ZOE SALDAÑA has steadily earned a reputation as one of the most versatile and respected powerhouse in the industry with a remarkable career spanning more than 20 years as an actor and producer. As the only actor in history to have starred in four films that have grossed over 2 billion dollars and the top three highest grossing films of all time, AVATAR, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER and Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME, Saldaña’s passionate commitment to seeking compelling, indelible roles has remained constant.

Currently, Saldaña can be seen starring in Netflix’s critically acclaimed Spanish-language musical crime comedy from Jacques Audiard, EMILIA PÉREZ. The film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it garnered among the longest standing ovations out of the festival and took home the Jury Prize. Saldaña received the Best Actress Award alongside the female ensemble including Karla Sofia Gascon, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. Saldaña also won a 2025 Golden Globe Award for “Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture” for her role as Rita in the film. EMILIA PÉREZ additionally won three awards at the Golden Globes — “Best Picture - Musical or Comedy”,  “Best Motion Picture - Non-English Language”, and “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (‘El Mal’).

Saldaña is also currently nominated for two (2) 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards in the categories of “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role” and “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture” (alongside Karla Sofia Gascon, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz) with castmate Karla Sofia Gascon being nominated for “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role”. At the upcoming 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards, EMILIA PÉREZ is nominated for a total of eleven awards including “Best Film”,  with Saldaña vying for “Supporting Actress.”

She can also be seen starring in the second season of Taylor Sheridan’s undercover CIA drama series for Paramount+ “Lioness”, where she leads a fantastic cast including Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman, as well as executive produces. Season one launched in July 2023 and became the one of the most-watched global premieres on Paramount+, garnering nearly 6 million viewers combined on streaming and network television. Season two of “Lioness” premiered on Paramount+ on October 27th, 2024. The role has earned her a nomination for “Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series” at last year’s as well as the upcoming 2025 NAACP Image Awards.

Earlier this year, Saldaña lead and executive produced the independent film THE ABSENCE OF EDEN, opposite Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona. Directed by Marco Perego in his feature film debut, the film had its World Premiere at the 2023 Taormina Film Festival, opened the 2023 Newport Beach Film Festival and released in theaters on April 12th from Roadside Attractions.

In December 2022, she reprised her role of Neytiri in James Cameron’s Oscar-winning film AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, which since its release, has shattered box office records, including becoming the first pandemic-era film to reach $2 billion at the global box office and securing its spot as the third highest grossing film of all time, following the first AVATAR film from 2009, which remains the top of the list. The third film of the franchise titled AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH is currently in production, with two additional installments to follow.

Past projects include Saldaña starring as trailblazing heroine, Nyota Uhura, in J.J. Abrams’ hit STAR TREK franchise, beginning in 2009, and starring alongside Christian Bale, Casey Affleck and Woody Harrelson in Scott Cooper’s 2013 crime thriller OUT OF THE FURNACE. In 2014, she took on yet another iconic role with Gamora, the Marvel fan-favorite lethal alien assassin, in the blockbuster hit GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, reprising the role in the 2017 and 2023 sequels GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, and again in the years to follow for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR and AVENGERS: ENDGAME. In 2022, she starred opposite Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo in Shawn Levy’s THE ADAM PROJECT, which remains on Netflix’s Top 10 most viewed films of all time. That same year, Saldaña led Netflix’s limited series “From Scratch,” based on Tembi Locke’s best-selling memoir of the same name, which charted in Netflix’s Top 10 in 84 countries. She also starred in the 20th Century Studios’ mystery-comedy AMSTERDAM, directed by David O. Russell with an all-star ensemble including Christian Bale, John David Washington, and Margot Robbie.

In a career that began with a breakout role in the 2000 film CENTER STAGE, Saldaña’s additional credits also include CROSSROADS, DRUMLINE, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, THE LOSERS, TAKERS, COLOMBIANA, the NBC mini-series “Rosemary’s Baby,” and the Academy Award®-nominated animated feature MISSING LINK. She also lent her voice to the animated films BOOK OF LIFE and VIVO, as well as the Netflix limited series “Maya and The Three.” She made her directorial debut in 2011 with the short film KAYLIEN, part of the Glamour Reel Moments series.

Saldaña has taken a very active role as a producer, forming Cinestar Pictures along with her sisters Mariel and Cisely, with an eye toward reshaping the American storytelling landscape with a commitment to diverse, character-driven narratives that reflect the authentic fabric of contemporary society. Championing honest portrayals of women and a true depiction of today's America, Cinestar produces compelling, multicultural stories for a global audience. The company’s first feature film was THE HONOR LIST, from Lionsgate’s Studio, and was released in 2018. Since then, their projects have included the beloved hit family comedy series “The Gordita Chronicles” for Sony and HBO Max; the limited series “From Scratch” at Netflix with Hello Sunshine; two seasons of the Emmy-nominated animal kingdom docuseries “Mamas” for Roku Channel; “Meet Me in Paris,” the first ever unscripted romantic comedy feature which quickly became the biggest Roku Original unscripted debut and the #1 reality title premiere in the history of platform with the recently released second season, “Meet Me in Rome''; the Disney+ series “MPower'' which spotlights several of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most inspirational women heroes; the Taylor Sheridan created spy-thriller series “Lioness” on Paramount+; the independent film THE ABSENCE OF EDEN, directed by Marco Perego and starring Saldaña; as well as the upcoming action-survival film for Amazon Prime Video, THE BLUFF, alongside the Russo Brothers. Cinestar also has projects in pre-production at Paramount, HBO, HBO Max, Disney+, and CBS.

In addition to her prolific acting and producing career, Saldaña founded BESE in 2018, a media company created to support and amplify the voices of the Latinx community by sharing real and untold stories of today’s America. The spirit of BESE’s mission extends to the partnership Saldaña launched with sportswear giant Adidas and Kohl’s department store in 2020. The activewear athleisure collections, ranging in sizes from XS to XXL, are meant to highlight, support, and celebrate women of color.

Saldaña received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018 and was honored with Outstanding Achievement in Film Award by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) in 2017, for her impactful work to broaden representation of the Latinx community throughout Hollywood. She was recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2023.

Born in New Jersey and raised in Queens and in the Dominican Republic, Saldaña currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and three sons.