Amid rising criticism of Zoe Saldana for not being black enough to portray Nina Simone in the biopic, the film’s director and the singer’s daughter have defended the actress.
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Even the “ghost” of Nina Simone came for her when Simone’s estate tweeted “Cool story, but please take Nina’s name out your mouth. For the rest of your life”, it reads. But the darkening of her skin and the use of prosthetics in an attempt to make her look more like Simone in the forthcoming film “Nina” is a painful reminder of the abhorrent history of blackface in Hollywood. Williams takes a few moments to share his personal reasoning for disagreeing with Saldana’s casting, saying that Nina Simone reminded him of his “full-figured, dark-skinned Black woman”, and that “Zoe does not remind me of my mom”, a moment of humorous levity which carries some profound weight to it. Check out trailers for Nina and I Saw the Light below.
“How does someone just decide to do a story about someone and completely bypass family?” she said in a 2012 interview with Ebony Magazine.
“It’s unfortunate that Zoe Saldana is being attacked so viciously when she is someone who is part of a larger picture”, Simone Kelly said.
In 2012, Simone’s daughter, Simone Kelly, told The New York Times she was a fan of Saldana’s, but not for this role. “Whatever can be done to discredit this film as not the definitive one, by virtue of the philosophical problem, the very blatant philosophical problem of this casting”. Gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, nauseating, soul-crushing.
“Nina Simone didn’t write “Four Women” to have her actual skin color demeaned for a movie about her life”. Kelly said she was unaware of the tweet. Still, he attempts to convince fans that Saldana’s prosthetic nose and caked on makeup shouldn’t detract from an “exceptional and mesmerizing tribute”. She said she felt bad about the backlash Saldana has received.
“The most important thing is that creativity or quality of performance should never be judged on the basis of color, or ethnicity, or physical likeness”, Johnson, also the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), said in a statement. Johnson company, RLJ Entertainment will release the film, and he’s encourages fans to see the finished product before passing judgement.
After years of production troubles and repeated delays, a controversial biopic about legendary jazz singer and Civil Rights icon Nina Simone is finally due to hit theaters next month – and a lot of people have made it clear that they won’t be seeing it.
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“Nina” is set to be released in April.
