Color me old-fashioned - Zoe Saldana is a Fine Actress, but she should not be playing Nina Simone

 

Nina Simone (nee Eunice Kathleen Waymon)

 

 

 

Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone

I get that acting knows no bounds.  I understand it when you put a new and much needed twist on an old story, like "Birth of Nation" by Nate Parker.

But, I'm sorry, there is no way that Zoe Saldana should be playing the late Nina Simone, who died in 2003 at the age of 70, in what is essentially "blackface."

Not only is it poor casting - there are plenty of actresses who are not only as talented but look a whole lot more like Nina Simone than Ms. Saldana.  Viola Davis immediately comes to mind.

And it just makes me wonder if we aren't going backwards instead of forward.  Are we still favoring light-skinned actors over darker sisters?

It almost cancels out the whole point of telling the story  of Nina Simone who was way ahead of her time as far as race matters.

I can imagine Nina penning a new song, "Hollywood God___________!"