Tragic Details About Zoe Saldaña

As of 2025, Zoe Saldaña is an Oscar-winning actor with more than 70 roles under her belt. She's starred in countless blockbusters since she kicked off her career in 1999, from "Avatar" to "Guardians of the Galaxy" and 2009's "Star Trek," but despite being in the public eye for decades, many still don't know the untold truth of Saldaña. Sadly, the actor's life has been impacted by tragedy after tragedy from the time she was a child, but the hardship she endured is also what propelled her into a career in the entertainment industry.

After disaster struck the Saldaña family in 1987, the "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" star was put into dance classes. "My mother was trying to find ways to keep us busy," Saldaña told Time in May 2017, referring to herself and her two sisters. "I was like, 'What the f***? I'm going to wear, like, a pink leotard?'" Thankfully, she explained that ballet "saved [her] sanity." Saldaña said, "It really put me on this path of being an artist." By the year 2000, she had landed a role in her first feature film, "Center Stage," as a ballerina.

Similarly, many of the misfortunes the actor has been through have paved the way to where she is now. From the difficulty she faced in her childhood to the losses she's experienced and controversy in her career, here are the tragic details about Zoe Saldaña.

Zoe Saldaña was born in New Jersey and spent much of her childhood growing up in New York as the middle child in a family of five. She and her two sisters were born to a Puerto Rican mother, Asalia Nazario, and a Dominican father, Aridio Saldaña, and they were instilled with pride for this Afro-Latina heritage. However, when Saldaña was just 9 years old, her dad was tragically killed in a car crash.

The "Amsterdam" star received the news from her grandmother. "I remember her drinking coffee and saying, 'We're going to get through this,'" Saldaña told Emmy Magazine in August 2022 (via E! News). "'Papa wants us to get through this. But please understand this part of life: death came knocking and took one of us.'" Everything changed from this point on, as Nazario then decided to send them to live with family in the Dominican Republic while she stayed behind to work.

"When my father passed away, we all went straight into survival mode," Saldaña said during a January 2025 conversation with Harper's Bazaar. The actor recalled how Nazario withdrew over time, adding, "I remember my mom used to wear red lipstick, and she ... always looked pretty and was always flirting with my dad, and the moment he passed away, she wouldn't get out of bed for more than a couple of years." Unfortunately, things got worse before they got better.

Despite growing up in a bilingual family, speaking both English and Spanish at home, Zoe Saldaña and her sisters struggled with the language when they moved to the Dominican Republic. "You can't speak English; you have to speak only Spanish," she said told Harper's Bazaar interview in January 2025. "You can't code-switch." Sadly, while the girls were mourning the loss of their father, they ran into trouble at school. "And then you get bullied because kids don't understand you," the "Avatar" star recalled. "And we weren't little victims. We pushed back, but then they pushed harder, because they all understood each other."

However, the transition from New York to the Caribbean was difficult for more reasons than just the language barrier. As Saldaña told Emmy Magazine, everything was "always new and changing, changing, changing," and their lives in the Dominican Republic were drastically different from what they had been accustomed to in America (via E! News). "There's no winter, no Santa Claus, no grapes or apples — it's mango and guavas," Saldaña said. "These sound like small things, but they add up in a day. It was hard." Fortunately, the three girls had each other to lean on as they navigated their new lives together. At age 17, Saldaña finally returned to New York, and her interest in theater and performing developed further, eventually leading to her discovery by a talent agent.

Celebrities like Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Anniston, Chris Rock, and countless others have been open about their struggles with dyslexia. Zoe Saldaña, too, has opened up to the public about how the learning disability has caused difficulty for her throughout her life. In an April 2019 video for Child Mind Institute, titled "What I Would Tell #MyYoungerSelf," the actor explained how she had been undiagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD as a kid. "There was actually a moment where my mother was encouraged by medical practitioners and teachers to medicate me," Saldaña said.

Instead, her mom kept her occupied with activities like dance. The "Star Trek" star added that she would tell her younger self: "It does get better, but please speak up ... Because who you are and what you do and what you're going through is not wrong." Luckily, ADHD and dyslexia are much better understood today, but for Saldaña, who grew up in the '80s, empathy was harder to come by.

