Even The New York Times Knows Something Is Odd About Zoe Saldana In The Nina Simone Biopic

September 14th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

Source: Blackfilmisbeautiful.com and IMDB

The blackosphere has been pining over the choice of Zoe Saldana for a movie based on the life of Nina Simone for some time now, but the New York Times is attempting to get to the bottom of all the backlash — and the casting choice — in a new report.

The article notes that the angst over the placement of a lighter-skinned Afro-latina woman who doesn’t sing in a film about the life of a dark-skinned jazz artist from the south isn’t limited to mere discussions over the Internet. A petition has been started to replace Zoe with an actress who actually looks like Nina.  Cynthia Mort, the writer and director of the film, isn’t looking to oblige. As the Times reports:

According to Ms. Mort, who is white, the film was not intended to be a biography in the strict sense, but instead “a love story about an artist’s journey unto herself,” she said.

“There’s a difference,” she added, “between telling a story that includes and involves emotion and experiences and doing a biopic — she was born here, she did this, she did that. That is also a great story, but that’s not what we’re telling in that kind of linear fashion.”

Ms. Mort said that she was still in the process of confirming whether Ms. Saldana would play Simone. David Oyelowo will play Simone’s companion and love interest, a composite character based on Simone’s manager and caretaker, Clifton Henderson.

The singer Mary J. Blige was first cast to play Simone until she had to bow out for what Ms. Mort described as “scheduling issues,” though Ms. Blige said publicly she had spent years preparing for the role. The rumors of Ms. Saldana’s casting prompted Simone’s daughter, Simone Kelly, to write a note to her mother’s fans on the official Nina Simone Facebook page. Ms. Kelly, who was born Lisa Celeste Stroud, said that the project was unauthorized, and that Simone’s estate had not been asked permission or been asked to participate in the film.

“My mother was raised at a time when she was told her nose was too wide, her skin was too dark,” Ms. Kelly said in an interview. “Appearance-wise this is not the best choice,” she added, referring to Ms. Saldana.

Ms. Kelly, who described herself as a fan of Ms. Saldana’s work, said she would have preferred to see actresses like Viola Davis or Kimberly Elise. She added that her mother’s own choice to play her was Whoopi Goldberg.

Ms. Kelly also took issue with the creative license taken by Ms. Mort’s script, particularly the story line that Simone had a romantic relationship with Mr. Henderson. In the Facebook post Ms. Kelly wrote: “Clifton Henderson was gay. He was not attracted to women. So, the truth is … Nina Simone and Clifton Henderson NEVER had a relationship other than a business one.”

Ms. Mort described Mr. Henderson’s character as “a composite of many different loves and aspects of love in Nina’s life.”

It appears Ms. Mort is taking a number of creative licenses with the making of “Nina,” none of which scholar yaba Blay approves of. She told the Times:

“The power of her aesthetics was part of [Nina Simone's] power. This was a woman who prevailed and triumphed despite her aesthetic.” Dark-skinned actresses are “already erased from the media, especially in the role of the ‘it girl’ or the love interest.”

What do you think about the director’s explanation for Zoe Saldana’s casting?

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Paul-Ruffin/100003745411203 Paul Ruffin

    This shows once again many people have no respect for black culture and history. I am sick and tired of people becoming black history revisionists. Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone? Really? There is not a single damn thing about Zoe Saldana that reflects Nina Simone ( not on any level). Nina Simone was pro black, and went through struggles and often sang about those experiences. Zoe is nothing like that. And don’t get me started on all the falsehoods the director has tried to masquerade as truth. Hiring an uncle tom to play as a powerful, strong black woman is insulting. What’s next? Nicole Ritchie as Harriet Tubman?

  • Zaire

    I Love Nina Simone there is no way I will support this mass distortion of her imagine with contributed to being Nina – that would be like J-Lo playing Michelle Obama, can not happen.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Carmen-Ireland/1838195710 Carmen Ireland

    The fantasy movie being made is just that “fantasy”aka fiction! This movie is marginally based off of Ms Nina Simone’s business manager’s book so whatever he said in his book it will be in the movie. From what I have read her manager who died of aids was a homosexual in a long term relationship with his partner for many years. So were the love interest story line of them being lovers comes in is a mystery to her daughter & many fans & close personal friends. Ms. Nina Simone’s was a devote Christian according to her family & friends & did not believe in homosexuality again her family & friends are not sure why the writer is going in the direction of putting them as lovers. When this writer & director say’s she doesn’t care what ppl think about what she is doing to the image of this black woman who suffered under discrimination for her skin tone it is a slap in the face to Nina Simone’s, her legacy, her music & who she was as a African American female living in a racist society that told her she was ugly! This writer/director does’t care about how she will defame the name of Nina Simone or her life by producing a movie of conjecture & not truth which is the norm for Hollyweird;.so I’m not surprised Zoe was cast as the lead.

