Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario was born on June 19, 1978, in Passaic, New Jersey, and raised in Queens, New York City.^[7] Her parents are Aridio Saldaña, who was Dominican,^[8][9] and Asalia Nazario, who is half Dominican and half Puerto Rican. In an interview with Wired, Saldaña has said that she is 3/4 Dominican and 1/4 Puerto Rican.^[10][11][12] She and her two sisters, Cisely and Mariel, were raised to be bilingual in English and Spanish; the latter was their first language at home. When she was nine, their father was killed in a car accident. Saldaña and her two sisters were sent to live with their late father's family in the Dominican Republic. Their mother remained in New York to earn enough money to pay for her daughters' Dominican private school.

The widowed mother Asalia married Dagoberto Galán, who became the stepfather of the girls. They consider him fully their father.^[13][14][9] While the whole family lived in the Dominican Republic for a time, after Saldaña's sophomore year in high school, the family returned to New York City to escape political unrest. She completed her early education at Newtown High School in Queens.^[15][16] The majority of her late childhood was spent in Jackson Heights, Queens.^[17]

Saldaña discovered her love of dance while living in the Dominican Republic. She was enrolled in the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy studying forms of dance,^{[12][17][18][19]} but describes ballet as her passion.^[17][15] She told Vanity Fair that she quit ballet because she did not "have the feet", and had too much pride and ambition to just be in the corps de ballet.^[15]

In 1995, Saldaña performed with the Faces theater group in Brooklyn.^[20] She appeared in plays that encouraged teenagers to explore issues like substance abuse and adolescent sex^{[citation needed]}. 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).^[12][18]

Saldaña's first on-screen role was a 1999 guest appearance in an episode of Law & Order. Her first film role was in Center Stage (2000), directed by Nicholas Hytner, about dancers at the fictitious American Ballet Academy in New York City. She appeared in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002). The film earned negative reviews from critics, but was a box-office success.^[21][22] Saldaña starred in the comedy-drama Drumline (2002), alongside Nick Cannon, earning mixed reviews.^[23][24]

In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), she played Anamaria, a pirate joining Will Turner and Mr. Gibbs for a chance to confront Jack Sparrow for stealing her ship. She appeared in The Terminal as Dolores Torres, an immigration officer and Star Trek fan, a role helping Saldaña during her portrayal in the Star Trek reboot (2009).^[25] In 2004, she had roles in Haven and Temptation; both earned little-to-no box-office success.

In 2005, Saldaña appeared in Constellation, Guess Who with Ashton Kutcher, and Dirty Deeds. She starred in the romantic comedy-dramas Premium (2006) and After Sex (2007).^[26] Saldaña starred in Blackout, a television film set in New York City during the Northeast Blackout of 2003. The film premiered at the 2007 Zurich Film Festival,^[27] and debuted on BET in 2008.^[28] Saldaña had a supporting role as Angie Jones in the action thriller Vantage Point (2008).^[29]

Saldaña appeared in two roles in 2009 that raised her profile considerably.^[18] She played Nyota Uhura in Star Trek.^[30] The film's director J. J. Abrams asked Saldaña to play the role because he enjoyed her work. She met with Nichelle Nichols to understand the creation of Uhura's background and name of the character.^[31] Saldaña's mother was a Star Trek fan, and left her voice-mails during filming, advising on the role.^[32] Steven Spielberg had taught her the Vulcan salute five years earlier while he directed her in The Terminal.^[25] Star Trek (2009) was a box-office success earning $385.7 million.^[33]

Saldaña's second high-profile film in 2009 was Avatar, where she portrayed the indigenous hunter Neytiri. Avatar was well received by critics, with an approval rating of 83% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.^[34] It grossed $2.7 billion worldwide to become the highest-grossing film of all time,^[35] as well as specifically in the United States and Canada. It became the first film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide.^[36]

The film was nominated for ten Saturn Awards, and won all ten at the 36th Saturn Awards ceremony. Saldaña's Saturn Award for Best Actress win marked a rare occurrence for an all-CG character.^[37]

In 2010, Saldaña performed in The Losers as Aisha al-Fadhil, a native Bolivian woman. For the role, she was required to gain weight in order to carry weapons for eight hours a day.^[38] In 2010, she appeared in Takers, Death at a Funeral, and Burning Palms. Her television ad for Calvin Klein's "Envy" line debuted in 2010.^[39] In 2011, Saldaña starred in the romantic comedy The Heart Specialist, and portrayed assassin Cataleya Restrepo in the crime drama Colombiana. Although the latter film earned negative reviews from critics, Saldaña's performance was praised.^[40]

In 2012, she appeared in the romantic drama The Words, earning negative reviews from critics and little success at the box-office.^[41][42]

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.^[43] It earned $467,365,246 worldwide, ranking it in 14th place for 2013, and making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise.^[44] Saldaña voiced her character in the 2013 release of the Star Trek video game.