During her Harper's Bazaar interview in January 2025, Saldaña recalled that, despite not wanting to be a dancer at the time, ballet helped "settle [her] restless mind." It became an outlet for the actor, who found herself struggling with paying attention and sitting still. "I just remember asking myself, 'Why don't I fit in? Why do I do this?'" Saldaña said. "It would make me really sad, and it would make me feel really isolated."

Although she's happily married now to Marco Perego, an Italian film producer with gorgeous hair, with whom she shares three children, the truth about Zoe Saldaña's relationship history is pretty wild. Before she finally got together with her current husband, the "Lioness" star was linked to Bradley Cooper on and off between 2011 and 2013. 

"I was finally able to spend time without being in a relationship, and even though it was a short period of time, it was beautiful," Saldaña told Fashion in July 2014, recalling the period between her relationship with "Silver Linings Playbook" star and Perego. Upon meeting her husband, the actor added, "It was like I found all my answers with him not in him." 

But it was perhaps the relationship she had before Cooper that was even more devastating, as Saldaña previously dated actor and entrepreneur Keith Britton for a decade before they got engaged. They ultimately split after 11 years together, and although they were said to have split up "amicably," Saldaña hasn't said much else about the breakup. However, she once said she was over dating actors. "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt," Saldaña quipped during a 2013 interview with Allure.

Working in Hollywood for nearly three decades has come with a lot of hard lessons for Zoe Saldaña. While she's acknowledged the strides the industry has made in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it doesn't take the sting out of some of her experiences. "It was unfair and uneven," Saldaña said to Cosmopolitan UK in April 2018 (via E! News). The "Takers" actor remembered how being treated differently from her male co-stars was a difficult part of being a female actor at the time, everything from "how you were dressed" to "that one scene where you have to be in your underwear and why you have to have this sex scene that feels gratuitous."

Saldaña also highlighted how she had to work harder because of her Black and Latina heritage. "Ask any artists of color if they feel like they have to work harder," she said. "You do have to work twice as hard to make someone in a position of power ... see why they should hire you, and why you are the right person for the role." Fortunately, she isn't willing to return to the sexist culture of just being the eye candy in a project. Saldaña has stood up for racial equality in Hollywood by launching BESE in 2017, a digital media company that focuses on cultural storytelling and empowers Latinos in the industry.

In June 2016, Anton Yelchin was killed in a horrific accident after his car rolled down his driveway, pinning him against a fence. The actor, who was best-known for his portrayal as Pavel Chekov in the "Star Trek" reboot franchise, was just 27 years old and the tragedy left his friends, family, and fans reeling. Many actors were changed forever by their co-star's death, including Zoe Saldaña, who starred alongside Yelchin in JJ Abrams' "Star Trek" movies.

She shared an Instagram tribute for her colleague at the time, which read, "Your sudden and unexpected departure has left us all brokenhearted. I woke up today feeling absolute gratitude that I had you as a friend and colleague." Saldaña included a snap of Yelchin alongside the caption, adding, "Good bye Anton, it was an honor to have crossed paths with you."

Soon after, Saldaña spoke about the impact Yelchin's death had on her, particularly in the way she dressed for the press circuit of the third "Star Trek" movie, the last film the two starred in together. Initially, she said she wanted to wear black for the press tour, but she decided, ultimately, that she needed to wear color. Instead of muted, funeral-appropriate colors, Saldaña embraced vibrant outfits in honor of Yelchin as she promoted the movie. "Maybe color is a reminder that we should celebrate more of what we have in our lives because life is fragile and precious," she told People.

Portraying a beloved icon in a biopic is a dream of many actors. From Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln to Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, many stars have delivered riveting performances. However, when Zoe Saldaña was approached to portray legendary singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone, there's no way she could've known about the controversy that would soon follow.

The 2016 film "Nina" was received poorly, with a 2% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and much of the heat had to do with the way the lead looked in the movie. Although Saldaña is a Black Latina, her skin tone is lighter than Simone's was, so the star's complexion was darkened for the project. Understandably, critics called it as they saw it: blackface. Initially, Saldaña defended the choice in a since-deleted article for Allure in June 2016, saying, "There's no one way to be Black ... Don't you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain" (via The Guardian). 

Of course, this wasn't the response many were hoping to hear from Saldaña. While she believed in the movie and wanted to defend herself as a casting choice, she came across as ignorant. However, the star has since reconsidered her stance, as Saldaña expressed regret for playing Simone in August 2020 during an Instagram interview. "I should have never played Nina," she said. "I'm so sorry. I know better today."

