Here's Zoe Saldana As Nina Simone
When filmmaker Cynthia Mort announced that she was writing and directing a Nina Simone biopic, Nina Simone's own daughter, Simone, pretty much blew a fart at it, because the family was never asked to participate. The Nina Simone Estate didn't put their stamp of approval on Cynthia Mort's movie. Simone and The Nina Simone Estate made it clear that they would rather see a Nina Simone biopic made with LEGOS than see Cynthia Morton's Nina Simone biopic. Then when it was announced that Zoe Saldana was playing Nina Simone, Simone really rolled her eyes into a double side-eye. Simone told Ebony Magazine that when she thinks of actresses who should play her mom, she doesn't think of Zoe Saldana.
I love Zoe Saldana’s work. I’ve seen some of her movies more than once and really enjoy what she brings to the screen. As an actress I respect her process, but I also know that there are many actresses out there, known or not, who would be great as my mother. The one actress that I’ve had in my heart for a very long time, whose work I’m familiar with already, is Kimberly Elise. Many people have spoken to me about Viola. I love her look. I love her energy. Both of the actresses that I’ve mentioned are women of color, are women with beautiful, luscious lips and wide noses, and who know their craft. I also have no problem introducing someone we’ve never heard of before who can play my mother.
Simone said this back in August and now here's pictures of Zoe as Nina on the Los Angeles set of that mess of a movie this past Friday. Somebody should check on Simone, because she probably just side-eyed so hard that several vessels popped and she might need medical attention. Did they really need to put Zoe in black(er) face and throw a prosthetic nose on her? Even Zoe Saldana is making a face like she knows this was a bad idea. It's the same face I make when a trick I just met on Craigslist opens his apartment door and I realize the picture he sent me was taken 30 years ago. I should've gotten the hint when the picture was a scan of a Polaroid.
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Note: Zoe is Latina. So yeah... why not have an African American play her instead. I mean people were pissed when JLo played Selena since Jennifer is Puerto Rican and Selena was Mexican.
It's really unbelievable. If you slap a prosthetic nose on, you win an Oscar. HAVE said nose in its natural form, no role for you!! *smh*
Submitted by ilovetatertots on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 2:55pm.
I fucking hate mostly all music that is new so I go back in time to discover music I haven't heard before.
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ME TOO! *high-five.
And Zoe is all wrong fuh dis. That nose is ridic. I can't.
Could be worse though.. the Nina biopic role was long occupied by Mary J. Blige, who has the singing (don't see how she could do Nina mind you) but can't act for shit.
Best of all Aretha Franklin wants Halle Berry to play her. :D
This is a disgrace! They went with the 'safe', light 'pretty-by-white-people-standards-because-she's-light-skinned' actress who looks NOTHING like Nina Simone, slapped a prosthetic nose on her, painted her skin blacker...I mean this shit is just all kinds of ridiculous.
Hollywood is so blatantly racist it disgusts me. And black actors and actresses that work within the system just lie down and take it. I hate all of it.
But at the same time, these actors truly love their craft and want to live their passion. So I can't fully hate them. I just hate the game.
Nina Simone was a beautiful singer and earth angel who was an amazing soul and who should only be portrayed by someone who has the proper respect for her memory. Zoe Saldana should have refused the role and offered it to someone else out of RESPECT. Viola Davis (definitely) or Kimberly Elise or even an unknown would have been much better.
She looks a damn mess. Sarah Smile
This is a travesty!! Nina Simone is a legend and deserves so much better than black face and a shit nose on a mediocre at best actress! I despair of Hollywood! Le sigh
Just clicked on the pics. And I agree, the make-up is so obvious.
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The poster formerly known as SnowOwl, formerly known as Nightowl!
She'd be a shoo-in for the Whitney biopic, but this is silly. The great Nina deserves better.
Why is her nose a different colour to the rest of her face? Wtf. These make-up jobs are all the rage now with Streep and Kidman amongst others, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's not a great performance - think Theron and Cotillard.
@Orangina: If I remember right, I think they discovered the "everyone is infected" theory last season when they go to the CDC compound in Atlanta. The lone scientist who was still there told Rick everyone turns after death, no matter how they die.
