Saldana was still a member of the program when she got her first screen experience on an episode of Law & Order that first aired October 13, 1999. Saldana has been cast as an African American woman making her one of several Latina women that have done the same thing. She left school after her major film debut in 2000's Center Stage, which she followed up in 2002 with appearances in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads and the Nick Cannon-starring comedy Drumline. She played the tough pirate lass Anamaria in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and has appeared subsequently in television shows like Law & Order and in a number of movies, including The Terminal and Guess Who. Saldana was also the lead in the video for Juan Luis Guerra's song "La Llave de Mi Corazón". Saldana has recently been cast in the role of Uhura in the upcoming Star Trek movie.