Although autoimmune disorders are common, it doesn't make them any less devastating. In July 2016, Zoe Saldaña revealed she'd been diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which causes the immune system to attack the thyroid. "Your body doesn't have the energy it needs to filter toxins, causing it to believe that it has an infection, so it's always inflamed," the actor explained to Net-a-Porter's The Edit (via CBS News). To combat her symptoms, Saldaña and her husband avoid gluten and dairy in their diet. "You create antibodies that attack your glands, so you have to eat clean," she said.

The condition runs in the actor's family, as her sister and mother have Hashimoto's thyroiditis as well, but learning she'd been diagnosed was still a shock. "I had a great time in my 20s," Saldaña remarked. "Then your doctor says you're losing calcium in your bones. What the f*** is that?!" While the autoimmune disorder can fortunately be treated with medication, it's a lifelong journey that can't yet be cured. "All of a sudden it hits you ... it's from night to day," she said.

Although Zoe Saldaña lost her father at a young age, the loss understandably had a deep impact on her. By the time she was cast as Amy Wheeler in the Netflix miniseries "From Scratch," she still hadn't worked through all of her grief. In the 2022 project, her character falls in love with an Italian chef and prepares to lose herself in the romance when a surprise illness changes everything. Grief was a difficult subject matter for Saldaña, and revisiting these complex feelings while filming was an important process for her to take on.

"The thing about grief is that it's ongoing," the star told USA Today in October 2022. "It will never get better; it just becomes manageable." As much as it was an "emotional process" for Saldaña, she insists that the angle "From Scratch" took in dealing with heavy themes should be more prevalent. "We've seen enough stories of the person fighting that good fight but not enough stories of the person that's fighting beside them," Saldaña remarked. "What are they left with after that battle has been lost? What do they do with the pieces that they're left with?"

Zoe Saldaña evokes a calm and collected attitude, but the actor isn't always as sure of herself as she might seem. While her dreams of making it big in Hollywood have been fulfilled and she continues landing role after role, something changed when she turned 40. "There was a level of exhaustion that I felt because I was always putting up this front of overconfidence," Saldaña told Variety in October 2024. She realized she'd been putting on a front out of insecurity, "because [she] always felt like an imposter."

Feeling like a fraud in the face of massive success isn't uncommon, but she explained that it was more than that. "The challenges that I've had, they have to do with my learning abilities," Saldaña explained. "I have dyslexia and anxiety, which prevented me from really going after roles — a whole lot of roles — that I know I could have done." For example, she initially passed on the series "Lioness," as she was worried about taking on a dialogue-heavy project.

It isn't just movies, though, that are impacted by Saldaña's anxiety and dyslexia. When the actor won a Golden Globe for her role in "Emilia Pérez" in January 2025, she said during her emotional acceptance speech, "I know I don't have much time. And I have dyslexia, so I tend to forget when I'm really anxious and I'm filled with adrenaline." That said, embracing anxiety may be the key to managing it, so Saldaña is certainly on the right path.

Even though the project secured her an Oscar win for best supporting actress, the movie "Emilia Pérez" has been rife with controversy from the start. While the film aimed to tell the story of a lawyer who helps a cartel boss transition into living their life as a woman, many took issue with the poorly affected Spanish accents, the inauthentic portrayal of drug violence in Mexico by the French director, and the way trans people are represented. But there was an even bigger fallout when internet sleuths uncovered Islamophobic tweets from actor Karla Sofía Gascón.

In February 2025, Saldaña addressed her co-star's offensive posts in a conversation with Variety, saying, "I'm sad. Time and time again, that's the word because that is the sentiment that has been living in my chest since everything happened." Although she wasn't directly responsible for Gascón's rhetoric, it was clear Saldaña was devastated. "All I can attest to is my experience, and never in a million years did I ever believe that we would be here," she stated.

After accepting her Oscar award, Saldaña was again called on to address the controversy surrounding "Emilia Pérez" in a post-Oscar interview. A journalist highlighted that the movie's portrayal of Mexico was "really hurtful for us Mexicans." Saldaña replied, "I'm very, very sorry that many Mexicans felt offended." However, Saldaña also clarified that she didn't agree with the journalist, adding, "That was never our intention. We spoke from a place of love."