Zoe Saldana (full name
Zoe Yadira Zaldana Nazario, born
June 19,
1978)
is an
American actress. She is also known as Zoë Saldana, Zoe Saldaña, and Zoë Saldaña.
Early life
Saldana was born in
New Jersey to a mother of Puerto Rican and a father of Dominican descent. She was raised in Queens, New York, and her first languages are English and Spanish. When Zoe was nine, her father died in a car accident, and her mother moved with Zoe and Zoe's sisters to the Dominican Republic. There, Zoe enlisted in a ballet class at one of the most prestigious dancing schools in the country, gaining experience as a dancer, which benefited her later for her role in Center Stage. She returned to the United States 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–1990s.