Zoe Saldana has been catching hell for some time now for her casting as Nina Simone and now she’s finally bucking back on her haters.
In a cover story interview with Allure Magazine, Saldana talked about mother and being cast in the new Star Trek movie. But it was her role as Nina Simone that drew the most explosive quotes out her.
Ever since it was announced that she would be playing the singer/civil rights activist in an unofficial biopic people immediately threw slander on Saldana’s name claiming that she wasn’t a good enough, nor black enough actress to play the part.
All hell broke loose when actual images of Saldana as Simone surfaced online with her wearing a fake afro and nose to play the part. Saldana has remained virtually silent throughout it all. The movie came and went this past-April to little fanfare.
Now that the film is a thing of the past, Saldana is finally opening up about it.
When asked why she took on the role in the first place, she answered:
“The script probably would still be lying around, going from office to office, agency to agency, and nobody would have done it. Female stories aren’t relevant enough, especially a Black female story. I made a choice. Do I continue passing on the script and hope that the ‘right’ black person will do it, or do I say, ‘You know what? Whatever consequences this may bring about, my casting is nothing in comparison to the fact that this story must be told.’ The fact that we’re talking about her, that Nina Simone is trending? We f*cking won. For so many years, nobody knew who the f*ck she was. She is essential to our American history. As a woman first, and only then as everything else.”
Saldana also addressed the time that Nina Simone’s estate Tweeted at her to “take Nina’s name out your mouth.”
Photo: Screenshot
Saldana tells Allure:
“There’s no one way to be Black. I’m Black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am Black. I’m raising Black men. Don’t you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain.”
She also took a moment to challenge people who didn’t think highly of her wearing a prosthetic nose in the movie.
“But if you think the [prosthetic] nose I wore was unattractive, then maybe you need to ask yourself, What do you consider beautiful? Do you consider a thinner nose beautiful, so the wider you get, the more insulted you become?”
If you still want to see Saldana in Nina for yourself, it is widely available On Demand.
