Star Trek actress Zoe Saldana has said she was inspired by actresses Sigourney Weaver and Angelina Jolie to become the queen of sci-fi.

The 31-year-old played Uhura in this year’s Star Trek movie and will play Neytiri in James Cameron’s upcoming CGI movie Avatar alongside actor Sam Worthington.

Saldana said to Details magazine: “I’ve always gravitated toward the Sigourney Weavers, the Linda Hamiltons, the Angelina Jolies. I just love strong women that are in tune with their bodies – that don’t just use their bodies as sex tools. I’m very dominant – feisty. I’m not a man-hater, just a very proud woman.”

Saldana admitted that she had fun filming motion-capture movie Avatar as it was different to shooting a regular film.

She said: “Motion capture isn’t like shooting. You’re in a suit with all these dots on you, and whatever you do, they get it. If you burp, your character burps. I’d shake my booty, and you’d see my character shaking her booty.”