Born in New Jersey and raised in Queens New York, Saldana discovered her love of acting while performing with the Faces theatre troupe.
The troupe put on plays geared up to provide positive messages for teens with themes dealing with issues such as substance abuse, alcohol and sex.
This gave her great pride in knowing that she was making a difference in the lives of young adults like herself.
From there she was recruited by a talent agency that helped get her acting on the road.
Starring in Big Blockbuster movies but taking a small role in them, just enough to build up her profile, and get to know the business from the inside.
Starring alongside Johnny Depp in Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, and Tom Hanks in The Terminal, she has learned from some of the best actors in the businesses.
But it wasn’t until Star Trek that she stepped out in her own right playing the role as Dr Spock’s feisty, independent interest Uhura
It seems that while most actresses find it hard get cast in the serious/action type roles, tending to be typecast this isn’t the case with Saldana.
She has no problem landing the strong woman roles in the films and purposely takes on the hard hitting films due to her love of the message that a film passes on to the audience.
Avatar sees her take on the role as Neytiri a10ft blue alien, daughter of Na'vi leaders Mo'at and Eytukan.
The two year long filming process saw the actress learn a whole different language for her character.
She admitted that switching from her normal American accent to English/ Na'vi accent was challenging but possible with the help of linguistics expert Professor Frommer.
On top of learning a new accent Zoe took on a six month gruelling physical training programme which focused on marshal arts, archery and horseback riding.
With a squeal to Star Trek being confirmed and Takers set to be released in cinemas next year it looks like we will be seeing a lot more of her in the future with every director after her to be their next leading lady.
Female First Natalie Broxton
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