Zoë Saldaña
Saldaña in 2011, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario
Place of Birth: Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.
Date of Birth: June 19, 1978
Ethnicity: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rican, evidently small amount of Lebanese and Haitian
Zoë Saldaña is an American actress and dancer. She has starred as Uhura in the rebooted Star Trek films, Neytiri in the Avatar franchise, and Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy/the MCU. She is also known for her roles in the films Center Stage, Get Over It, Crossroads, Drumline (2002), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Terminal, Haven, Guess Who, Constellation, Premium, The Heart Specialist, After Sex, Blackout (2007), Vantage Point, The Skeptic, Death at a Funeral (2010), The Losers, Takers, Burning Palms, Colombiana, The Words, Blood Ties, Out of the Furnace, Infinitely Polar Bear, The Book of Life, Nina (2016), Live by Night, I Kill Giants, Missing Link, Vampires vs. the Bronx, Vivo, The Adam Project, Amsterdam, The Absence of Eden, and Emilia Pérez; and on television’s Rosemary’s Baby (2014), Maya and the Three, From Scratch, and Special Ops: Lioness.
Zoë is the daughter of Asalia Nazario and Aridio A. Saldaña. She is a black Latina. Her father was born in Cotui Pro Sa, Dominican Republic. Her mother is Puerto Rican. Zoë has described herself as “three quarters Dominican and a quarter Puerto Rican.” She was initially raised in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, then spending a few years in the Dominican Republic after her father’s death; before moving back to Queens.
She is also said to have some degree of Lebanese and Haitian ancestry. She speaks English and Spanish fluently. Pictures of Zoë’s family members can be seen here.
Zoë is married to Italian artist Marco Perego, with whom she has three children.
Zoë has said:
There’s no one way to be black… I’m black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am black. I’m raising black men.
Saldaña and her husband Marco Perego at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2015, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com
@Angantyr: I’m African, and their are plenty of Africans with better hair texture then hers and it’s not because they are mixed! Get your facts straight before talking just because you have a mouth! By the way, the texture of my hair is fine, and longer then any white girls or Hispanic girls hair!
lulaf have you seen every white girls hair to make that statement
Why does it always come down to hair texture? Does having one texture over the other really make you a better or worse person? Truly do you think God cares about the texture of your hair or the purity of your heart?
The person said something about Africans & I responded. Africans come in many shades, have different textures of hair & she does look like she can be African. That’s the point I wanted to make.
what africans have straight, fine hair?
What Africans are you talking about?
Um, well for starters: Somalians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, ect. Satisfied?
Well, it’s more so curly than straight, but it’s fine nontheleast. And who is to say what hair is fine? Whether it be nappy or straight, be glad it’s not bald! Hair is hair and it’s all fine. #nuffsaid
No, because the Africans that you mentioned are semetic with Mediterranean admixture.
Mediterranean are admixtured aswell. Not only african countries semetic with far straight hair and features are mixed. Southern europeans, mediterranean, middle easterners, indians, too. Black indians with kinky hair are the oldest in india. going up you will find a melting pot old scandinavian immigration mixed. Also some northern asians in this. The blacks with straight hair in india are exactly like the light featured groups in the north.. So what’s your point at all?
I am still trying to figure out your point
@ lulaf- thats what i’m talkin abt. Set the ignorance straight. My hair isnt staright,nor long;but these comments from ppl always having something negative to say abt Black ppl in general is bs. One thing i hate tho are the ugly black models they have when they put one next to a wht model thats pretty. They never represent the black,Beautiful women. America is one big hypocritical,racist country. shame.
What about black hispanics? Stupid comment hispanic isn’t a race
Zoe is considered black in America. According to America if you have a drop of black blood you are black. Puerto Rican and Dominican have an African Heritage. Read your history and may I add many African Americans speak spanish, french, german, etc.
