Outsider Who Was 'Disrespected' On Set, Almost Quit Movies At 23, Is Now The Highest Grossing Film Star In The World

How fast the tide turns in film business! While rags to riches stories of several celebs have served as inspiration to many, some, despite having a good start, fade into oblivion. The latest box office report sheds light on a star who has become the highest grossing actor of all time in the world. Interestingly, as this actor started out in the film industry, the bad conditions she faced on set forced her to “almost quit” acting. They persevered and tables turned. Today, the career they had almost turned their back on, has earned them the title that many crave for and eludes even the most famous.

Zoe Saldana is currently riding high on the commercial success of her latest movie Avatar: Fire And Ash. She has been associated with the multi-billion grossing franchise since the first installment that came out in 2009. Three movies in, the Avatar movies have grossed nearly $7 billion and counting at the global box office. With Avatar 3 turning out to be a hit, Saldana has also become the highest-grossing actor in the history of cinema, dethroning Scarlett Johansson, who had taken the top spot last year after the success of the new Jurassic World film, titled Jurassic World: Rebirth.

Saldana’s cumulative box office gross has grown to $15.5 billion. This is largely due to the receipts of the three successful franchises she is part of - Avatar, the MCU and Star Trek. On becoming the highest grossing actor of all time, Saldana posted a video to social media expressing her gratitude to all those who helped her achieve this milestone.

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“I just want to express my sincerest gratitude for the extraordinary journey that has led me to become the highest-grossing film actor of all time today,” she said, grinning widely. “An achievement made possible entirely, entirely by the incredible franchises and the collaborators that I have been fortunate enough to be a part of, to every director who placed their trust in me,” she said in a video.

Interestingly, Saldana is an outsider in the film industry and has worked her way to the top from the very bottom. In fact, her experience of filming one of her earliest Hollywood projects - Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003) - was so bad that she thought about "leaving the business". Saldana plays Anamaria, a supporting character, in the first entry in the uber successful franchise. However, she did not return to the newer movies.

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Saldana has said several times that she did not enjoy making Pirates Of The Caribbean and so she was uninterested in going through that experience again. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter in 2014, she explained, "Those weren't the right people for me (on the Pirates set]). I'm not talking about the cast. The cast was great. I'm talking about the political stuff that went on behind closed doors. It was a lot of above-the-line versus below-the-line, extras versus actors, producers versus PAs. It was very elitist. I almost quit the business. I was 23 years old, and I was like, "F— this!" I am never putting myself in this situation again. People disrespecting me because they look at my number on a call sheet and they think I'm not important. F— you."

Once made to feel like "not important" on movie set, Saldana is not the reigning box office star in the world. She also won an Oscar last year for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Emilia Perez.