You probably forgot. Most people do. Long before she was the green-skinned Gamora in the MCU or the blue-skinned Neytiri in Avatar, Zoe Saldaña was a pirate. Specifically, she was a swashbuckler named Anamaria in the 2003 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
It’s a weird bit of trivia now. She’s the only actor to have a role in four different movies that crossed the $2 billion mark, yet her time in the Disney pirate franchise is often treated as a footnote.
Honestly? There’s a reason for that. And it isn't just because her character didn't show up for the sequels. Saldaña herself has been incredibly vocal about why that experience was, in her own words, "not worth repeating."
Why Anamaria slaps Jack Sparrow (and why it mattered)
If you boot up Disney+ and scrub through the first movie, Anamaria shows up about halfway through. She’s part of the ragtag crew Jack Sparrow and Will Turner recruit in Tortuga. Her introduction is iconic: she walks up to Jack and immediately slaps him across the face. Hard.
Why? Because Jack "borrowed" her boat, the Jolly Mon, and—true to Jack Sparrow fashion—he sank it.
Anamaria wasn't just some background extra. She was a smuggler. She was independent. In a movie world dominated by Keira Knightley’s corset-wearing Elizabeth Swann and a bunch of dirty dudes, Anamaria was a breath of fresh air. She had agency. She was there for her ship, not for some grand quest for Aztec gold or true love.
The "Bittersweet" reality of the production
The movie was a massive hit. It saved the pirate genre. It made Johnny Depp an Oscar nominee. But for a 23-year-old Saldaña, it was a nightmare.
🔗 Read more: Jack Blocker American Idol Journey: What Most People Get Wrong
"I felt like I was lost in the trenches," she told Entertainment Weekly years later.
Basically, the production was a "big machine." You’ve got to remember that back in 2002/2003, Saldaña was still relatively new. She’d done Center Stage and Crossroads, but she wasn't a "name" yet. On a set that big, the hierarchy is brutal.
She has described the environment as "super elitist." There was a clear divide between the "above-the-line" stars and everyone else. She felt like her time wasn't valued. She was being treated like an extra, even though she had actual lines and a character arc.
It got so bad that she almost quit acting. Imagine that. No Gamora. No Star Trek. Just because a Disney production felt "out of control."
The apology that took years
The cool thing about this story is that it actually has a bit of a resolution. Jerry Bruckheimer, the legendary producer behind the franchise, eventually heard about her bad experience.
He didn't just ignore it.
💡 You might also like: Why American Beauty by the Grateful Dead is Still the Gold Standard of Americana
Years later, he actually approached her to apologize. He told her he wanted everyone on his sets to have a good time. Saldaña said that meant a lot to her—the fact that a titan of the industry took accountability for a young actress feeling "small" on his set two decades ago.
What happened to Anamaria?
Since she never came back for Dead Man's Chest or At World's End, fans have spent years speculating on the character's fate.
There’s a dark theory floating around based on a line from Mr. Gibbs in the second movie. When Will Turner finds the crew in bone cages on the cannibal island, Gibbs mentions that the cages were made "after we got here." Some fans think the people who weren't in the cages—including Anamaria—were the ones the cannibals ate first to build the cages.
Yikes.
But the more likely, boring answer is that Jack just finally gave her a ship. At the end of the first film, Jack tells her he'll give her "an even better one." Since she isn't on the Black Pearl in the sequels, she probably just took her new boat and sailed as far away from Jack Sparrow as humanly possible.
Smart move, honestly.
📖 Related: Why October London Make Me Wanna Is the Soul Revival We Actually Needed
Why her absence actually helped her career
If Saldaña had stayed in the Pirates franchise, she might have been stuck in the background of that "big machine" for a decade. Instead, she left. She went and did The Terminal with Steven Spielberg right after.
She credits Spielberg for restoring her faith in movies. He treated her with respect. He sat her down and talked to her. He didn't make her feel like a cog.
That shift in environment is likely why she felt comfortable eventually joining other massive franchises like Star Trek and Marvel. She learned that you can have a "big" movie without the "big" ego problems.
Looking back: Was she meant for more?
There are rumors—mostly unconfirmed—that Anamaria was supposed to have a larger role in the sequels. Some think she was originally meant to fill the role that eventually went to Naomie Harris as Tia Dalma (Calypso), or perhaps just be a permanent fixture on the Pearl.
But Saldaña has made it clear: she was only asked for one, and she's glad it stayed that way. She didn't want to navigate the politics.
The Actionable Insight: What can we learn?
Looking back at the pirates of the caribbean 1 zoe saldana situation, there's a real lesson in professional boundaries.
- Know your worth early. Even if you're the "new person" on a project, you deserve respect. Saldaña’s "bitterness" wasn't about being a diva; it was about being treated like a human being.
- Don't let one bad experience define a career. If she had quit after Pirates, she would have missed out on becoming the highest-grossing actress in history.
- Environment matters more than prestige. A Disney blockbuster is great for the resume, but a supportive director (like Spielberg or James Gunn) is better for the soul.
If you're revisiting the franchise, keep an eye out for Anamaria. She’s the one who isn't taking any of Jack’s nonsense. It turns out, that grit wasn't just acting—it was a young star realizing she was meant for much bigger things than just being a member of a background crew.
Check out her performance in the 2003 film again. You'll see the sparks of the action star she was destined to become.