Zoe Saldaña Is Now the World’s Highest-Grossing Actor

Zoe Saldaña is officially the highest-grossing actor of all time.

The Academy Award winner earned the title thanks to Avatar: Fire and Ash, which has made $1.23 billion at the global box office since its release in December, according to Variety.

The Avatar films have grossed a combined total of $5.6 billion, according to Disney.

This means that Saldaña, 47, has now surpassed her Marvel Cinematic Universe colleagues Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson.

Variety also noted that Saldaña has starred in the three highest-grossing films ever: 2009's Avatar, and its 2022 sequel The Way of Water, which hold the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, and 2019's Avengers: Endgame, which sits at No. 2.

She is also the first actress to appear in four films that have made more than $2 billion globally, including 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. Beyond Avatar and her MCU roles as Gamora, she played Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek trilogy, which earned more than $1 billion worldwide.

By 2024, her global box office total surpassed $14 billion.

Saldaña’s landmark year in 2025 included winning the best supporting actress Oscar for her performance in Emilia Pérez, making her the first Dominican-American to win an Academy Award. The role also earned her a SAG, BAFTA, 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.' 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-turned-Na'vi leader Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington), drives the story.