Zoe Saldaña’s 2026 TIME100 Gala Toast

Zoe Saldaña’s 2026 TIME100 Gala Toast

Saldaña, an Academy Award winner and the highest grossing actor in cinematic history, honored her family history in her toast—the final one of the evening. The Avatar star recalled how she grew up with her mother and her sister in New York City, in Jackson Heights—something that was only possible because her family immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic.

“My grandmother arrived in 1961 with very little except her courage, her faith, and a vision for something better,” Saldaña said. “She was our matriarch, our anchor and our compass.”

She went on to say that her experience being first generation and bilingual was not unique in New York City, nor in America more broadly—a truth that she called “profoundly powerful.”

Read more: https://time.com/collection/time100-summit-gala/2026/toasts-alan-cumming-zoe-saldana-chloe-kim-precious-matsoso/

Subscribe to TIME’s YouTube channel ►► http://ti.me/subscribe-time
Subscribe to TIME: https://ti.me/3E3UCqt
Get the day’s top headlines to your inbox, curated by TIME editors: https://ti.me/48dFNwQ
Follow us:
X (Twitter): https://ti.me/3xTVwSk
Facebook: https://ti.me/3xWI2Fg
Instagram: https://ti.me/3dO9Rcc