Que viva la Quisqueya de Zoë Saldaña! The Guardians of the Galaxy actress was honored by fellow Dominican and artistic triple threat, Anilcia de Luna, in the most gracious of ways. The architect, muralist and visual artist painted a mural of the beloved Dominican-American actress in the city of Santiago in the Dominican Republic. When Zoë found out, she instantly took to her social media to share the artwork on her profiles and to affectionately thank the artist (and the city) for such a kind gesture. In a video, Zoë shared how honored she feels to have the support of the Dominican people and how proud she is to be Dominican. She also showcased a beautifully patriotic three-tier cake, which included the Dominican flag as well as elements relevant to her film career such as film reels and an old-school reel camera.
This isn’t the first time that Anilcia honors Zoë in such an artistic way. On June 7 the artist shared to her social media profiles another mural of the actress, but this time of Zoë as Neytiri, her character from Avatar. She shared in the caption how everyone that passed by the mural of “nuestra actriz” always takes a photo of it and how she finally has a place in “nuestra ciudad” (as well as their hearts). It’s clear that the Avengers: Endgame actress is a hometown favorite of the Dominican Republic.
The Colombiana actress was born in New Jersey, to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother, and she has two sisters who she is very close to. At the age of 10, Zoë and her family moved to the Dominican Republic and lived there for about seven years, and it was during this time that she discovered her passion for dance. By 17, they had moved back to the States and her love for dance soon began to include a love for theater. Her breakthrough role was in Center Stage as Eva, an uber talented and strong-willed ballet dancer (the perfect role to combine her two loves of dance and theater). When Zoë isn’t busy filming any of the numerous Avatar sequels (there will be a total of five!), you can find her performing her favorite and most important role to date — being a loving mamá to her kids.
,type=downsize)
© @anilciadeluna
