Zoe Saldana covers the new issue of Allure. Most of the interview is about her feminism, her babies, her difficult birthing experience, and how Hollywood mothers rallied around her and the power of the sisterhood. But what will get the most attention, I’m sure, is the part where she discusses Nina, the Nina Simone bio-pic that was widely criticized several months ago. While the film received a lot of criticism, Zoe was widely slammed for taking the role, for agreeing to “blackface” and for associating herself with this terrible project whatsoever. So, months have passed and Zoe has had time to think about how she wants to position herself and what she wants to say. Some highlights from Allure:
Changing dirty diapers: “Everybody told me, ‘Oh, don’t worry, I know you hate changing diapers, but when you have your own kid…. Well, guess what? I had my own kids, and I will do whatever I need to do to not change a dirty diaper. A blowout? I can’t do it—I end up with sh-t everywhere! There is sh-t on the boy; there is sh-t on me; there is sh-t in my hair. And I’m like, How did this happen?”
Her emergency C-section: “The boys came at 32 weeks. They found protein in my urine; my platelets crashed. I didn’t qualify for an epidural, so I delivered under general anesthetic. I didn’t even meet them until a day later. Looking back, I think the boys were three or four months old, and one morning I woke up with just this flood of emotions. Marco had them, too, and we were able to have our deconstruction session in the bathroom while they were napping, to say to each other, ‘Holy sh-t, did we come close to it all changing forever?’ We allowed ourselves to have a moment of ‘poor us.’ And that was it. Then somebody cried, and it was ‘Got to go!'”
She requested that the studio provide babysitters: “The tone changed in the negotiations. I was starting to feel that I was…difficult… [it was] considered a perk, or ‘Give this to me; I’m having a diva fit’? No. This is a necessity that you must cover for me in order for me to go and perform my job… The fact that there are women working in these studios—and they’re the ones [enforcing] these man-made rules. When are we going to learn to stick together?”
On the criticism she got for the Nina debacle: “I have a strong sense of self. I have no problem admitting my errors; just have respect for me. If I am just like wallpaper, there’s no need for me to be here. It’s kind of like that Nina Simone song—you’ve got to learn to leave the table when love isn’t being served”
On the slam from Nina Simone’s estate: “There’s no one way to be black. I’m black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am black. I’m raising black men. Don’t you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain.”
The idea that she was “too pretty” to play Nina Simone: “I never saw her as unattractive. Nina looks like half my family! But if you think the [prosthetic] nose I wore was unattractive, then maybe you need to ask yourself, What do you consider beautiful? Do you consider a thinner nose beautiful, so the wider you get, the more insulted you become?”
She doesn’t regret taking the part: “The script probably would still be lying around, going from office to office, agency to agency, and nobody would have done it. Female stories aren’t relevant enough, especially a black female story. I made a choice. Do I continue passing on the script and hope that the ‘right’ black person will do it, or do I say, ‘You know what? Whatever consequences this may bring about, my casting is nothing in comparison to the fact that this story must be told.’ The fact that we’re talking about her, that Nina Simone is trending? We f–king won. For so many years, nobody knew who the f–k she was. She is essential to our American history. As a woman first, and only then as everything else. Let it be the first movie. If you think you can do it better, then by all means. Let ours be version number one of ten stories in the next ten years about the f–king iconic person that was Nina Simone.”
I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, I can’t help but think she has LARGELY missed the point about the Nina Simone conversation. No one was saying that Zoe is too pretty to play Nina, we were saying that she didn’t look anything like Nina and it was offensive to see a light-skinned Afro-Latina woman wear blackface and a prosthetic nose to play an icon like Nina. The argument was about colorism not beauty. I also have an issue with this: “The fact that we’re talking about her, that Nina Simone is trending? We f–king won. For so many years, nobody knew who the f–k she was.” People knew about Nina Simone. Don’t take credit for introducing Nina Simone’s story to the world. You didn’t do that.
Photos courtesy of Allure.
Yuck. Nothing about this endears her to me. I mean, the kid stuff is fine but everything else? Nope.
