Zoë Yanira Zaldaña Nazario (born
June 19, 1978), better known as Zoë Saldaña, is
an American actress.
Early life
Zoë Saldaña was born in New Jersey to
immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Her
first languages are Spanish and English. She was
raised in Queens, New York, but when she was
nine, her father died in a car accident, and her
mother moved her and her sister back to the
Dominican Republic. While there, she enlisted in
a ballet class and gained experience as a
dancer, enlisting in one of the most prestigious
dancing schools of that country, which benefited
her during her later role in Center Stage.
Saldaña returned to the USA after her sophomore
year in high school, and enrolled in the Faces
Theater Program, an acting course. She also
worked in Burger King as a cashier in the mid
90s.
Career
Saldaña was still a member of the program
when she got her first screen experience, on an
episode of Law & Order that first aired October
13, 1999. She left the school after her major
film debut, in 2000's Center Stage, which she
followed up in 2002 with appearances in the
Britney Spears vehicle, Crossroads and the Nick
Cannon-starring comedy, Drumline. She played the
tough pirate lass Anamaria in the 2003 film
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl, and has appeared subsequently in
television shows like Law & Order and in a
number of movies, including The Terminal and
Guess Who. |
