Happy 39th Birthday Zoe Saldana! 6 Reasons To Love The Dominican Beauty

Actress Zoe Saldana has two reasons to celebrate this June 19 — it is her 39th birthday and is Father’s Day. We are pretty sure she is celebrating both occasions surrounded by the men in her life — her husband Marco Perego and their twin boys.

The Dominican actress has won the hearts of many people with her kick-ass roles in films, but her success in Hollywood was not possible without the help of some of the women who inspired her to keep dreaming and aim high.

Here are some of the many reasons we love the “Guardians of the Galaxy” star:

1. She loves Frida Kahlo: “I love her self-portraits and the way she used to see herself as two different people—the internal and the external Frida. And I admire how honest she was about both personalities. Her womanhood was timeless. God, she’s my favorite!”
2. She is all about girl power: Saldana has been all about being a strong, gracious role model for women. The actress said she was bullied as a young girl in Dominican Republic and learned to have thick skin from an early age.
3. She embraces her Afro-Latina roots: The “Avatar” star has always conducted herself with pride of being of both Puerto Rican and Dominican descent.
4. She adores her mother: The actress dedicated an entire episode of her and her sister’s AOL series “My Hero,” which they shot in the Dominican Republic.
5. She is all for equality: She once shed light on the fact that male stars get innumerable more benefits on set than female stars. Saldana says men get entire entourages, which include assistants (plural), bodyguards, plus yachts to sleep in if they wish, penthouses, and more, but if women ask for something as basic as someone to hold their child while they work, they refuse.
6. She is all about balance: “That's the most exhausting thing, the balance of it all. But it helps when you're doing it with your companion. If I know Marco is trying to balance it as well, then I feel like I'm not alone,” she explained.