Yes I agreed about the kid stuff-
“The fact that there are women working in these studios—and they’re the ones [enforcing] these man-made rules. When are we going to learn to stick together?”
Can we just say Amen to this. Most men in her position get so many other perks, so why should providing/paying for childcare be an issue? Is part of negotiation, and she is negotiating that as a perk.
I think any woman in power, and even those that can get away with it should make child sitting, work at home, daycare, part of their negotiation.
This is a fact of life, that as women we literally have 2 jobs and if I am worried about my kids, working 80 hours a week and not seeing my kids, I will not be effective at my job. Many companies don’t think that it is their problem, well guess what it is, that is why we have a leadership gap when it comes to women. Because women feel they have to choose between their jobs and kids.
Most developed countries are taking that into consideration but America… always lacks behind in common sense and obvious things. They are rather worried about my vagina and giving me freedom to carry an aka 47.
What did I just read? She doesn’t get it. Casting her as Nina would be like casting Kerry Washington as Celie in the Color Purple, or casting a young Meg Ryan as Barbara Streisand.
It has nothing to do with her being ‘lighter,’ which she actually isn’t ‘light skinned,’ at all. Light skinned is Vanessa Williams or Steph Curry, this woman is brown, period. A day laying out would get her pretty close to Nina’s compkexion. That’s not the issue. Skin shade is the least of the casting problems. That’s irrelevant.
Their have been profound essays (Tahesi Coates)that she could have taken the time to read and has not (which says a lot about her). Essentially the short take was, that the skin Simone was in, determined her life’s trajectory -it drove how people related to her and how she was treated. Choosing to cast the most palatable and widely appealing based on looks is deep irony and instead of honoring her memory, that choice mocks her all over again and ignores the lesson and moral of her story
Saldana certainly has an inflated and delusional sense of self. Just because you’re a poor man’s Lt. Uhura in the Star Trek franchise, doesn’t make you the most famous black actress ever and Nina Simone an unknown that you had to help. Is this woman high?
@almondmilk – Everything you said.
Yes- this so much. She has missed the point of the criticism and hasn’t tried to engage with it at all.
Agreed, there is no one way to be Black. However, Zoe, you were not simply playing the role of a “Black woman,” you were playing Nina Simone. A specific individual and there is a specific way to be her. You were stepping in the shoes of someone else’s Black. Someone who had already defined how they see their “Blackness.” You and the studio did that piss poorly. The argument is not that Zoe was not “Black enough” in this intangible, intrinsic way. People were saying she literally was not dark enough. Her features, as evidenced by the makeup and nose prosthetic, did not warrant this casting.
ETA: Also, it’s not like the movie was well done. The makeup and prosthetic looked AWFUL. There’s no point in being happy a movie got made if it wasn’t well done and didn’t do justice to it’s subject matter. Zoe just seems too egotistical to admit she royally F’ed up.
Exactly. There’s no one way to be Black but there is the one singular way that Nina Simone was Black and by all accounts this movie did not represent that.
YES. This. I was going to comment, but I really don’t need to because you’ve said it all.
Same. Bravo!
Everything about this comment is perfect.
Between Zoe and the clueless white woman who decided that this story was more about ‘womanhood’ than ‘blackness’ I’m over everyone intentionally, or perhaps ignorantly, missing the point.
We don’t all share the same black Zoe, and even you’re not clueless enough to miss that.
This. All of this. You weren’t asked to play A black woman, Zoe; you were asked to play Nina Simone. Big difference.
Also, “I never saw her as unattractive. Nina looks like half my family! But if you think the [prosthetic] nose I wore was unattractive, then maybe you need to ask yourself, What do you consider beautiful? Do you consider a thinner nose beautiful, so the wider you get, the more insulted you become?” She has a point. People were definitely saying that Nina owned her “ugliness” (as seen by the masses) and that Zoe was too conventionally pretty to play Nina. But what about Nina’s features was ugly? Nothing! But people have been conditioned to believe that certain features (small nose, light skin) is more beautiful than others (kinky hair, broad nose).
I didn’t realize that she had HELLP Syndrome. Scary stuff. Glad she and her babies pulled through.
