SKILL INDIA

[10/15, 22:27] SKILL INDIA: Zoe Saldana
born June 19, 1978) is an American-Dominican actress. Known primarily for her work in science
fiction film franchises, she has appeared in the three highest-grossing films of all time (Avatar,
Avatar: The Way of Water and Avengers: Endgame), a feat not achieved by any other
performer.Films she has appeared in have grossed more than $14 billion worldwide and, as of
2023, she is the second-highest-grossing film actress, and the fourth actor overall.

Time
magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.A trained
dancer, Saldaña began her acting career in two 1999 episodes of Law & Order. Her first film role
was in Center Stage (2000) in which she played a ballet dancer. She received early recognition
for her work opposite Britney Spears in the road film Crossroads (2002). Beginning in 2009,
Saldaña achieved a career breakthrough with her roles as Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek film
series and Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar film series. She portrayed Gamora in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe, from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023). In addition to franchise work, Saldaña has starred in the science fiction film The Adam
Project and the romantic drama miniseries From Scratch, both for Netflix in 2022. In 2023, she
began playing the lead role of a CIA officer in the Paramount+ spy series Special Ops:
Lioness.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.The widowed mother Asalia married
Dagoberto Galán, who became the stepfather of the girls. They consider him fully their
father.

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).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.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.

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.Saldana spent much of her childhood in Queens, New
York. However, when she was nine years old, her father died in a car accident, and she moved
with her family to the Dominican Republic, her father’s home country. There she studied dance
at the Ecos Espacio de Danza dance studio. When she was 17, she returned to New York City
and began performing with youth theatre groups. After two small guest appearances (1999) on
the television series Law & Order, Saldana was cast in a prominent role in the movie Center
Stage (2000), about students at a New York City ballet school.She next appeared in a series of
teen flicks, including Get Over It (2001) and the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002), and
then had a supporting role in the higher-profile movie Drumline (2002). Saldana had a small but
memorable part as a female pirate in the surprise hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse
of the Black Pearl (2003), and she played an immigration agent in Steven Spielberg’s The
Terminal (2004), which starred Tom Hanks as a man forced to live in an airport terminal. For the
next few years, however, Saldana appeared in only minor movies and TV fare.Saldana landed
two iconic roles in 2009. She was cast as Lieut. Uhura in the movie Star Trek, which reimagined
the characters of the original TV series, and, through the technique of motion capture, she
embodied Neytiri—a high-ranking member of the Na’vi, a humanoid race indigenous to the
exoplanetary moon Pandora—in James Cameron’s sci-fi film Avatar. Both movies were major
hits. Saldana portrayed Uhura again in Star Trek into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond
(2016). She also played the green-skinned warrior princess Gamora in the sci-fi/superhero
blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), a role she reprised for Guardians of the Galaxy
Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

In addition to performing in those high-profile movies, Saldana appeared in the comedy Death at
a Funeral (2010) and took lead roles in the thrillers The Losers (2010), Colombiana (2011), and
Out of the Furnace (2013), among others. She played Rosemary in the 2014 TV miniseries
adaptation of Ira Levin’s suspense novel Rosemary’s Baby and controversially portrayed singer
Nina Simone in the badly received biopic Nina (2016). Her later credits included the thrillers Live
by Night (2016) and I Kill Giants (2017) and the horror comedy Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020).Spent part of her childhood in the Dominican Republic and is fluent in both English and
Spanish
Trained as a dancer before making the transition to acting
Received advice from the original Uhura, actress Nichelle Nichols, on playing the role in J
J
Abrams’ Star Trek reboot
Was the face of Calvin Klein’s Envy underwear line in 2010
Appeared in a 2015 PSA for the It’s On Us campaignZoe looks directly to Marinette’s eyes and
smiles, making Marinette realize Zoe is in love with her. She feels a bit confused at the
beggining, but then hugs her and tells Zoe she feels honored of being that person.When she
was a child, the Aspect of Twilight bestowed its power on her, and in doing so greatly reduced
her aging, to the point that she’s immortal.

Thanks to these powers, Zoe is capable of moving
through dimensions, ignoring the laws of gravity, and manipulating spacetime itself.Zoe Saldana
was born on June 19, 1978 in Passaic, New Jersey, to Asalia Nazario and Aridio Saldaña. Her
father was Dominican and her mother is Puerto Rican. She was raised in Queens, New York.
When she was 10 years old, she and her family moved to the Dominican Republic, where they
would live for the next seven years. While living there, Zoe discovered a keen interest in
performance dance and began her training at the prestigious ECOS Espacio de Danza Dance
Academy where she learned ballet as well as other dance forms. Not only did her training
provide an excellent outlet for the enthusiastic and energetic youngster, it would also prove to
be a fortunate precursor for the start of her professional acting career. At age 17, Zoe and her
family moved back to the United States where her love for dance followed and an interest in
theater performance became stronger.
She began performing with the Faces theater troupe which put on plays geared to provide
positive messages for teens with themes dealing with issues such as substance abuse and sex.
These performances not only gave her valuable experience but also a source of great pride
knowing 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 and her dance training years before coupled with her acting experience greatly
helped her land her first big screen role as Eva Rodriguez, the talented and headstrong ballet
dancer in the film Center Stage (2000). Since her professional career began several years ago,
Zoe’s talent and determination have allowed her to be involved in blockbuster films and act with
major actors, actresses and industry insiders at a pace that very few young professionals have
experienced.

Zoe has not only held her own in major motion picture productions but gained the respect and
praise from industry insiders such as Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Spielberg and
actors/actresses such as Tom Hanks, Bernie Mac, Keira Knightley, Ashton Kutcher, Kirsten
Dunst and Orlando Bloom. According to many of her co-stars, producers and directors, the sky
is no limit for this young star who has incredible range, intense concentration, and a steely
determination to be involved with projects that challenge her professionally with wide-ranging
subject matters and characters. Just to ask practically anyone who she has worked for or with about her, glowing comments abound and earned friendships and respect are readily revealed.
A star has been born, and growing every day.