When you think of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars, certain names immediately come to mind.
Perhaps Tom Cruise, with his Top Gun legacy, or possibly Robert Downey Jr., whose portrayal of Iron Man helped build the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a billion-dollar empire.
But the actual highest-grossing actor of all time, with films that have earned over $15 billion worldwide, might surprise you.
And her journey from a childhood tragedy to cinema history is as compelling as any movie she’s starred in.
In the 1970s in Queens, New York, a young girl was discovering her passion for performance.
Born in nearby Passaic, New Jersey, on June 19, 1978, this future Hollywood powerhouse spent her formative years immersed in a rich cultural heritage that would shape her identity and career.
Three-quarters Dominican and one-quarter Puerto Rican, she grew up in a bilingual household where Spanish was the first language, laying the foundation for a career that would transcend cultural boundaries and rewrite the record books.
Finding dance after tragedy
When tragedy struck at age nine with the loss of her father in a car accident, she and her two sisters were sent to live with their late father’s family in the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, their mother remained in New York to work and pay for their private school education.
It was during this challenging period that she discovered something that would change her life forever: dance.
Enrolled in the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy, she studied various forms of dance, but ballet captured her heart.
She poured herself into the art form with intensity and dedication, dreaming of a future on stage. However, as she would later candidly admit to Vanity Fair, she didn’t ‘have the feet’ for professional ballet.
More importantly, she possessed too much pride and ambition to remain in the corps de ballet, dancing in the background, as she wanted to take center stage.
From theater to television
After returning to New York City with her family to escape political unrest in the Dominican Republic, she completed her education at Newtown High School in Queens.
But her performing arts journey was far from over. In 1995, she joined the Faces theater group in Brooklyn, then moved on to the New York Youth Theater.
Her appearance in their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat caught the eye of a talent agency, and suddenly, doors began to open.
Her transition to screen acting followed a path well-trodden by countless performers before her.
In 1999, she landed a guest role on Law & Order, a common launching pad for aspiring actors.
The long-running procedural has served as a training ground for numerous stars, and she was no exception.
But it was her first film role in 2000’s Center Stage that truly showcased her unique blend of talents, merging her dance training with her emerging acting skills.
Early Hollywood success
The early 2000s saw her steadily building her resume. In 2002, she appeared opposite pop superstar Britney Spears in the road film Crossroads.
While critics weren’t kind to the movie, it was a box office success and gave her valuable experience working on a major production.
The following year, she joined the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, playing the fierce pirate Anamaria, a role that hinted at the action-hero performances to come.
But 2009 would be the year everything changed.
She landed not one, but two roles that would define her career and cement her place in cinema history.
First came Star Trek, where she portrayed communications officer Nyota Uhura in J.J. Abrams’ franchise reboot.
Then, in what might be the most consequential casting decision of the 21st century, James Cameron chose her for Avatar. The movie would gross $2.7 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time and making her part of history.
Breaking box office records
The success continued when she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
Despite Parade reporting that she earned just $100,000 for the first film, a fraction of what her male co-star received.
Between Avatar, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Avatar: The Way of Water, she has starred in four of the top ten highest-grossing films of all time.
Her films have collectively grossed more than $15 billion worldwide, making her the highest-grossing actor of all time, surpassing even Scarlett Johansson, per Cosmopolitan.
Throughout this astronomical career trajectory, she has maintained a grounded personal life. In 2013, she married Italian artist Marco Perego in London after just three months of dating.
In a progressive move, Perego adopted her surname upon marriage, and they both now use the hyphenated combination.
Together, they have three sons and are raising them to be multilingual, speaking Spanish, Italian, and English at home, honoring her own bilingual upbringing.
Historic achievements
Her commitment to the Avatar franchise has been unwavering.
Beyond reprising her role as Neytiri in 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, she performed vocals for the original song ‘The Songcord’ on the film’s soundtrack.
Yet perhaps her most personally meaningful achievement came in 2024.
In Emilia Pérez, a French musical crime film, she played Rita Mora Castro, a high-powered criminal defense attorney.
The performance earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, along with the BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG Award, making her the first Dominican American actress to win an Oscar.
Time magazine recognized her influence by naming her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
From that young girl studying ballet in the Dominican Republic to the Oscar-winning, highest-grossing actor in cinema history, Zoë Yadira Saldaña-Perego has rewritten what’s possible.