Me either (I had it, too). Glad everyone is safe!
Thanks for referring to HELLP. I had the same issues/symptoms as Zoe, with a platelet infusion just before my emergency c-section at 32 weeks, too. I thought I just had preeclampsia, and maybe I did, but I had never heard of HELLP and now I have a question for my OB/GYN…
I watched this film and it was terrible. The script was baaaaaad. The acting was worse. Her skin darkening makeup was awful and it made her look like an unnatural zombie creature. Some of the scenes are adapted from interviews and concerts that are now on Youtube. I made the mistake of watching those clips after seeing the movie and I shed real tears at the sheer desecration.
I like Zoe. She is forthright and one of very few black women who have crossed over, I always root for her. But even setting aside the colourism discussion, that movie was sh*t.
I like that she’s forthright but I DISlike how defensive she is. I feel like she conveniently glossed over all the valid issues that surrounded the Nina movie and repackaged it as “I’m doing black women a favor by doing a movie that never would have seen the light of day had I not signed on.”
THIS KITTEN! I wanna root for her ( you cannot imagine how bowled over i was at Guardians of the Galaxy having a a Blacktina? a Puertorrican??) But then The DEFENSIVENESS Is so off putting, she sounds like white peope AllLivesMattering when you are actually talking about something that is actual/factual happening?? That is how she is hitting me
The Denzel washington is the best actor of all times podcast had Jesse Williams and Sterling K Brown going in on that situation and it was so perfect and nuanced and funny
“doing a movie that never would have seen the light of day had I not signed on.”
Unfortunatly thats not far from the truth though.
Yup. You articulated exactly how I feel about Zoe. And the Nina debacle.
i havent seen the movie and dont intend to. maybe she didnt know about nina. maybe a few other didnt know about nina but a LARGE majority of other people, the world in her day, knew about Nina. so yeah do ur homework next time. no ones is criticizing your version of black good as you see it. its about the way you resented Nina’s experience of being black which you and the studio seems to have done so horribly.
I usually cut Zoey some slack. She is in a weird position as black and Latina. I’ve seen comments (in another sites) saying she is not black because she is Latina and stupid things like that. I can’t blame her for trying to diversify her career.
Still I think she shouldn’t have taken the role of Nina (movie sounds awful) and that she needs to express herself better because sometimes she can come across as arrogant.
I feel people say that because she said in the past that she considered herself a latina. And somehow people read between the lines like she seems to assume to be black when it’s convenient to her. This seems to be a complex issue even for the person, but anything someone says in an interview can be used against them in the future.
She completely missed the point. It’s not whether or not she’s prettier than Nina, it’s that her face comes closer to racist white beauty standards, and therefore Nina’s features put her at a disadvantage in Hollywood a way Zoe’s have not. In saying ‘There isn’t one way to be black’, she actually proved the point of her critics, in that just because Nina and Zoe are both black women, does not mean that their looks and stories and struggles are interchangeable.
Ugh, her me, me, me attitude is disgusting. The real reason the movie failed miserably is because POC are sick of being marginalized like our honest opinions don’t matter. Just like you don’t hire someone white to play an Asian character, and then make them up to look Asian, you don’t discount people’s concerns. There are so many actresses who could have played that part, but they made sure to find someone “they” thought was pleasing on the eyes.
This. These movies are bombing because POC are tired of being told that any old thing close enough is good enough. Either respect us enough to accurately cast these roles or let the damn scripts sit where they are collecting dust.
Don’t piss on my head, tell me it’s raining and then expect me to thank you for the droplets.
She comes across so arrogant. She didn’t even seem to stop and consider what the critics were saying, exactly what they were saying. She sees any critic like a personal attack, a matter of honor which is really off putting.
I do sympathize with her in that I thought that some of the reaction to her was overblown and stupid, and some people were embarrassing with the demands they were making. However, some people also raised good concerns about why the producers would rather cast somebody who needed so much makeup work rather than go with somebody who could be more natural in appearance. But from everything I’ve heard, the movie was just BAD. It implied a relationship between Nina Simone and Clifton Henderson – despite, in reality, it being understood by most people that Henderson was gay (or at the very least, not interested in Nina at all). Like, that’s really out there. Even IF the casting wasn’t great, you could still tell the story somewhat accurately. It was just a fail.
