The Japan Times - Zoe Saldana: from sci-fi blockbusters to Oscars glory

But in the psychedelic narco-musical "Emilia Perez," for which she won an Oscar on Sunday, the performer of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent spoke, sang and even rapped in her native Spanish -- fully inhabiting her own Afro-Latina skin.

"I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands," said the 46-year-old Saldana, who swept through awards season before taking the Academy Award for best supporting actress.

"I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award. And I know I will not be the last."

Saldana bested a crowded field that included Ariana Grande ("Wicked"), Isabella Rossellini ("Conclave"), Monica Barbaro ("A Complete Unknown") and Felicity Jones ("The Brutalist").

In "Emilia Perez," Saldana plays Rita, an underappreciated Mexican attorney. Her life radically changes when she is contacted by a drug lord seeking to fake his own death so that he can undergo gender-affirming surgery and live as a woman.

That woman (Karla Sofia Gascon) is the title character, who initially leaves behind a wife (Selena Gomez) and two children to embrace her new identity but ultimately brings them back into her life -- with tragic consequences.

Rita quickly is caught in the middle of the drama.

Saldana -- who has formal dance training -- enjoys her big moment in the film when Rita raps and dances to "El Mal," revealing the secrets of Mexico's elites at a charity dinner hosted by Perez, who becomes an activist for victims of drug crime.

Late last year, she told Elle magazine that "the opportunity never really came" for her to act in Spanish before French director Jacques Audiard rewrote the role -- intended for a man of Mexican descent -- to fit Saldana's background.

- 'Yearning for that reconnection' -

Saldana was born on June 19, 1978 to a Dominican father and a Dominican-Puerto Rican mother in New Jersey. Raised bilingual in New York, she moved to the Dominican Republic after her father died when she was nine years old.

It was there that she started to study dance, specifically ballet.

Saldana returned to New York to finish high school and appeared in some youth theater productions.

After doing an episode of the television series "Law & Order," she landed her first film role in 2000's "Center Stage," playing a ballet student.

A few years later, she had a supporting role in the hugely successful "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," which led to other small roles.

But Saldana's big break came in 2009 when she starred in James Cameron's sci-fi epic "Avatar," the top-grossing film of all time. That same year, she joined a reboot of the "Star Trek" franchise as Lieutenant Uhura.

Five years after that, Saldana found herself as Gamora in Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" series, which spawned roles in two "Avengers" films.

Her position as a bankable franchise star was secure, but Saldana told Elle she wanted more.

"I was very much like, 'Well, that's okay, I'm going to dance to the beat of my own drum and I'll go to space and I'll be green and I'll be blue and I'll do all those things.' Then 15 years go by, and I'm yearning for that reconnection," she said.

- New 'Avatar' film coming -

And along came Audiard.

"When I had this woman in front of me, a determined woman in her 40s with a strong past, (I realized) I had gotten the casting wrong. I realized my characters were too young! They needed to be older," Audiard told The Hollywood Reporter.

The role was a huge departure for Saldana, after starring in four films that each made more than $2 billion at the worldwide box office -- two "Avatar" films and two "Avengers" movies.

Her campaign for Oscars glory was disrupted by controversy surrounding past tweets from Gascon, comments which Saldana said had made her "really sad."

A month before the gala, Audiard said Gascon was "hurting others," and that he would continue to "champion" Saldana's work.

A married mother of three, her upcoming projects include the Disney/Pixar space-themed animated project "Elio," due for release in June, and a new "Avatar" installment due out in December.

K.Inoue--JT