In 2014, Saldaña played Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy.^[45][46] Saldaña portrayed the character with make-up rather than computer generated imagery (CGI) or performance capture.^[47] The film became the third-highest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, behind The Avengers and Iron Man 3.^[48] It was the third-highest-grossing 2014 film (behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies), and the highest-grossing superhero film of 2014.^[48][49]

The film earned positive reviews. Saldaña was nominated for numerous awards for her work in the film, including Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in an Action Movie, Favorite Action Movie Actress at the People's Choice Awards, and Best On-Screen Transformation at the MTV Movie Awards.^[50][51]

In May 2014, she performed in Rosemary's Baby, a television mini-series adaptation of Ira Levin's horror novel. Saldaña also co-produced the four-hour two-part show.^[52] In 2014, Saldaña was recognized by Elle magazine during The Women in Hollywood Awards. Women were honored for achievements in film and the motion-picture industry, including acting, directing, and producing.^[53]

Saldaña starred in Nina (2016), an unauthorized biography about the jazz musician Nina Simone. The film depicts the late singer's rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson. Simone's family criticized Saldaña's being cast in this role.^[54] In August 2020, Saldaña apologized for taking the role, saying "I'm so sorry. I know better today and I'm never going to do that again. She's one of our giants and someone else should step up. Somebody else should tell her story."^[55]

In 2016, she co-starred in the science-fiction sequel Star Trek Beyond released in July, and Ben Affleck's crime drama Live by Night released in December.^[56]

Saldaña returned as Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, released in May 2017.^[57] She reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and its sequel Avengers: Endgame (2019), albeit as an alternate version of the character in the latter film. She returned in this role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), her last film in the MCU as Gamora.^[58]

Also in 2017, Saldaña played Mrs. Mollé in I Kill Giants, Anders Walter's adaptation of Joe Kelly's graphic novel I Kill Giants. Shooting commenced in Ireland in September 2016.^[59] Also that year, she appeared in the animated film My Little Pony: The Movie, performing the voice of pirate parrot Captain Celaeno.^[60]

On May 3, 2018, she received a star at 6920 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[61][62][63]

In 2021, Saldaña starred in two Netflix productions, appearing as Rosita in the musical Vivo and as the titular character in Maya and the Three. She joined an all-star cast in David O. Russell's Amsterdam.^[64] Saldaña reprised her role as Neytiri in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).^[65][66][67] As part of her role, she performed vocals for the original song "The Songcord" on the film's soundtrack, penned by Simon Franglen.^[68][69] She also began starring in the Paramount+ television series Special Ops: Lioness, created by Taylor Sheridan, in 2023.^[70]

She played Rita Mora Castro, a high-powered junior criminal defense attorney in the controversial musical crime film Emilia Pérez (2024), receiving critical acclaim and sharing the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress with her co-stars Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz.^[71] Saldaña also won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.^[72][73] She is the first Dominican American actress to win an Academy Award.^[74]

In addition to the Avatar sequels, Saldaña had a voice role in the Pixar science fiction adventure film Elio (2025).^[65][75]

In June 2010, Saldaña was engaged to her longtime boyfriend Keith Britton, an actor and the CEO of My Fashion Database.^[76] In November 2011, she and Britton announced they had ended their relationship after eleven years.^[77] Saldaña was in a relationship with actor Bradley Cooper from December 2011 to January 2013.^[78]

In March 2013, Saldaña began dating Italian artist Marco Perego and they married three months later in London.^[79][80] In July 2015, Saldaña revealed Perego adopted her surname upon marriage.^[81][82] Thereafter, Zoë became Zoë Saldaña-Perego and Marco became Marco Perego-Saldaña.^[83] They have three sons together.^[84][85][86] Saldaña has stated her children will be multi-lingual because she and her husband speak Spanish, Italian and English around them.^[87]

In July 2016, during an interview with Net-a-Porter's The Edit, Saldaña revealed she has Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease, along with her mother and sisters. To combat the effects of this disease, Saldaña said she and her husband adhere to a gluten- and dairy-free diet.^[88] Saldaña is a supporter of FINCA International, a micro-finance organization.^[89] In 2017, she founded BESE, a digital media platform designed to "combat the lack of diversity in the mainstream media" with an interest on positive stories within the Latino community.^[90] In September 2020, Saldaña used her social media presence to participate in the VoteRiders #IDCheck Challenge to help spread the word about voter ID requirements for that year's presidential election.^[91]

In October 2023, Saldaña signed the "No Hostage Left Behind" open letter in support of the desire for "Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace".^[92]