Top 3: Saldana uses her acting and dancing skills to give outstanding performances.

Gwen Gordon, Entertainment Editor

December 10, 2024

Saldana incorporates her dancing skills in her movies which are a nice addition. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Zoe Saldana has made some great films due to her impeccable acting skills.

What makes her interesting is she didn’t start as an actor: She actually studied ballet first. She grew up dancing and learned to act later on in life, which can come as a surprise because of how quickly she picked it up.

Saldana got her start when she was recruited by a talent agency. With her ballet and acting skills, she landed her first big on-screen role as a ballet dancer in the movie Center Stage.

Top 3: Saldana uses her acting and dancing skills to give outstanding performances.

Avatar is a sci-fi film made to bring awareness to pollution. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios.

Avatar (2009)

Avatar is about an ex-marine, Jake (Sam Worthington), who has been paralyzed back on Earth. He has now come to the planet of Pandora to use his twin brother’s avatar to convince the native people, the Na’vi, to trust the humans. The higher-ups in Jake's program use Jake to convince the Na’vi to move out of their Hometree so they can excavate the unobtanium, a valuable conductor of energy back on Earth that lies under the tree.

Saldana plays the role of Neytiri, the Na’vi chief's daughter. She has been tasked with teaching Jake the Na’vi way, but over time they begin to fall for each other.

This film is set in the year 2081 when the Earth is dying and people are trying to find a new planet to live on, but the Na’vi refuse to surrender, which later leads to violence and despair. Director James Cameron's goal when making this film was to bring awareness to violence against native populations and the destruction of the planet due to pollution.

Saldana helps to fulfill this goal with her acting abilities. She is spectacular at displaying raw emotions. For example, when she faces the betrayal and the destruction of her people and home, her display of sadness and anger would give any viewer chills.

Her portrayal of the more intense emotions and actions makes them seem real.
Avatar 2 is crafting with such detail and is very emotional. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios.

Avatar 2: The Way of Water (2022)

Avatar 2: The Way of Water is about Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and Jake (Sam Worthington) after the war with humans. They live in harmony for about 15 years and have four children.

One night a new ship lands and the humans are back. The main enemy in the first film, Quaritch (Stephen Lang), has come back from the dead in the form of an avatar rather than his human body – as Jake did in the first film.

But now that Neytiri and Jake have kids to protect, the threat is even bigger.

Neytiri and her family flee to a new clan in search of sanctuary. The Omatikaya clan of the Metkayina people allows them to stay, but they are eventually found by Quaritch and another war breaks out.

Saldana’s display of emotions in this film is even better than in the first. Neytiri's character matures as Saldana does. Her emotions switch from agony and sadness to rage and pure anger.

It is amazing to see how she can turn off that emotional switch to just rage. Saldana’s acting skills are just exceptional, and when looking at her other films there is a noticeable difference in how much more mature her acting is in this film.
Columbiana stars Saldana who is one of the most interesting characters in the film. Photo via EuropaCorp.

Columbiana (2011)

Columbiana is about a young girl named Cataleyal (Amandla Stenberg) who witnesses the leader of a drug ring, Don Luis (Beto Benites), murder her parents. Before her father is killed, he sets her up with a passport and all the documents she will need to survive in America, along with information that could take down Luis.

After escaping to Chicago and being raised and trained as a killer by her uncle (Cliff Curtis), the now-grown Cataleya (Zoe Saldana) works as a contract killer. She dreams of avenging her family but obstacles keep getting in the way.

The movie otherwise is pretty straightforward and the rest of the characters are pretty flat, but Sandana stands out, not just as the main character but as an empowering and dominating female role.

Saldana's acting in this movie stands out from her others because of its more physical aspect. This movie has a lot of action. She constantly has to sneak through air vents and engage in fights, and Saldana does a great job of making those fight scenes seem real.

About the Contributor

Gwen Gordon, Entertainment Editor

Entertainment Editor Gwen Gordon is an entertainment editor in her second year on the Purbalite. She can be found listening to music and reading.

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Top 3: Saldana uses her acting and dancing skills to give outstanding performances.

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