I agree on her friend, Clifton’s, loyalty and sexual orientation being conflated into a cliched Hollywood love interest. That’s *just* as insulting. And since her costar was also A PRODUCER who played MLK, Jr (DAVID OWEYELO), where is HE while Saldana is taking the brunt of the blame?
There’s no one way to be black…but wearing blackface seems like one way NOT to be.
Also it’s hilarious that she is patting herself on the back for introducing Nina’s story to the world. No one saw your movie, Boo Boo! How could you introduce her to anyone?
Especially for a woman who made much of being all ‘Colourless’, ‘Racism is Dead’! in the start of her career.
I was just disappointed that the movie sounded so terribly done. And fictionalized badly. I love Nina Simone and was looking forward to this.
Agree with Zoe, though. If they honestly thought she was the best actress for the part (because of skill or because of name recognition, both are part of Hollywood), then they were right to hire her and right to use makeup and prosthetics to make her look more like Nina. It’s done all the time with other actors portraying real people.
Get to know Nina Simone through the superb Netflix documentary, “What Happened Miss Simone?”, which came out months before the “Nina” buzz even started. “Nina”, as Zoe implied, was NOT the first in ten stories.
Better if she had quit while she was behind.
Thank you! I like Zoe and I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other about whether she was the ideal person to portray Nina or not, but to say that she put Nina’s name back in the spotlight with her movie is beyond ridiculous. I heard more clamor about Nina Simone and a revived interest in her life and music when the documentary was released and way before Zoe’s movie came out. The documentary put Nina’s name and life in the spotlight. Zoe’s movie about Nina put Zoe in the spotlight.
I hated her childcare comment. I am a working Mom of two and hello everyone in the real world pays for it’s own childcare. Like also surgeons, firefighters, people deployed in war zones. I bet she was paid enough money to hire a babysitter and I suppose her husband doesn’t work 9 to 5 also (never understood what he was.. A gallerist?.. ). if she hadn’t starred in that awful production cause of her nanny woes the world would have been just fine.
A lot of companies offer child care. If she can negotiate child care into her contract..why not. I have a friend that asked and received dry cleaning for her suits along with meals, car and phone expenses and 4 weeks paid vacation.
I was thinking about this and well… Some companies offer child-care as an extra, just like health care. And I believe that’s desirable when the company considers it important, but… Most people don’t have that, it’s not standard and she makes it look like it is. And when we are talking about the amount of money actors on her level earn, shouldn’t they pay for what they need? What about the budget actresses have for all the dress up? Male actors don’t need that as much, right? It’s not like actresses don’t have the same perks as actors. Maybe I’me being unfair, if so, please help me out.
This even touches another subject which is if workers who are child-free shouldn’t also have any sort of extra compensation equivalent of child-care or maternity leave. I read about it and it made me think.
There is only one way to be a dark skinned black woman and that is to be one. They would never let Viola Davis play Vanessa Williams, even if she were allegedly the best for the job. I guess they could always powder her face, use colored contacts and a nose prosthetic. How ridiculous would that look…and that is only the shallowest of reasons why this casting was a problem.
You know that’s right.
Zoe misses the point by pretending the scale tips equally for us all when it in fact is and always has been most damaging to darker persons of color.
From the time of slavery to now being a darker hue has always put you at a greater disadvantage from career to even personal safety.
I don’t have any problem counting 100’s of WOC Zoe’s shade acting in Hollywood right now but I’ll be damned if I can count up to ten going by Lupita’s.
EXCELLENT point.
I didn’t know who Nina was until eveyone was complaining on here that Zoe wasn’t black enough. Anyway I watched the original documentary. Wow! This woman could sing! She was a true artist. One could see the suffering in her eyes which probably added to her incredible talent. Such an interesting and sometimes very sad life. So glad I watched it. Soooo thanks for bitching ladies!!!
