, American, anamaria, avator, pirates of the caribbean, saldana, star trek, uhura, zoe