Zoe Saldana

Ask actress Zoe Saldana where she's from and the 29-year-old New Yorker will tell you she's an American with Dominican roots. What is she most proud of? Being a black Latina in Hollywood.

Born Zoe Yadira Zaldaña Nazario to a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother, the New Jersey-native moved to the Dominican Republic at age nine after her father passed away in car accident. It was then that Saldana's mother encouraged her to embrace her dark skin and curly hair: "When we were little, my friends and cousins ironed their hair, but my mother braided or teased ours."

A trained ballerina, Saldana moved to Queens, New York at age 19, working in a fast food restaurant before she landed a part in the ballet-themed movie Center Stage. In 2002, Saldana moved up to supporting roles in Crossroads with Britney Spears and Drumline with Nick Cannon. She increased her profile with parts in The Terminal with Tom Cruise, and Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with Johnny Depp, where she played lone female pirate Anamaria.

This year, Saldana is slated to appear in three major Hollywood releases, including the thrillers The Skeptic and Vantage Point with Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker. But it's a less dramatic and more ironic role which may net her the biggest buzz of her career. Saldana is tackling the role of Lt. Nyota Uhura – one of television's first black female protagonists – in a new installment of the legendary series Star Trek by the producer of Cloverfield, J.J. Abrams.