So she’s creeping into the “Hate me cuz I’m beautiful” corner with Biel, Alba, and Theron, huh?
If she means “prettier” as in more acceptable to mainstream media (small-framed, brown, but not *too* brown, long, straight hair), then she’s right. But with that line of thinking, I suspect she really thought getting “uglied up” worked so well (Oscar-wise) for others, why not her? Again, TOTALLY missing a MAJOR part of the angst in Simone and what should have been a sticking point (theme) of the movie.
Colorism is apparent and unfortunately perpetuated by others and from within pretty early on in life. If she doesn’t get this important underlying issue within her own community (or others), then she never will…
Just because we point how much Simone’s looks are important doesn’t mean we have a problem with it, it means it was a problem for Simone and it defined part of her struggles, her angst just like you wrote.
For someone who apparently studied so much of Simone’s history she comes off as a bit obtuse.
They didnt hire the right actress for the job, It’s that simple, and her defensiveness is not helping her.
Btw she really sucked on that lip sync show. I was embarrassed for her.
Still playing the simple minded victim.
Whatever story she has to tell herself is fine but at the end of the day the cultural discussion on this movie was right on the money the film didn’t make.
A film about a black woman who experienced special racism due to not simply being black, not simply being darker, but also being considered unattractive was written by a white woman who didn’t appreciate the importance of the black story, supported by an executive who exercised racist colorism in his own studio hiring, and played by an actress who happily did black face and glued on a prosthetic to match the nose she originally had and shaved down to a pretty little European whittle to make it big in Hollywood.
All of the above can forevermore miss me with their nonsense, there are too many beautiful strong intelligent and honest black women in Hollywood working hard to not simply respect themselves but to offer an admirable reflection to the masses for me to root for this caramel colored brick wall.
I didn’t know Nina Simone before this conversation.
I guess I don’t quite understand why Zoe is a “bad person” for taking this part and wearing a prosthetic nose but it was ok for Nicole kidman to wear a prosthetic as Virginia Woolf in The Hours? I’m missing something. I know I’m missing the point somehow, but I really don’t get it. It seems more to do with possessiveness over a cultural icon, but to me what matters is whether the actor can convey her complexity and humanity.
It just seems to me it’s impossible to condemn lookism with arguments that are also unavoidably looks-ist.
And the jargon. Ugh.
She wore a fake nose AND bad makeup AND body padding to emulate the very things Simone felt held back by (wide nose, dark skin, curvy body). Her RACE became a poorly-executed costume.
If you are *really* trying to understand after all of the articles and comments here have been pretty straight-forward, there are a few OFF-SITE articles and discussions/interviews about this to help you.
And what “jargon” has you so confused?
I think it’s because she “dressed up” to be more black. Instead of getting an African American person who looked like Nina Simone, ie, dark skinned, they got a light latina mixed woman and made her look darker. Darker skinned black women are often seen as not being as pretty as lighter skinned black women. So to get a thin, light skinned mixed woman to portray a darker skinned woman who was discriminated against because of her typical African American features is insulting to black women who have to deal with that issue. Why didn’t they just get an African American woman who looked like her? I’m sure there are lot of darker skinned actresses who could use the opportunity instead of giving the role to a mixed woman who is favored because she looks less black.
Also, in earlier times, instead of black actors, white actors would portray black people in exaggerated stereotypes. Called blackface. In a sense, Zoe did blackface, IMO. That is another reason why it is offensive.
The issues Nina Simone had to contend with were incredibly complex as well as emotionally damaging. Those issues included the color fetish among black Americans too.
Take this as argumentative, but seriously which actress would satisfy on the basis of her skin color? That just seems ridiculous to me, to make Simone’s skin color, once again, the most important thing about her. Not her incredible music, her intelligence, anger, humanity or any other quality. Also, as actresses generally are, they are all quite slim, all exceptionally good looking.
Now, otoh, if the knock against Saldana was that she didn’t have the chops as an actor to pull of a convincing NS, *that* I might agree with.
