5 Highest Grossing Movies with Latino Stars

In Hollywood these days, success is really measured not just by how much a film makes in the box office or how many awards it wins during awards season, but the strength of the actors and actresses who play the characters in the film.

According to Latina, some of the highest grossing films of all time have starred Latino / Latina actors.

Let's take a look at these films:

Zoe Saldana in James Cameron's "Avatar": this film was ranked as the highest-grossing movie of all time at sales reaching USD760.5 million domestically until "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" topped it just last month.

Saldana plays the role of the female lead Neytiri, the daughter of the leader of the Na'vi clan who is trying to protect their planet from the humans who seek the materials found underneath the Hometree.

The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning three in 2009.

Cheech Marin in Disney's "The Lion King": Marin has long been well known for his "Cheech and Chong" series of films. However, the comedian gave his voice to one of the villainous hyenas Banzai in the film.

"The Lion King" grossed USD422 million domestically and was also nominated for several Academy Awards, including best animated picture of 1994.

Benjamin Pratt in "Despicable Me 2": Pratt voices the film's main villain Eduardo "El Macho" Perez. Long since thought dead, El Macho attempts to take over the world by turning the Minions evil.

The film did very well in the box office, earning USD358 million domestically.

Michelle Rodriguez in "Furious 7": While the movie has become more well known as the last film of Paul Walker's career, it doesn't take away the strong performance given by Rodriguez who reprised her role as Letty who has been suffering from amnesia since the events of the previous "Fast & Furious".

Rodriguez was nominated for a Best Actress award in an action / adventure film during the 2015 Teens Choice Awards. "Furious 7" earned USD353 million domestically.

Javier Bardem in "Skyfall": Bardem plays the main villain in the film, Raoul Silva, who is a cyber terrorist attempting to steal sensitive information from MI-6. Bardem's strong performance as Silva earned him a British Academy Film Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor in 2012.

The film earned USD304 million domestically.

While it hasn't always been easy to be a Latino / Latina actor in Hollywood, NBC News has reported that many times, these actors are typecasted for that stereotypical Hispanic look. However, these actors / actress have shown that it is possible to rise above and succeed.