Wrong, wrong, wrong!

For comparison:

That wig looks like one of those things someone wears on Halloween as a very bad joke.

These are some photos with the head wrap.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2224329/Zoe-Saldana-embodies-legendary-jazz-singer-Nina-Simone-dons-signature-head-wraps-new-film.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

That wig looks like one of those things someone wears on Halloween as a very bad joke.

These are some photos with the head wrap.

http://www.dailymail...o=feeds-newsxml

Ugh! That pisses me off. I can think of a number other actresses who could play Nina without all of the skin dye and prosthetics.

Dana Davis or Tika Sumpter come immediately to mind.

Ugh! That pisses me off. I can think of a number other actresses who could play Nina without all of the skin dye and prosthetics.

Dana Davis or Tika Sumpter come immediately to mind.

Oh hell no. Both of those women are far too pretty, Nina had the hell beat out of her with an ugly stick.

Oh hell no. Both of those women are far too pretty, Nina had the hell beat out of her with an ugly stick.

I happen to think Nina Simone was beautiful. Of course YMMV.

Oh my God, I was just thinking about these pics yesterday when I was in the VR thread. Yeah, they've been circling on FB and the general consensus is a big fat, "HELL no!"

Such a mess and its crazy they do not even have her families support to even go about this. If her family ever gave their consent to a biopic I would LOVE for the actress from Pariah, Adepero Oduye, to play Nina. Ever since someone on ONTD pointed it out -- I can't unsee it!

Edited October 30, 201213 yr by London

I don't understand this at all, from the casting to making a gay family friend her love interest for the movie. It's ridiculous. And Zoe lost a lot of respect in my eyes by retweeting comments suggesting this is racism against her. It's not. It's not about how black Zoe's skin is, SHE LOOKS NOTHING LIKE NINA SIMONE. That is important. Mary J Blige was originally cast and would've fit the role better. Her looks are an important part to her music and her story and legacy. Why cast somebody you have to put in black face and give a prostetic nose? And there are SO MANY actresses who look similar enough to pull this off.

The problem and outrage is that it's so difficult for dark skinned actors to get cast as the leading man or woman. They can be the villain or the maid, but something like this they always get passed by. It's frustrating.

A gay family friend? Really?? Why?

This seems like a project that should have been done as an independent film, not Hollywood.

A gay family friend? Really?? Why?

Yeah, Nina's daughter wrote a lengthy post addressing everything that is so wrong about this film.

Viola Davis' career is certainly hot enough right now for her to lead a Nina biopic, and with Hollywood makeup magic, she could have pulled off Nina in her younger years a la Angela Basset as Tina.

Such a mess and its crazy they do not even have her families support to even go about this. If her family ever gave their consent to a biopic I would LOVE for the actress from Pariah, Adepero Oduye, to play Nina. Ever since someone on ONTD pointed it out -- I can't unsee it!

It took me a minute to remember who she is but you're absolutely right.

I have absolutely no intention of seeing this travesty.

Angela Bassett looks NOTHING like Tina Turner, but I'll be damned if I didn't buy that she was Tina in that movie! A black woman cast as a black woman, and she was magnificent!

We have to continue to address this problem in Hollywood and it's sickening! ZS is NOT a black woman, and there are far superior black actresses who could have played this role. We didn't need someone pretty and popular masquerading as a black person.

I will skip this. I am not big on Jazz, but I would have watched this if a black actress were in the role.

Assuming the script is any good (which is a BIG assumption)

Was Lauryn Hill not available for this?

Yes, I know about the tax evasion charges (which would actually put Lauryn having more in common with Nina Simone, as Simone had a 'dust up' with the IRS, as I've recently read), but if worse came to worse and she was incarcerated, she could arrange to be out for film shooting, a la Robert Downey Jr.

Risks and all Lauryn Hill, who can actually sing, definitely has a yen for pathos and has learned to play an instrument (albeit guitar, not piano), is still a much better choice for this role than Saldana.

If this were a bio-pic about about dance choreographer and innovator Katherine Dunham (although Saldana would have to gain more lbs. to become more sturdy looking), Saldana would be a better fit. But for Nina Simone, this is a poor casting choice.

Am I missing something?

And just for disclosure's sake, I am a big fan of Nina Simone's music but I believe I can look at this with a critical eye.

Everything I've read about this project leads me to believe that it is directionless, poorly cast and not reasonably conceived. I'm going to skip this one. When it comes on TV next year as the late night movie, I may check it out to satisfy my curiosity.

Edited October 30, 201213 yr by DramatistDreamer

And just for disclosure's sake, I am a big fan of Nina Simone's music but I believe I can look at this with a critical eye.

I'm also a fan of Simone's which is exactly why I am so disappointed (read: disgusted) with this project. This will be a chance to bring Nina to a whole new audience and they have chosen to do that with...Zoe Saldana in blackface. Speaking of which, my affection for Ms. Saldana is rapidly dwindling.

Is this supposed to be a big box office movie the size of Ray or WLGTDWI?

Did you all see Basquiat starring Jeffrey Wright back in the '90s? When I think of Nina, I think of a good indie flick of that size and scope. With an actress who actually looks like her without spending hours in the makeup chair (which helped none). See, this is everything that's wrong with Hollywood. They will tell you that Zoe was "simply the best actress for the role" ("and starring Meryl Streep as Coretta Scott King"), and we'd probably be sick if we could hear all of the smarmy knob-slobbing phone calls between agents and producers that got her in this role.

Edited October 30, 201213 yr by SFK

Oh SFX, you're breaking my heart, love, with that reminder of Ray. A movie where there was actually a great deal of thought to casting. Jamie Foxx was so powerful because he was perfectly cast. Classically trained pianist, perfect mimic (I mean that in a good way), and a devilish charm from his comedian side to boot. Ray Charles even gave Foxx his blessing. That movie began with great karma. It makes me even sadder now to remember Ray in contrast with this upcoming one. I think Nina Simone deserves better.

I also saw and appreciated Basquiat and you may be right, it seems like this movie might be trying to haphazardly achieve what Basquiat did, in offering a portraiture of an artist. Stylistically Baquiat was in the style of Basquiat's artwork and his life, disjointed and seamless all at once, exciting and tragic-- but Baquiat, at least seemed to deal in truths. The style of that movie seemed to complement the artist's personal style. Whatever flaws that film may have had, it had a very strong asset- Jeffrey Wright. Saldana, however charming, is just not up to the caliber of a Jeffrey Wright.

This Nina Simone biopic seems like it should be trying to go for the I'm Not There, type biopic, where 6 different characters played Bob Dylan, including Cate Blanchett--they would've been better served then with 5 other actors playing Nina then than this s&*%.

Even in the Pianist with Adrien Brody, although Brody had no prior experience playing piano before he committed to do the movie, he studied enough to mimic one or two pieces of music. His weight loss was dramatic but the makeup was minor, it wasn't a major part of the process unlike Saldana's transformation which is already jarring and distracting. Maybe others are better than me but I can't look at those pictures and take her seriously in this.

It's a real shame that with so much to tell, this is what they come up with. Perhaps now Nina's daughter or someone who really wants to tell the story of Nina Simone, will be fired up to work on a bio pic in the future. One movie need not be the definitive story of this virtuouso musician.

Edited October 31, 201213 yr by DramatistDreamer