Zoe Saldaña Reflects on Her First Movie,Center Stage —and the Sweet Way Her Grandma Predicted Her Success

Mar. 15, 2025

Sascha Radetsky, Zoe Saldana, Shakiem Evans, Amanda Schull in 2000’s ‘Center Stage’.Photo:Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Zoe Saldañalooked back onCenter Stagemonths before the 2000 film’s big 25th anniversary.

While onThe Viewon Oct. 29 promoting the second season of her Paramount+ seriesSpecial Opps: Lionessand the highly anticipated film musicalEmilia Pérez, co-hostAlyssa Farah Griffinnoted that the landmark anniversary of Saldaña’s debut film is coming up next year.

“I loveCenter Stage!” Saldaña, 46, gushed of the film in which she played Eva Rodríguez, a student at a fictional ballet academy based on the School of American Ballet at New York’s Lincoln Center.

The cast of 2000’s ‘Center Stage’: Susan May Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Amanda Schull, Ilia Kulik, Shakiem Evans, Sascha Radetsky and Ethan Stiefel.Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Saldaña, who studied dance as a child and has described ballet as an early passion, noted that the film shot in her “hometown” of New York City, and that she turned 21 while filming.

The movie’s primary location held special meaning for her as well, she explained.

“We were shooting it in Lincoln Center, which was this place that I used to go there all the time as a little girl with my grandma,” Saldaña toldThe Viewhosts. “And my gram would go, ‘One day, one day, you’re going to be in there.’ And it all brought it full circle.”

But, she said,Center Stagealso helped her realize the time had come to move away from dance and pursue acting.

“It was about ballet, which was such a big part of my life,” she said of the film. “But I needed to sort of transition into other forms of art. And I feel likeCenter Stagekind of solidified that.”

Zoe Saldaña in October 2024.Emma McIntyre/Getty

Emma McIntyre/Getty

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Prior to the 2000 film, Saldaña had only appeared in a two-episode arc onLaw & Order. ButCenter Stagelaunched her film career, which would include major roles in multiple blockbuster franchises likeJ.J. Abrams’Star Trekfilms,James Cameron’sAvatarand Marvel’sGuardians of the Galaxy.

source: people.com