https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Saldana
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Saldana#Early_life
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Saldana#Personal_life
Saldana was born Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario
[1] in
Passaic, New Jersey.
[2][3] Her father, Aridio Saldaña, was from the
Dominican Republic, while her mother, Asalia Nazario, is from
Puerto Rico.
[4] Saldana also has
Haitian and
Lebanese roots.
[5][6] She has often spoken of her pride in her ethnicity, and has said: "It doesn't matter how much backlash I will get for it; I will honor and respect my black community because that's who I am."
[7] The majority of her early childhood she spent growing up in
Jackson Heights,
Queens, New York, and her native languages are both English and
Spanish. She has two sisters, named Cisely and Mariel, and a half-brother named Nipo, known as "Nipo 809", who is a Dominican artist and producer.
[8]
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Zoe Saldana-Perego (born
Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario, June 19, 1978),
[1] Zoe Saldana (
/sælˈdænə/ sal-DAN-ə), is an American actress and dancer. Following her performances with the FACES theater group, Saldana made her screen debut in an episode of
Law & Order (1999). Her film career began a year later with
Center Stage (2000), followed by a role in
Crossroads (2002). She first gained some prominence for her role as
Anamaria in
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
Saldana's breakthrough came in 2009 with the roles of
Nyota Uhura in
Star Trek and Neytiri in
James Cameron's
Avatar (2009). The latter film received widespread acclaim, and is the
highest-grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation). Saldana continued her successful career with films such as
Colombiana (2011),
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).