Pics of Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone

[DramatistDreamer]

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.

[VirginiaHamilton]

If there was any doubt as to why many people are against Zoe Saldana playing Nina Simone, this trifling 'interpretation' pretty much illustrates it to a tee. Not because she isn't African American, contrary to what some are trying to proclaim.

[Cheap21]

[VirginiaHamilton]

Frankly, the lady from Pariah (whose name escapes me at the moment, though she was excellent in that film) would've been the ideal choice for me. I hear Viola Davis' name being thrown around, but she's too old for the era that this film is trying to portray Nina in.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Weren't the 90s something?

[VirginiaHamilton]

Considering that Nina wasn't all too keen on Lauryn (I remember reading an interview where she took umbrage with Lauryn referencing her in The Fugees 'Ready or Not'), I could see her daughter express reservations about her being in this role as well (though it'd be more along the lines of her opinion of MJB playing her mother over Zoe doing so).

[VirginiaHamilton]

My affection for her dwindled when she uttered this malarkey (in a Black publication, no less):

[SFK]

Wow, I'm too through to even go Googling for a facepalm gif for that one.

[alphanguy74]

Once again, too pretty... if they had ever gotten that Supremes biopic off the ground, Lauryn would have been perfect to play Mary Wilson, but I'm at a loss as to who could play Nina Simone. When she was younger, Ketty Lester would have been great for it, but as far as actresses today? No clue. (EDIT.... someone just occured to me, although she's 40, and some might consider her too old, but what about Regina King? ) I think the age range of 35-40 is a perfect age for actors to play biopics, because they can be made to look younger or older for various times in the person's life.

[Wales2004]

I have a couple double discs of her songs but I have no interest in seeing a movie about he,r though I saw a little of her bio in a music documentary. I'm not a fan of biopics and when it comes to any form of entertainer, the less I know the better. "Behind the Music" is okay once in a while.

When I read about the "controversial" casting a month or so ago, I found the debate eye opening. I read one opinion that as an "Afro-Latina" Zoe Saldana could not possibly know what it was like to be an "African-American." Among the things I find silly about that statement is that it basically negates the purpose of acting. If a person believes that people should only play "their own kind" then there are a whole lot of movies to skip.

The biggest reason I see to skip this project is the inaccuracy of the story telling in making the gay friend a romantic interest.

I don't care who was cast for the lead, I find the darkening and the prosthetic nose unnecessary. If a good actor who looks like the biopic subject can be found then great, but what's important to me is the acting. If this is about how the perception of her as ugly and racism affected her career, then the people who oppressed her are the ones who need to convince viewers that they see an ugly black woman. She could be stunning but the fact is that they see ugly. I do understand why others need the visual.

And as far as I could tell when I read that portion of her interview, she was speaking for herself. It would be different had she said that now that Barack Obama is President there is no need for black people to ever complain. All she seemed to say was that it made no sense for her to complain about her having it hard in Hollywood when his road to the Presidency was harder. But even if she meant she doesn't have the right to complain because there's a black President, she was still only speaking for herself as she didn't say no one else should complain either. There's something practical about her and from hearing her speak, I don't get the impression that she believes that Barack Obama's Presidency fixed everything for black people. At least she knows that "the real black people" have a lot of nasty things to say about her and she can file that under life's lessons. They should all ask themselves how noble they would be offered an acting role--would they all turn it down because they thought a "real" whatever should play it instead.

[SFK]

That's a fair enough point. The unemployment rate for actors is notoriously high, an actor wants to act (though many actors have the conviction to turn down, or not audition for, roles they don't feel that they're right for). But the problem isn't with ZS as much as it is with the people who decided to put her in this role and be bothered with complexion altering makeup, wigs, and false noses. If you are a talented black actress with certain features like Nina that the industry told you weren't "Hollywood pretty", a role like this one is the opportunity of a lifetime. And to lose it to a hypothetically equal or less talented actress who had to be dressed up for the part, well, that's upsetting. I love how Agnes Nixon stuck to her guns that Carla Gray MUST be played by a lightskinned black actress to authentically sell the story, not an "exotic" white actress.

On the flip side... There was a play on Broadway several seasons ago called Take Me Out. It's about a fictional, extremely popular professional baseball player, Darren Lemming, who comes out of the closet in a press conference and all of the residual effects of his announcement. The character model is based on Derek Jeter, the script specifically calling for a biracial (black/white) actor, which Daniel Sunjata was perfect for in the original production. I have seen press on some of the many regional productions after the Broadway run, and it bothered me when I saw Darren cast with dark-skinned black actors (and yes, as a biracial person myself, I know that some of us are darker, but I'm talking Wesley Snipes biracial). I understand that there are often limits to an audition pool, particularly in a smaller, regional market. But that kind of thing bugs me too.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Considering that Ms. Saldana got her foot in the door by playing those Black female roles that she doesn't feel that other Blacktresses should be complaining about not having enough of to choose from, the last thing that she needs to do is flap her gums about said Blacktresses 'not being ambitious enough' or 'whining about their place in Hollywood because President Obama is in office'.

Considering Hollywood's history of moving on to the next token Negress at the first opportunity, she'd do well to keep her lips zipped and thank her lucky stars that it's her turn to shine in the Hollywood sun instead of deluding herself into believing that she is the most special of snowflakes that preceded her - as well as those who paved the way for her ungrateful ass to have a career in the first place.

[Wales2004]

The problem may not be all hers but Zoe Saldana is the one taking most of the criticism that I've seen. I haven't read anything about any other actress being up for the role and losing out to her so I just had the impression that she was asked but maybe there is a story about how she came to get that role.

Earlier this year I read an article about how hard it was for Viola Davis to get roles because she's dark and doesn't have the look Hollywood embraces. I would imagine that there's more to it than that. You've expressed how you felt about someone with a dark skin tone playing a biracial character. That's probably similar to people complaining when a known biracial/multi-racial actor or actor with a light skin tone plays a black character because the actor is not dark enough. Blame can be placed on the industry for casting but it still says a lot about what people think and believe about themselves and others.

Despite the fact that you know that there are dark biracial people, you expect to see biracial people with similar skin tone to Alicia Keys or Daniel Sunjata and there are probably a whole lot people who expect that biracial b/w people should be the perfect blend of their mother's and their father's skin tone. I know b/w twins are rare but it must be hard to grow up with people preoccupied with your race and telling you what you should be and what you can't be because their perception of you should mean more than your reality.

[alphanguy74]

Part of the problem in Today's Hollywood is that there is a definate lack of black character actresses, which is what this movie would require. The scene is filled with hair models and white girls dipped in chocolate (Tika Sumpter, Jada Pinkett, etc). All the black character actresses are either too old to play the part, or dead. Alfre Woodard, Paula Kelly, Esther Rolle, Cicely Tyson, Whoopi Goldberg, Nell Carter, Ketty Lester, etc.

[DRW50]

I wouldn't say Jada Pinkett is a white girl dipped in chocolate. I just don't think she's that good of an actress.