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, 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, and Amsterdam, and on television’s Rosemary’s Baby, Maya and the Three, and From Scratch.
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
I have traveled to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. There are thousands of regular looking and very African people in the Dominican Republic. There are black people in Puerto Rico. I dont think Zoe is a mullato, in that both of her parents are majority black with some admixture. The way I define mullato is having a direct parent of a different race. Both of Zoes parents are black. She is about 70% black African. I am black with the same mixtures from South America.
her “black” mother..
http://st.depositphotos.com/1694341/1292/i/950/depositphotos_12923372-Asalia-Nazario-and-Daughter-Zoe-Saldana.jpg
Her mom doesn’t even look black. I understand you were being sarcastic, but still… Her mom looks more Mestiza.
30% admixture is significant enough to be considered mixed. If you define mulatto as having one parent of a different race than your definition is wrong. The reason why very a few people in DR or PR have a 100% black o 100% white parent it is because the admixture has been going for more than a hundred years several cups of coffee and milk mixing over and over again. A Dominican might not have a white parent but can easily be more than 50% white because all his ancestors were mixed as well.
the autosomal dna testings i’ve seen on dominicans averaged around 50-55% caucasian, 40% black, 6-8% amerindian.
puerto ricans ranged from 60-80% caucasian, 10-25% black, and about 1/8 amerindian.
She looks mulatto to me. I never once thought she was just black. She looks like Thandie Newton, another mulatto actress.
Both of Zoe’s parents are black people with admixture. How are you defining mulatto?. In my opinion mulatto only means one parent who is white. This is not the case with Zoe Saldana. This woman is like 70% black African.
I’m sorry but what are you talking about ? Zoe’s mother is NOT black, she is very light, tan-skinned, dark hair, she looks like a “typical” puertorican woman of spanish heritage, she looks mediterranean. And her father, I don’t think we have seen any picture of him because he died years ago and she was raised by her stepfather who is dominican too so stop lying please, Zoe is mulatto not black.
correction:
she is dominican, afro-puerto rican, haitian, and lebanese. I hoped this helped!
The description of Zoe’s background should be ammended. Zoe is really Afro Puerto Rican and Afro Dominican. The Dominican Republic is a black in majority island. Alot of the people are datker than the average African American. Ive been there, saying just Puerto Rican or Dominican is very misleading. And if someone black just has a little little Asian or Indian it can nearly or completely straighten their hair. Do not let the long wavy haor trick you into thinking she is more mixed than she actually is. She is about as mixed as the average African American. The difference is just she has Indian instead of white like most African Americans (who have white). So her hair texture is less kinky.
DR is not a black in majority country, it’s a country where 73% of it’s population is mixed. 16% white and 11% black. Only 16% of Dominicans have native ancestry. Get your facts straight.
incorrect. The majority of the population is of mixed race, but there is a tiny percent of native American and a lot more than 11% black. Dominicans are mostly black and mixed with European.
CORRECTION:
Zoe Saldana is Puerto Rican, Dominican, Haitian, and Lebanese. It was documented in People Style Watch Magazine.
Haitian? I haven’t heard that.
where did you read that ? she never mentionned it …
She even stated that she hd some degrees of Haitain and Lebanese heritage
maybe you guys dont know what people have in their blood (its called ethnicitys suckers)
Race is something that is so stressed here in America. you are either white or your black and if your mixed people force you to choose or make it seem like you have to choose because they’ll say things like “Well, when people look at you…..” Since when do we let other people say what we are.
You are soooooo right. Finally someone with brains on the subject.