She looks African to me and to the white man.
well fuck the one drop rule. that was invented by racist white people and some dumbass black people still support that shit. smh, ignorant fucks! zoe does not look fully african lmfao girl you’re a trip. bitch looks mixed. her mom doesn’t even look black, she looks hispanic and i’m guessing her daddy is probably not fully black. zoe looks like a woman with a mixed background. stop hatin! idk if you’re a jealous white woman or a jealous black woman, just shut the FUCK up and stop worrying about her fuckin race. gotdamn mane, only in “america” this shit happens. americans are so fuckin pressed about race. i know that racism will always be there, but FUCK, just shut up! there’s more to life than worrying about what someone’s race is. zoe is mixed, end of discussion BITCH!
She looks like a mix of African and Taino to me, Tracey. She might look African-American, many are part Native American, but any African will tell you that she doesn’t look like an African and they say it about many African-Americans. African-Americans should stop being Jim Crowe and take pride in being mixed.
Or at least stop harassing those that take pride in ther God given ancestry
I can tell you this: Most Black aren’t hating on Latino’s with African decent. What? If anything, most of my friends are very ATTRACTED to them. We praise them for their beauty and fine hair. We don’t hate them…so what are you talking about?
How many comments are there saying that she is “black” in America?
@ char- are u not proud or how u look or who u are?? Or are u kissing ass? Like which one. I thought ppl praised GOD or a celebrity. This is not words of hating on another for ppl w lil minds. It just seems like char n her friends are lacking self-esteem in themselves. U too learn your history’being black of any nationality there are many beauties. Also learn what ppl have done to contribute more to this country. maybe that will help w confidence and give u many ppl to praise.
Well said…very well said
girl all the tainos are extinct. there are no full-blooded taino people! lmfao. OF COURSE THERE MAY BE A LITTLE TAINO BLOOD LEFT AFTER MANY GENERATIONS. but it’s only a small amount. puerto ricans are mostly white. not like anglo white, but like mediterranean. like ricky martin for example. he’s a puerto rican of mostly spanish descent. jlo looks almost white too.
Zoe is not just dark, she actually looks like an everyday black woman. And dont be fooled by the straightened hair, it is just straightened and flat ironed like Halle Berry, who flat irons her kinky hair evey day (that is why she has to keep it short due to constant breakage from heat). Dominicans are very very good at straightening African textured hair, more so than African Americans. Their salons can get black hair Indian straight believe me, I dont know how they do it, but they do.
I am a black South American with kinky curly hair and when I come from the Dominican slaon, I look half Indian (lol), its true looks have alot to do with hair texture. By the way,. my grandmother is part American Indian.
Its so funny how little people know about black people, wow! There are tons of Ethiopians and other Africans with Zoe’s hair texture.
I am a multiracial American African American, Native American, Irish, & Scottish and people often confuse me with other races and I agree hair texture has nothing to do with it. Most Dominican Salons know the art of a tight rollerset & flat iron combo that gets your hair crazy straight….My hair is super naturally curly & I get mine straight the same way when I wear it straight. =)
@ tracey- w halle berry, u kno abt her hair bcuz ur her personal assistant or hair stylist???If her hair was so kinky then w all that money she had, there would be no space to curl up anyway. I would assume that she;d prefer it bcuz its a get-up and go type of her style,not bcuz of the texture. I think dominicans are better at the straightening process cuz since many deny the dark side,they want their hair as closest to being “non-black”. whatever that means since many of African ppl or descendants have different hair textures. just like in n americabut more so in latin america ppl carried that denial of appreciating their african heritage. though there are many that love who they are. Gudnite
another jealous ass black person. stop trying to deny mixed people’s non-black heritage. zoe does not look like your everyday black woman. dumb bitch. her hair is naturally straight. haven’t you seen pictures of her when she was a little girl? she doesn’t have nappy, kinky hair. she has that good hair that mixed people have.
It’s amazing that the people who care the most to know what “race” people are. Know zero to little about it…