Academy Award winner Zoe Saldaña is officially the highest-grossing actor of all time, thanks to “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Saldaña has starred in the three highest-grossing films of all time — 2009’s “Avatar” and its 2022 sequel “The Way of Water,” which hold the No. 1 and 3 spots respectively, as well as 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” sandwiched at No. 2. She is also the first actress to appear in four movies that have generated more than $2 billion globally, including 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War.” In addition to “Avatar” and her other Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances as Gamora (she was in three “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies), Saldaña also portrayed Nyota Uhura in a “Star Trek” trilogy, which generated more than $1 billion worldwide.
As of 2024, Saldaña’s global box office haul totaled more than $14 billion, putting her as the third-highest grossing actor behind fellow MCU stars Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson. However, Saldaña was propelled to the No. 1 spot after this December’s “Avatar” threequel, which has earned $1.23 billion to date. Now her films have amassed a combined $15.47 billion, according to a tally by the Numbers.
Saldaña had a major year in 2025: In March, she won the best supporting actress Oscar for her show-stopping performance in “Emilia Pérez” and made history as the first Dominican American to win an Academy Award. The audacious musical, from auteur Jacques Audiard, earned Saldaña prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film debuted, as well as a clean sweep of awards season accolades, including a SAG award, BAFTA award, Golden Globe and Critics Choice award.
“It feels really good,” Saldaña recently told Variety about having “Oscar winner” as her new prefix. “My husband [director Marco Perego Saldaña] is so funny. He has this joke; he goes, ‘Z, you can’t do anything right now without people announcing you as “Academy Award winner.” You can’t rob a bank, because it’ll be like, “Academy Award winner…”‘ I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’” she said, laughing. “But it’s true. I’m honored. I’m very happy. I’m also like, ‘OK, let’s continue to work.’”
In “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Saldaña reprises her role as Na’vi warrior Neytiri, whose relationship with human soldier-turned-Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is the focus of the franchise’s story. To transform the Afro-Latina actor into the blue-skinned, 8-foot-tall humanoid, the movie utilizes an innovative form of performance capture technology, pioneered by filmmaker James Cameron.
“The reason why this world is so real to so many people is because the acting was the most important element for Jim,” Saldaña explained. “Performance capture gives the actor the ability not to have to rely so much on all the things that can sometimes be very distracting in regular live-action. Performance capture gives you the gift of connection and putting all of your heart and all of your energy into that scene, into that moment.”
Saldaña is expected to return for “Avatar 4” (slated for December 2029) and “Avatar 5” (planned to debut December 2031) — so expect her to continue raking in the box office dollars.