@Frosty you’re clearly low informed on this issue. Complexion wasn’t the central issue to the casting controversy. Read. Comprehend. Read some more then come back and comment. You’re not Black and still won’t get it. *loud sigh*
oh for gods sake…deliberately obtuse, this one
The difference is that white women with large noses (e.g. Virginia Woolf) are not denigrated, shamed and discriminated against for their appearance. Nina Simone’s identity and life experiences were intimately connected with the fact that she had darker skin and more African facial features. Whereas I don’t think it would have made any difference to her life if Woolf had had a smaller nose.
Nina Simone suffered a lot of prejudice, and as I note above, a good deal of it from fellow African americans as well. One of the terrible side effects of racism in this country is internalizing those prejudices and then turning it on each other.
I don’t agree about noses and white women. Among the reasons the 60s were such a breakthrough time in movies also included the rise of obviously ethnic performers, such as Barbra Streisand, who famously, and unusually, chose not to get a nose job. In music, Janis Joplin, whose looks were denigrated and that supposedly affected her deeply.
I think the problem that’s not being said is actually that Zoe lacks gravitas. She’s young, has not had to overcome many obstacles. The star of three successful sci-fi fantasy movies. Has a happy marriage. By contrast, if we want to think about why Nicole Kidman wasn’t criticized for wearing a prosthetic for The Hours, by the time Nicole played Virginia Woolf, she had already worked with Kubrick, divorced Tom Cruise, learned to dance and sing for Moulin Rouge. She had proven that she was artistic and intellectual, she was no lightweight.
Zoe hasn’t had any of the heartbreaks or been involved in Civil Rights struggles or done anything to indicate that she can understand the weight of someone like Nina Simone, and I think this is more what people are reacting to. I can understand why her family spoke up. This feels opportunistic and thrown together, and not very respectful of Nina.
I feel like Apu in that Simpsons episode saying, “why won’t you just shut up?” Just shut up!
I love that she thinks no one would know who NINA FRICKING SIMONE is without her, even though there was an AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY a year or so before the Nina movie (which was a complete flop).
yes simone’s story is worthy and relevant but she was not the right actor. there are plenty of actors that could’ve looked AND sounded like NS but weren’t even in the running.
not even considered.
that’s the problem.
and the arrogance of believing this film opened the world’s eyes to the amazing NS?
🙄
but hearing how they butchered NS story, it doesn’t matter how poorly cast it was?
I know that movie was a hot mess from the get go for so many reasons. The prosthetic was also very BAD. But just a thought, why does Nicole Kidman get lauded for her nose in The Hours?
She looked at this project and thought it would get her the award recognition she felt she deserved. It did not work out that way. Eh.
Love Zoe to pieces, but she can be a bit ditzy at times. She missed what the controversy was, either on purpose or because she just didn’t get it. I’m glad the movie got made because otherwise it wouldn’t have if she weren’t attached. But I’m thinking that just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should.
It is good to see that she’s acknowledging her blackness. Hopefully all those people who claim she’s not black, will remember this.
Frosty,
You picked two white women (Streisand, Joplin) who became successful despite their looks as your examples. Two WHITE women.
From Nina’s diary: “…I’m the KIND OF COLORED girl who looks like everything white people despite or have been taught to despise – if I were a boy, it wouldn’t matter so much, but I’m a girl and in front of the public all the time wide open for them to jeer and approve of or disapprove of.”
From her song “Four Women”: “My skin is black, My arms are long, My hair is woolly, My back is strong…Strong enough to take the pain, Inflicted again and again.”
If YOU care to separate her race/appearance and experiences as such from the obvious context of her music, success, esteem, intelligence, anger, etc, it’s still not what SHE did.
There are whole easily-accessible lists out there of who could/should have played Simone, which is comprised of not only better (award-winning) actresses, but actual singers, and a few actresses/singers who favor Simone. Saldana’s name has yet to carry a movie (theater or tv) on it’s own, didn’t help this one AT ALL so that’s a weak excuse at best.
Sometimes I feel like Hollywood has a one and one attitude toward making biopics about black people. Actually that would be true of other “minority” icons as well. Do you feel part of the fury over casting Saldana is fueled by a fear that this is the only biopic that will be done? (I’m leaving out the documentary obviously).
