Zoe Saldana Photographed on Set of Nina Simone Biopic
After already raising eyebrows for her casting as a black jazz great, an Afro-Latina actress was spotted on set of her latest film. As previously reported, Zoe Saldana, 34, has signed on to play Nina Simone in the Mark Burton, Barnaby Thompson, Stuart Parr and Ben Latham Jones-produced film, Nina. Since then she’s been blasted by naysayers who believe the film crew is “whitewashing” the film with Saldana’s casting. A petition launched against her casting reads; “Getting light-complexioned actors to play the roles of dark-complexioned historical figures is not only a sign of blatant disrespect to the persons they are portraying, but it is also disrespectful to their families, to history, to the people who look like the persons being whitewashed, and to the intelligence of the audience.”
Before Saldana was announced as the star, Mary J. Blige was said to be attached to the role.
Despite the “blatant disrespect” to the Simone family, Saldana was spotted on set over the weekend in full hair and makeup to make her look more like the songstress. Paparazzi noted that she was donning a curly wig, prosthetic teeth and seemingly foundation to darken her skin. The actress is currently filming in Los Angeles.
Check out Zoe Saldana’s first pictures as Nina Simone below. Does she look like the jazz singer? –danielle canada