WOMEN WE LOVE: Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana has had quite the life. Born in New Jersey in 1978 to a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother, she spent most of her childhood growing up in Jackson Heights, New York, and speaking both English and Spanish. We love a bilingual lady. Sadly, her upbringing wasn’t always easy. In 1987, when Zoe was just 9 years old, her father died suddenly in a car accident, a loss that changed her life forever.

Soon after the accident, Zoe’s mother moved the family to the Dominican Republic, where they stayed for the next 7 years. There, she discovered what she calls her first passion – ballet. She was a talented dancer, but despite her best efforts, she just didn’t “have the feet” to stack up against the competition and ended up putting her professional dancing dreams aside. I feel ya, girl. 

When her family moved back to New York in Zoe’s sophomore year of high school, she immediately turned her attention to acting. As a performer for the Faces theater group in Brooklyn and the New York Youth Theater, she caught the eye of a talent agency and her path to stardom began.

In 1999, Zoe made her on-screen debut in an episode of "Law & Order" (I mean, honestly, who hasn’t been on "Law & Order"?), but it was her first film role as a dancer in 2000’s Center Stage that really put her on the map. From there, she went on to co-star in the iconic Britney Spears movie Crossroads as well as the comedy-drama Drumline, both in the same year.

In 2003, she showed up again in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl alongside Johnny Depp, but it wasn’t until 2009 when she landed the role of Nyoto Uhura in Star Trek and Neytiri in Avatar that she truly became one of the most sought-after actresses around. Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie of all time, although another little movie Zoe stars in called Avengers: Endgame is slowly creeping in on that title.

She has been a staple in some of the biggest franchises the world has ever seen, from playing to Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy to reprising her role of Neytiti in the upcoming Avatar sequels, and still finding time to show up in the Star Trek reboots, Zoe is pretty much carrying the entertainment industry on her back. And that’s just her professional life!

In her spare time, she is also the mother of THREE boys and married to Italian artist Marco Perego -- although he now goes by Marco Saldana, because this family is all about taking down the patriarchy and living their best lives. Zoe Saldana has already accomplished more than most people could ever hope to; she is an unbelievable actress, but more than that, she is an unbelievable woman who is breaking down barriers and living like a boss. We love you, Zoe!