Casting controversies are nothing new in Hollywood, especially when it comes to actors taking roles of real people whose lifestyles or lived experiences do not match, whether it's Scarlett Johansson playing a transgender man in Rub & Tug or Angelina Jolie playing Mariana Pearl in A Mighty Heart.
Sometimes the controversy can be based on much smaller differences in actor and subject.
Much of that criticism came from the casting of Zoë Saldana as Nina Simone. Her casting was controversial as her skin is much lighter than Nina's and her nose much smaller, resulting in the film darkening her skin and using a prosthetic nose, as you can see in the picture above.
"I should have done everything in my power with the leverage that I had 10 years ago, which was a different leverage, but it was leverage nonetheless," Nina said in a new interview, "I should have done everything in my power to cast a Black woman to play an exceptionally perfect Black woman."
"And I am. But it was Nina Simone. And Nina had a life and she had a journey that should have been — and should be — honored to the most specific detail because she was a specifically detailed individual," she said. "She deserved better."
We love to see celebrities taking responsibility!
What do you think? Is Zoë right to be sorry for taking this role or do you believe that actors should be allowed to portray anyone? Let us know your opinion in the comment section below!