  • toasty

    BOYCOTT! This white trick is crazy if she thinks she’s going to get away with this! She wants to use the double whammy of Nina’s name and Zoe’s ‘it’ girl status to make her money. That’s called having her cake and eating it! She can’t have them both – she’s gone have to choose one or the other. And it’s very scaly that the film is called ‘Nina’, seeing as it is not going to be factual in its depiction of Nina’s life events. Beyond dodgy director – no integrity at all. Excuse my ‘black’ english, I’m actually very educated. Lol

  • usuntola

    I agree. They don’t look alike. I don’t think she is a good fit for the part either. I have a problem with someone saying that Zoe isn’t black. Who decides who is black and who isn’t? The largest numbers of Africans living in the diaspora live in South America. Are they black? The general population loves the paint brown women as being ignorant and narrow minded. The aforementioned comment is just that, ignorant. I’m not co-signing on Jennifer Hudson either. I wanted to stab myself in the neck every time those weightwatchers commercials came on. I’m all for discussing or debating the QUALITY of the actress chosen. “Blackness,” shouldn’t be a part of the debate!

    • Miss Anonymous

      Im not sure you will have to ask them that themselves. They might say “yes I have african roots but Im not black”. I know a girl who looks like a regular black girl but she speaks spanish. She said out of her mouth she is a Latina (her parents are from Honduras) not black but a Latina.

      If Zoe say she black, then she is black.

  • gmarie

    She should then remove Nina Simone’s name from the project and make an original film in likeness to her story. But if you aren’t gonna tell the story right don’t bother.

  • Tia

    Give the role to Lauren Hill – she NEEDS it!

  • Just saying!!

    Bull.

  • serenity1125

    This is the WRONG ACTRESS for this role. Will not waste my money going to see this movie.

  • Yah

    Saladana and Simone are almost the same shade, if we go by the picture on Madame Noire, and they are of the same race. Plus, as pointed out by a commentor in the NY Times piece, actors and actresses regularly play roles that are completely different from themselves – i.e. Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos.

    The difference is not so dramatic for Saladana – both the actress and the subject of the movie are Black, albeit of slightly different skin shadings, but that can be easily remedied with a small amount of makeup. Also might I point out that a Black-Asian man (Marcus Chong) played Huey Newton in Panther in the 90′s film “Panther” and nobody complained about that.

    Afterall, Zoe Saldana is not light-skinned – i dont know why people keep saying that. Someone made the comparison to having Michale Ealy play the Notorious B.I.G., but that’s inaccurate – the shading difference is not as dramatic between Saldana and Simone as between those two.

    A good actress can capture the essence of any personality – the only test Saldana has to pass is of her acting ability.

    BRAINWASHED…..THIS IS A NON-ISSUE. GONE ZOE, PLAY THAT ROLE.

  • LoveleiJai

    According to Ms. Mort, who is white, the film was not intended to be a biography in the strict sense, but instead “a love story about an artist’s journey unto herself,” she said.
    If it’s not intended to be a biography and you are not properly respecting the attributes that aided in this artist’s monumental acheivement, then REMOVE her name from the movie and focus on a “made-up” artist and their “made-up” love story! You’re a creative writer so it shouldn’t be too hard. 99.9% of the work is completed, all you need to do is REMOVE the Nina Simone affiliation. Stop trying to gain notarity by affixing her name to it. ESPECIALLY without the “buy-in” of her estate!

  • SunnyOne

    Lauryn Hill can sing & act she might be a good choice

  • Machelle Kwan

    It’s really sad how they falsify our black images and rewrite our history. If they changed the way she looked, they’ll probably change her story too. I just discovered Nina Simone a few years ago and I want to know more about this interesting person. But I’m sure I won’t get what I ‘m looking for in this made up story. No thanks.

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