Yes, I think that has a lot to do with it. As a writer (and hopeful producer) myself, I’m sure that’s a large part of the reason they went with an actress with a recognizable (NOT independently commercial or critically successful) “name,” they wanted the story out there who-/what-/however way they could, but at a great sacrifice to the story itself and the main character’s life focus: her race and her music, which were intertwined, not independent. So when it fails, and so LOUDLY, you worry that studios will use this very stubbornness and short-sightedness to not back the next try, like they would Monroe, Jobs, or even Capone, Hitler.
I get the confusion and imbalance in casting (“too many,” it’s biased, “not enough,” it’s biased, then what are the easily applied rules of either of those phrases?). But there’s no subtlty in THIS black woman’s experience or the interpretation of it. She felt and was vocal about being despised/disapproved of because she WASN’T the very thing Saldana is: that KIND OF COLORED. And it effected her in many ways, but so obviously, clearly in the very arena Saldana is in: entertainment. This is just one of the MANY flaws with this pic.
I will say this again, I DO NOT think this should be laid squarely at Saldana’s feet. Her costar was also a producer, and flubbed his real-life character to fit a cliched narrative (Clifton was alleged to be homosexual and not a paramour). But she’s becoming the face and VOICE of this controversy, so…
Shut up Zoe! But gorgeous bottom pic.
Obviously she thinks a thinner nose is more beautiful, that’s why she got her original wider one hacked away.
She is right about a lot of things, including that a lot of people didn’t care about Nina. Sorry but it’s true. Nina’s estate did nothing for her, for years. It took the controversy about this biopic for them to make a good documentary at least. A lot of people also used Nina as just an excuse to hate on Zoe because she is afro-latinos.
Also it should be noted, but NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IT, that the person who attacked her over Twitter using Nina’s account was NOT simone’s family. It was a white guy who handles that page and HE DIDN’T EVEN CONSULT WITH THE FAMILY AND HE KNEW SIMONE’S DAUGHTER WAS AGAINST HIM DOING THAT. He uses Nina’s account over Twitter to ‘like’ problematic posts against a black woman (he is too ciwards, I guess, to use his own account for that stuff) In this context, Saldana’s words are even more poignant because she was attacked and ‘told how to be black’ BY A WHITE GUY! Him and some of the white media that hypocritically criticized this casting but they are saying nothing about white actors cast as poc. Scarjo isn’t getting, fir playing an Asian character, an ounce of the drama Saldana got for being a poc playing a poc.
What is this world coming to? In order to play a black woman you have to be the same colour tone. In order to play Nina Simone, you have to have the same conviction and outlook.
It just sounds ridiculous, I’m sorry.
“There’s no one way to be black” What? I’ve watched her claim to be Latina only. On a talk show. Now, years later, she wants to play Nina…now she’s black? Sheesh. Not only does she not look like Nina, people know that she has disowned anything of a black background. Until this gig. Some actresses claim Latin heritage who are actually mixed and play Latinas successfully. That’s what they appear, needed to claim for a career -a whole issue of stereotyping in the industry which Zoe is not on a position to champion, but the Latinas now they decided to change that and play mixed roles, I’d out them myself Lol
All of a sudden Zoe is black? Right before this Nina controversy, she had very ridiculous arguments as to why is was anything but black. This is a massive PR campaign, because every headline reads “Zoe wants to remind us she’s black” when just a year ago she rambled about how people can’t be black, because colour is imaginary and therefore she’s not black. I will never forget. Zoe Saldanna is just another self hating black Dominican, who prefers to be seen as hispanic. Except now she’s black for some attention and some coins.
Further more no is saying Zoe Saldanna is not black enough. The problem is by taking this role of playing Nina is perpetuating the injustice that Nina faced in her career. Constantly told that her nose was too wide, hair too nappy, skin too dark, lips too big, Zoe knows nothing of that. She has chosen assist the industry to do what was done to Nina all over again, to other black actresses with features like Nina. A film about Nina needed not to be a pop culture hit, but at the very least it should have been authentic just like Nina.