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As one of the most accomplished and popular actresses of the 21st century, Zoe Saldana has played major parts in multiple high-profile franchises and movies, such as the MCU, Star Trek, and Avatar. But with a professional acting career spanning more than twenty years, Zoe Saldana has done a lot more roles.
As a result, some of her movies have been overshadowed by her most prominent work. That doesn't reflect their quality as even the lesser-known, underappreciated Zoe Saldana movies have a lot to offer not only to the fans of the actress but to everyone who just enjoys good movies in general.
5 The Book Of Life (2014)
With the recent successful animated movie Vivo (2021), it's easy to forget that it isn't the first time Zoe Saldana has voiced an animated character. The 2014 visually beautiful movie The Book of Life focuses on Manolo, a young man who has to decide whether to obey his family or follow his dreams. Of course, since there would be no adventure story without it, Manolo chooses the second option, but the movie's more complicated than that.
The voice cast is excellent, having included names such as Diego Luna, Channing Tatum, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, and, of course, Zoe Saldana as Maria, Manolo's best friend and also the woman he likes. The wonderfully imaginative movie will captivate the audience and keep them invested in the characters' fates till the very end.
4 Colombiana (2011)
Zoe Saldana is no stranger to playing action roles and women who are capable fighters. Other than in Avatar (2009) and the MCU, she also proved this when she starred in the 2011 action thriller. Saldana plays the leading role of Cataleya, a woman who saw her parents' murder when she was a child and became an assassin.
Luc Besson co-wrote the movie, and Besson is well known for creating stories about people who work as assassins, so Colombiana was in the right hands. Zoe Saldana is perfectly believable in her role and even when she's hurting people, Saldana still manages to sell her character in a way that makes her seem sympathetic to the audience. Especially once they realize the terror of the experience she's been through. The movie also has a lot of action scenes and fights that all fans of this genre will no doubt enjoy.
3 Guess Who (2005)
Of Zoe Saldana's older work, one of the movies that flew under the radar is this modern update of the Katharine Hepburn classic movieGuess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967). Zoe Saldana stars as Theresa Jones, a young woman who's just about to introduce her boyfriend to her parents. The problem is that her boyfriend Simon (Ashton Kutcher) is white, which might cause some issues since Theresa's dad is a racist.
While not all viewers will appreciate the movie's jokes, the actors mostly manage to sell the story and Saldana is perfectly believable as a young woman who loves her boyfriend yet wants to get along with her family at the same time. So even though the story's resolution probably doesn't surprise that many people, especially if they regularly watch romantic comedies, fans of Saldana and Ashton Kutcher still shouldn't miss out on watching the movie.
2 Infinitely Polar Bear (2014)
Both Zoe Saldana and Mark Ruffalo were an important part of the MCU as Gamora and Bruce Banner, aka Hulk, respectively. However, even the fans of their MCU characters might not know that Saldana and Ruffalo once played a married couple! Ruffalo plays Cam, a man with bipolar disorder, who's gotten estranged from his wife Maggie (Saldana). In order to win Maggie back, Cam decides to prove that he can take care of their two young daughters. The only problem is that taking care of energetic children presents a real challenge, one Cam might not be ready for.
Despite dealing with potentially serious topics, Infinitely Polar Bear does so in a feel-good way. The movie doesn't hide the fact that life can be challenging, but at the same time, it shows that it's still worth living. The characters come across as very lifelike, and both Saldana and Ruffalo give strong performances. What's more, the movie creates a strong atmosphere of the 1970s that has the power to make older viewers feel nostalgic. With only 16,000 ratings on IMDb, Infinitely Polar Bear is a pleasantly civil story that deserves more attention from the audience.
1 The Losers (2010)
Mark Ruffalo isn't the only Avenger Zoe Saldana met in a movie outside the MCU. So is Chris Evans. In The Losers, a movie based on comic books as well, a team of CIA operatives have to strike out on their own after their bosses betray them, and it's up to them to solve the crisis.
The movie stars multiple well-known names, other than Saldana and Evans, Idris Elba and Jeffrey Dean Morgan also play in it. As one of the few prominent female characters, Saldana's Aisha easily draws attention to herself and the fact that she's both clever and resourceful. What's more, Aisha is yet another excellent action heroine with more than one fighting scene under her belt that even the likes of Gamora and Neytiri from Avatar would find impressive.