Tuesday, December 4, 2012
(( Written By: Mimi Tsiane )) When the announcement that an unauthorized biopic about Nina Simone potentially starring Mary J. Blige as the late great hit the press, reactions were mostly positive. However, all of that changed when Zoe Saldana was cast as the legendary singer. Arguments range from Zoe is not "dark skinned enough," not "black enough" ... and not strong enough an actress to play the coveted role. Many suggestions have been made. Two names that have been thrown around to play Nina Simone have been actresses of African descent: Adepero Oduye (Nigeria) and Danai Gurira (Zimbabwe). African Americans have been cast to play Africans to mixed reaction—Jennifer Hudson as Winnie Mandela in Winnie, Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, Whoopi Goldberg as Mary Masombuka in Sarafina, Derek Luke as Patrick Chamusso in Catch A Fire ... the list is endless. Is there any reason to question casting in the reverse? Tell us, who would you cast in the role of Nina Simone?
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3 comments:
I've given this a lot of thought - pretty much since news of Zoe Saldana was announced - Viola Davis, India.Arie, Kimberly Elise or N'Bushe Wright are talented actresses that I think could really rock Nina Simone. I would prefer them in an authorized biography, but we cant always get what we want, can we? lol
We all know that dark complexion is a very important part of Nina Simone's story, and if you can't even get that right, then I have no confidence in the movie at all. I like Zoe Saldana and with a good makeup team, you can convincingly change just about anyone's complexion. The key though is having a GOOD makeup team. It's the difference between the amazing makeup job done in Coming to America to make Eddie Murphy look like an old white man and the terrible makeup job done in White Chicks to make the Wayans Brothers look like two unrecognizably complected women. When photos of Zoe Saldana in her makeup (and prosthetic) leaked on the web, that was proof positive that this movie is a mess ...
Oh, and I also agree that I would prefer an authorized biography. I'll likely skip this one and just read the autobiography, which thanks to MIMI's Facebook page, I now know about. Thanks ladies!
I don't know. The pics that leaked were terrible, but maybe it's because it wasn't really representative how how Zoe will look. I hope they find a way to get this right. SMH.
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