Does Zoe Saldaña speak Spanish? Everything to know about the actress's cultural background

American actress Zoe Saldaña made her acting debut in 1999 with a small role in the popular series Law & Order. She has since starred in some of the most popular and critically acclaimed films in Hollywood during her 25-year career.

Among her notable works are three blockbuster film franchises, Avatar by James Cameron, Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy in the MCU, and Star Trek by J. J. Abrams. Moreover, her films Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame are among the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time. Zoe's films have collectively grossed over $15 billion in worldwide collections.

In 2023, she was included in Time Magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Besides being a talented actress, Zoe Saldaña is fluent in multiple languages, including Spanish.

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Zoe Saldaña grew up speaking Spanish

Zoe Saldaña is proud of her Latina heritage. Her late father, Aridio Saldaña, was from the Dominican Republic, and her mother, Asalia Nazario, is Puerto Rican. Zoe and her two sisters, Mariel and Cisely, grew up speaking both Spanish and English at home.

The Blood Ties actress considers Spanish her first language and told Vanity Fair in November 2024 that her home is a Spanish-speaking household.

"If you live a day in the life of my crazy circus of a household, English is probably a language that we use when the kids are out of school. When the kids are in school, everybody goes back to their child language, and the language that was first spoken to me—that was sung to me, that I received love in—was Spanish," she said.

In the same interview, Zoe joked that she becomes "a different person" and uses "different tones" in her voice while speaking Spanish.

In August 2014, The Terminal star told Cosmopolitan for Latinas that she and her Italian artist husband, Marco Perego, were raising their kids to be multilingual. Zoe and Marco share three sons—Cy, Bowie, and Zen.

"Of course (our kids) will speak the language we speak; my sisters and I grew up learning French and speaking English and Spanish, and because of that we’re able to understand Italian and Portuguese. But I’m going to have to make a conscious effort to speak Spanish to my children, because I speak Spanish," the actress said.

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Zoe Saldaña shows off her Spanish speaking skills in Emilia Pérez

Zoe Saldaña took on her first Spanish-speaking role in the 2024 French musical comedy, Emilia Peréz. Directed by Jacques Audiard, the movie focuses on drug cartel kingpin Juan 'Manitas' Del Monte as he seeks to leave his life of crime behind and start anew as a woman.

Set in Mexico City, the film features Saldaña as Rita Mora Castro, a high-powered lawyer. She helps Manitas fake his own death and begin a new life as the titular character after undergoing gender-confirming surgery.

Zoe described her experience working on the film as "coming home" in an interview with Hola! Magazine in November 2024. She also told the Beijing Times ahead of the film's theatrical release in the United States on November 1, 2024:

"Since I started my career in cinema, I rarely had the opportunity to play a full-on Latina speaking fluently in Spanish. I was yearning for that."

Zoe stars alongside Karla Sofia Gascón as Emilia Pérez/Juan 'Manitas' Del Monte, Selena Gomez as Jessi Del Monte, Adriana Paz as Epifanía Flores, and Édgar Ramírez as Gustavo Brun, among others in the film.

Emilia Pérez received an overwhelmingly positive response upon its release. It premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2024, and its female ensemble cast (Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Zoe Saldaña) was awarded the 'Best Actress' award at the ceremony.

Moreover, the film has been considered a frontrunner for the 'Best International Feature Film' award at next year's Academy Awards.

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