Zoe Saldaña is an action star. You can find her fighting in hand-to-hand combat or wielding a range of weapons in many major movies. In fact, Saldaña boasts the honor of having starred in two of the highest-grossing movies of all time: Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. Currently, Saldaña is continuing her work in each of these respective franchises, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 expected to hit theaters in 2023 and Avatar 2, the first of four sequels, slated for a late-2022 release.
Saldaña was born in New Jersey, and grew up in the Domincan Republic. Dance, specifically ballet, was her first love and foray into performances arts. After attending an academy for ballet, Saldaña began to star in theatrical productions, which led to a two-episode guest role on Law & Order. Shortly after, Saldaña scored her first major breakthrough movie role in Center Stage. From there, Saldaña's star steadily climbed, with small roles in movies like Crossroads and Drumline, before making her way into blockbuster franchises like Star Trek, Avatar, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here's a look at Zoe Saldaña's 7 best performances, ranked.
7 Rosemary's Baby
Adapted from the 1968 movie version, Rosemary's Baby was a 2014 miniseries directed by Agnieska Holland and is based on Ira Levins' original 1967 novel. Zoe Saldaña played the titular role of Rosemary Woodhouse opposite Patrick J. Adams as her husband, Guy. This creepy story is about a miscarriage that leads the couple to move from New York to Paris, where they find themselves intertwined with another couple who has ties to mystical and dark powers. Rosemary finds herself pregnant, but the experience is far from normal — indeed, rather dark and tied to the occult. Though the series was ultimately met with negative reviews, critics praised Saldaña's performance as Rosemary.
6 Center Stage
This 2000s teen drama was one of Zoe Saldaña' s first roles. For Center Stage, the actress scored the opportunity to utilize her ballet training, playing Eva Rodriguez, one of 12 dancers accepted into a coveted ballet studio. Naturally, drama unfolds as the ballerinas all bring their own personalities and histories into the studio. Center Stage featured an incredible cast of actors and former ballerinas, from Amanda Schull and Ethan Stiefel to Sascha Radetsky and Peter Gallagher.
5 The Adam Project
The Adam Project, directed by Shawn Levy (also director of Stranger Things and the Night at the Museum series) and written by Jonathan Tropper, came out on Netflix in early-March 2022. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Zoe Saldaña, Jennifer Garner, and Mark Ruffalo, the film sees Reynold's Adam Reed traveling to the past in order to team up with his 13-year-old self (Walker Scobell) to ultimately prevent future tragedies from occurring. Saldaña, meanwhile, plays Adam's wife, whose death by car crash sparks the events of the movie. The Adam Project was a success, and became Reynolds' third-highest debut on Netflix.
4 Star Trek
J.J. Abrams' reboot of Star Trek came out in 2009 and starred Zoe Saldaña as Lt. Nyota Uhura, Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, and Zachary Quinto as Spock. Based on the original Star Trek television series, Abrams' reboot offered an action-packed adventure that proved to be a massive success, not only earning $385.7 million worldwide, but also spawning two sequels, Star Trek into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond, with a surprising Star Trek 4 currently in the works.
3 Colombiana
Colombiana comes from the writers of Taken, Luc Besson, and Robert Kamen. In this dramatic thriller, Cataleya (played by Zoe Saldaña) is a cold-blooded killer who leaves lipstick marks on all her victims. Her murderous career initially sprouted from her traumatic experiences of gang violence growing up in Bogotá, Colombia, during which she witnessed the murders of her parents. Grown up and trained, Cataleya's sole mission is to avenge her parents' deaths. For her role in Colombiana, Saldaña received a Teen Choice Award for Movie Actress in Action/Adventure and an ALMA Award.
2 Guardians of the Galaxy
Zoe Saldaña may have been blue in Avatar, but in Guardians of the Galaxy, she was painted bright green. Written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, the movie marked the MCU's foray into outer-space adventures. Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star Lord leads a pack of misfits that includes Saldaña's Gamora, Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel's Groot, and Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon. Guardians of the Galaxy may have been a lesser-known group of superheroes prior to their MCU introduction, but the movie became an unexpected hit and has spawned a franchise consisting of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which was released in 2017, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which just started filming.
1 Avatar
Avatar is the highest-grossing film in history. Directed by James Cameron — whose previous film Titanic ranks as the third-highest-grossing movie of all time — Avatar tells the story of a paraplegic Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is tasked with a mission in outer space that involves observing the Na'vi species on the planet Pandora. To do this, Jake's consciousness is transferred to an avatar, designed and built exactly like the Na'vi. Zoe Saldaña plays Neytiri, who is indigenous to Pandora and reluctantly shows Jake the way of her people. The two fall in love and must band together in order to protect Pandora from the humans' mining expedition. A highly anticipated sequel to the 2009 film, Avatar 2, is scheduled to release later this year. Saldaña has recently said that the movie moved her to tears upon an initial screening due to its powerful themes.