page_title: Zoe Saldana
section_title: Breakthrough roles, Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy
hierarchical_section_title: Zoe Saldana / Career / Breakthrough roles, Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy
caption_attribution_description: English: Zoe Saldaña at the "Entertainment Weekly: Wonder Women: Female Power Icons in Pop Culture" panel. Comic-Con 2009
context_page_description: Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario is an American actress. After her performances with the theater group Faces, she was in a 1999 episode of Law & Order. Her film career began a year later with Center Stage portraying a ballet dancer.
  Saldana worked in science fiction films, beginning in 2009 with her first of multiple appearances as Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek film series and her first appearance as Neytiri in the Avatar film series. She portrayed Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Guardians of the Galaxy. Due to her appearances in some of the highest-grossing films of all time, such as Avatar and Avengers: Endgame, Saldana is the second highest-grossing film actress of all time, as of 2019. Her films grossed more than $11 billion worldwide.
context_section_description: Saldana appeared in two roles in 2009, raising her profile considerably. She played Nyota Uhura in Star Trek. The film's director J. J. Abrams asked Saldana to play the role because he enjoyed her work. Saldana never saw the original series, although she portrayed a Trekkie in The Terminal (2004), but agreed to play the role after Abrams complimented her. She met with Nichelle Nichols to understand the creation of Uhura's background and name of the character. Saldana's mother was a Star Trek fan, leaving voice-mails during filming, advising on the role. Steven Spielberg taught her the Vulcan salute five years earlier while he directed her in The Terminal. Star Trek (2009) was a box-office success earning $385.7 million.
  Saldana's second high-profile film in 2009 was James Cameron's Avatar portraying the indigenous hunter Neytiri. Avatar was well-received by critics, accumulating an approval rating of 83% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed $2.7 billion worldwide to become the highest-grossing film of all time, as well as in the United States and Canada. It also became the first film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide. The film was nominated for ten Saturn Awards, and won all ten at the 36th Saturn Awards ceremony. Saldana's Saturn Award for Best Actress win marked a rare occurrence for an all-CG character.
  In 2010, Saldana performed in The Losers as Aisha al-Fadhil, a native Bolivian woman. For the role, she was required to gain weight to carry weapons for eight hours a day. 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. In 2011, Saldana 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, Saldana's performance was praised.
  In 2012, she appeared in the romantic drama The Words, earning negative reviews from critics with little success at the box-office.
  In 2013, Saldana 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 theatre run with a box office total of $228,778,661, placing it as the 11th highest-grossing film for 2013. It earned $467,365,246 worldwide, ranking it in 14th place for 2013, and making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise.  Saldana voiced her character in the 2013 release of the Star Trek video game.
  In 2014, Saldana played Gamora in the hit Guardians of the Galaxy. Saldana portrayed the Gamora character with make-up rather than computer generated imagery (CGI) or performance capture. The film became the third highest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, behind The Avengers and Iron Man 3. 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.
  The film earned positive reviews. Saldana was nominated for numerous awards 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.
  In May 2014, she performed in Rosemary's Baby, a television adaptation of Ira Levin's horror novel. Saldana also co-produced the four-hour two-part show.
  In 2014, Saldana was recognized by Elle magazine during The Women in Hollywood Awards, honoring women for achievements in film, spanning all aspects of the motion-picture industry, including acting, directing, and producing.
caption: Saldana at the "Entertainment Weekly: Wonder Women: Female Power Icons in Pop Culture" panel, Comic-Con 2009
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