"The fact that we're talking about her, that Nina Simone is trending? We f-ing won," these were the words of Zoe Saldana when she slammed her critics about her controversial casting as Nina Simone. The 2016 biopic film "Nina," has received criticisms especially towards Zoe Saldana, who many said did not fit the role.
Zoe Saldana Too Pretty To Be Nina Simone
In an interview with Allure, Zoe Saldana declared triumphantly that the team behind "Nina" won as Nina Simone becomes trending. She also admitted the challenges you face as black woman. "There's no other way to be black," she said.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Zoe Saldana was criticized for her titular role as the legendary soul singer Nina Simone in her biopic film.
Just after the trailer was released on the Internet, the public was outraged to see Saldana with facial prosthetics and dark make-up.
In fact, one fan has tweeted the following in response to Zoe Saldana's tweet, defending of her performance.
.@zoesaldana Cool story but please take Nina's name out your mouth. For the rest of your life.
— Nina Simone (@NinaSimoneMusic) March 3, 2016
She also addressed the criticism towards her appearance being too pretty for Nina Simone. This was suggested by Nina Simone's daughter, who said that Zoe Saldana was not the best choice in terms of appearance, The Guardian added.
Zoe Saldana promptly answered, "Nina looks like half my family! But if you think the [prosthetic] nose I wore was unattractive then maybe you need to ask yourself, 'What do you consider beautiful?"
Nina Simone As An Icon
Zoe Saldana also shared that she turned down the role in the Cynthia Mort-directed film for a year. She pointed out that the script may still be lying around waiting for the perfect black female to portray the iconic person that Nina Simone was if she wasn't brave enough to accept the project.
She pointed out that her casting is nothing compared to the story of Nina Simone that needs to be told. As a departing statement, she challenged anyone who can do better than they did.
"Let ours be version number one of 10 stories in the next 10 years about the f--ing iconic person that was Nina Simone," said Zoe Saldana.
