Zoe Saldana's birthday: Notable projects apart from her mainstream blockbusters
What's the story
Actor-producer-voice artist Zoe Saldana is celebrating her 45th birthday on Monday.
The A-list Hollywood actor has the repute of being a part of several globally successful projects such as Avatar, the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and Star Trek, among others.
Though she's best known for these cinematic offerings, let's rewind a little and take a look at some of her other early movies.
#1
'Vantage Point' (2008)
The 2008 film Vantage Point is about "the attempted assassination of the American president [and] is told and re-told from several different perspectives."
Directed by Pete Travis, it co-starred Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, and Edgar Ramirez, among others.
Saldana played Angie Jones, a reporter, and one of the ways in which the movie paces ahead is through her perspective of the assassination attempt.
#2
'Colombiana' (2011)
In the PG-13-rated film Colombiana, Saldana played the role of Cataleya.
IMDb describes the plot as follows, "A young girl in Bogotá witnesses her parents' murder and grows up to be a stone-cold assassin."
This gory thriller is an out-and-out actioner and was one of the movies that established Saldana as a bonafide action star who could carry a movie on her own!
#3
'Blackout' (2007)
Jerry Lamothe's Blackout co-featured Jeffrey Wright and Michael B Jordan alongside Saldana.
It drew inspiration from a power outage in some parts of the US in 2003.
While reviewing the drama, journalist Kam Williams wrote in his review, "A well-crafted, slice-of-life saga which amply illustrates how easily matters might go from bad to worse in the already-overburdened inner-city when disaster strikes in the 'hood."
#4
'The Words'
IMDb describes The Words as follows, "A writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man's work."
Apart from Saldana, the project was led by Bradley Cooper, Quaid, Olivia Wilde, and Jeremy Irons.
Saldana played Dora, the wife of Clay (the character played by Cooper).
It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012.