What is Zoe Saldana's Net Worth and Salary?
Zoë Saldana is an American actress who has a net worth of $60 million. After beginning her career in the theater world, Zoë Saldana has gone on to become one of the most successful actors in the world, thanks to her appearances in various science fiction films. Saldana has appeared in some of the highest-grossing films of all time, including "Avatar" and "Avengers: Endgame." In fact, when "Avatar: The Way of Water" crossed $2 billion in earnings in January 2023, Zoe Saldana officially became the first actor in history to appear in four films that have earned more than $2 billion at the global box office. The other two films are 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" and 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War". To date, her films have grossed more than $14 billion worldwide.
Saldana was originally focused on a career in dance and studied ballet, modern, and jazz for a number of years at a conservatory in the Dominican Republic. After returning to the United States, she shifted her focus to theater work, working with multiple youth theater companies and appearing in musicals. Her work in a small production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" netted her an agent. She made her feature film debut in the ballet movie, "Center Stage," in 2000. She hasn't stopped since. Over the last few decades, Zoe has amassed an impressive resume working opposite some of Hollywood's most popular male leads. She has co-starred in such projects as "Drumline," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Haven," the "Star Trek" franchise, "Avatar," "The Losers," "Death at a Funeral," the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise, and "Colombiana."
Early Life
Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario was born on June 19th of 1978 in New Jersey. Her father was Dominican, while her mother is Puerto Rican. Her full name is a reflection of both her Puerto Rican and Dominican ancestry. She was raised in Jackson Heights, New York City, alongside her two sisters. Disaster struck when her father was killed in a car accident when Zoë Saldana was nine years old, and her mother relocated the entire family to the Dominican Republic not long afterward.
During her time in the Dominican Republic, Zoë Saldana became an accomplished dancer. Although she studied ballet and became interested in a career as a ballet dancer, she was forced to quit because she didn't have the correct foot structure to excel. Saldana still describes ballet as her passion. After moving back to New York City, Zoë attended high school and joined a theater group called Faces. This group focused on spreading positive messages to teens in high school. While she was still a teen, Saldana appeared in a production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." During one performance of the play, she caught the eye of a talent scout and signed with an agency.
Career
Zoë Saldana's first big role in front of a camera was in "Law & Order" in 1999. Due to her expertise as a ballet dancer, she then booked a lead role in the 2000 dance film "Center Stage." Her next film role came in 2002 when she starred alongside Britney Spears in "Crossroads." That year, she also appeared in "Drumline" alongside Nick Cannon.
During the next few years, Zoë Saldana's career started to steadily become more promising. 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" saw Saldana take a prominent role in one of the most popular film franchises of all time. In 2004, she appeared in "The Terminal" as an immigration officer and "Star Trek" fan. During filming, Steven Spielberg helped her understand the "Star Trek" universe and taught her the Vulcan salute. During the next few years, Saldana appeared in films such as "Haven," "Temptation," "Constellation," "Guess Who," "Premium," "Dirty Deeds," "After Sex," "Blackout," and "Vantage Point."
In 2009, her earlier work in "The Terminal" was put to good use when she booked the role of Nyota Uhura in the reboot film "Star Trek." She did considerable research into her character in order to convincingly play the role. "Star Trek" proved to be a staggering box office success with earnings of over $385 million. However, Saldana's next film of 2009 would prove to be even more commercially successful. She played the Xenos hunter Neytiri in "Avatar," a film that grossed $2.7 billion worldwide. It was the highest-grossing movie of all time when it was released.
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Saldana took less prominent roles during the next few years. In 2010, she appeared in films such as "The Losers," "Takers," "Death at a Funeral," and "Burning Palms." In 2011, Saldana joined the cast of movies like "The Heart Specialist" and "Colombiana". After another less prominent role in "The Words," Saldana returned to center stage once again with 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness." The sequel performed even better than the original reboot, and it raked in over $467 million at the box office. By this point in time, Saldana had earned a reputation as an actress who specializes in science fiction films.
She continued on that theme in 2014 with "Guardians of the Galaxy." The film was an unexpected hit, largely because it was based on a relatively obscure Marvel comic in contrast to the more well-known heroes from the previous nine Marvel films. Nevertheless, "Guardians of the Galaxy" went on to become one of Marvel's most successful films ever, with box office earnings of over $772 million. Saldana played Gamora, an intergalactic assassin. She finished 2014 with an appearance in the TV miniseries "Rosemary's Baby."
In 2016, Saldana starred in "Nina," a biographical film about famous jazz musician Nina Simone. During that year, she also returned to the "Star Trek" universe once again with "Star Trek Beyond." The film received strong ratings and performed well at the box office. She finished the year with an appearance in Ben Affleck's ill-fated film "Live By Night."
During the next few years, Saldana focused on her established role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. First came 2017's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", which earned even more at the box office than the original. Next came 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," which grossed just over $2 billion at the box office. Finally, she reprised the role of Gamora for the third time in three years with 2019's "Avengers: Endgame." The film grossed almost $2.8 billion, breaking the record held by Saldana's earlier film, "Avatar." In 2021, she starred in two Netflix productions, appearing as Rosita in the musical "Vivo" and the titular character in "Maya and the Three." Saldana reprised her role as Neytiri in "Avatar: The Way of Water" in 2022, and she is set to return in 2025's "Avatar 3". Additionally, she starred in the science fiction film "The Adam Project" and the romantic drama miniseries "From Scratch" on Netflix. In 2023, Saldana returned as Gamora in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3", her last film in the MCU as the character.
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Personal Life and Real Estate
In 2010, Zoë Saldana became engaged to Keith Britton after ten years of dating. In 2011, they called off the engagement and ended the relationship. She dated Bradley Cooper from 2011 to 2013. Then, in 2013, Saldana started dating and married Italian artist Marco Perego. In 2014, the couple had twins, and in 2017 they had a son together.
In 2017, Saldana founded BESE, a digital media platform designed to combat the lack of diversity in mainstream media with an emphasis on positive stories from the Latino community.
In June 2016, Zoe paid $8.7 million for a gorgeous home in Beverly Hills, California. The home is located within the exclusive gated community Hidden Valley Estates. Nearby neighbors include Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, and Jennifer Lawrence. In September 2023 she listed this home for sale for $16.5 million. After not finding a buyer after several months, Saldana offered the home as a rental for $50,000 per month and lowered the purchase price to $14.5 million. She ultimately accepted $10 million in November 2024.
In December 2023, Saldana paid $17 million for a home in Montecito, California. The property of her Montecito estate spans just under five acres.
