Zoe Saldana honors mom in new online series

Actress Zoe Saldana is paying tribute to her beloved mom in her new online web series called My Hero.

The Avatar star serves as executive producer for the 10-episode series on AOL, and she shared the story of her own personal hero for the first episode, which was released on Friday (24Oct14).

In the video, Saldana talks about her humble beginnings in the Dominican Republic, and how her mom was faced with the task of raising three young daughters after the death of her husband following a car accident in 1988.

Saldana and her sisters honored their mom by surprising her with a dinner with 20 of their family and friends in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as a spa day in Palm Springs.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actress, who is expecting twins next year (15), lauds her mom for being so strong during one of the worst periods of her life.

She says, "As a parent, she put us first - and we lost a parent, so she had to become those two anchors in our lives. She's not perfect, but she always did her best and that's something that's worth recognizing.

"And she really let us find our own voice. My mom never manipulated us to become something that she wanted us to become because it was better for her. She always just told us the best advice - 'I just want you happy.' That's also very hard to find."

Saldana also recruited celebrity friends including Julianne Hough, Nick Cannon and Tyler Posey for upcoming installments of My Hero.