She is all kinds of wrong for this role.
Submitted by Whamo on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 3:06pm.
LOL:)
Submitted by cricket on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 2:50pm.
I feel like an idiot since everyone on here knows who Nina Simone is,and I have no clue whatsoever. Is she a singer,actress,author?
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She invented the toilet paper roll and the blue stuff you put your comb in at the barbers
Late to the Walking Dead convo, but I wanted to put my two cents in! I read an interview with Kirkman, the creator on ew.com, and he said that the heads in the aquariums are important. Like, if you look closely, they're still functioning because the didn't get a stake through the brain.
The Governor is a bad guy, but he was kinda put there to be a contrast to Rick. Like Rick, he's had to make some choices to protect his group. And the Governor didn't have to kill that pilot, he clearly hadn't turned, so what was that about? I asked my hubby why the Governor killed the poor military guys and he said that it was probably just to get more supplies for the group. I think that it was still unnecessary and tells us about his character.
I'm curious about the tea, too! I wonder if it's a truth serum or makes you docile! I want to the two women to get the hell out of there, but I do think that whatsherface is going to fall for him. And I think that it won't end well, because it seems as if he's unhinged and if you cross him, he might kill you.
If I could link to any Nina Simone song right now, I would choose "Love Me or Leave Me". : D
I can't link songs on my iPad though. : (
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The poster formerly known as SnowOwl, formerly known as Nightowl!
I found out about Nina from reading about how Fiona Apple was influenced by her.
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The poster formerly known as SnowOwl, formerly known as Nightowl!
Submitted by cricket on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 2:50pm.
I feel like an idiot since everyone on here knows who Nina Simone is,and I have no clue whatsoever. Is she a singer,actress,author?
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She was a singer. I barely discovered her over a year ago by searching for really good jazz singers. I fucking hate mostly all music that is new so I go back in time to discover music I haven't heard before.
Submitted by Zorba-the-Geek: "I do get offended that they take a strong, iconic woman like Nina Simone and have her played by a sickly anorexic or junkie or whatever she is. And in blackface and facial prosthetic, no less. I don't like Zoe for some reason, maybe she was just cursed with a mean-looking face. She reminds me of the Grinch when he has a "wonderful, awful idea."
Agree and LMFPO because you nailed it.
Cricket, She is a singer songwriter and plays piano. She is amazing! : )
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The poster formerly known as SnowOwl, formerly known as Nightowl!
I agree that she looks like Rihanna in the main pic. It's probably the blank expression.
I also watched Walking Dead last night. It was alright but I hate that governor guy that kills everybody for no reason. Like he's not just killing zombies, he's killing the actually living people, for no reason. It's like they wrote him into the show to spice things up but the show is already spicy enough.
And was anybody else shocked in the previous episode when the main character guy said that the virus was airborne. Like he said if you died you would automatically come back as a zombie, even if you never got bit by a zombie.
Submitted by agirl on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 2:45pm
LOL about Kidman. Oscar for that one.
Don't know this gal but that headress is CROOKED!
Please someone fix that!
Submitted by DianaDeath on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 2:43pm.
"Why does she have to look like Nina?". For a biopic, hello?? Is this a real question?
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um, yeah, it's a real question, hence the question mark at the end.
We know it isn't Nina durr.
As long as she isn't an insult to Nina, why the makeup?
I find it more insulting that they did this to Zoe than them finding someone who can portray her character well even if she doesn't look exactly like her.
Leave the makeup off and give her a meaty script that will show us the true story of Ninas life, and if Zoe can't do that without makeup, find us an actress who can.
ETA
:Submitted by kacky on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 2:11pm.
I agree, if you have to plaster a big fake nose onto someone, that means they can't act.
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^^^Exactly.
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Success is a great deodorant ~ Liz
Nina Simone's voice is so very beautiful and her songs are powerful and deep. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUcXI2BIUOQ
I don't know about this biopic...how are they going to use her songs without her permission?
I sure hope they don't fuck up Freddie Mercury's biopic by giving Sascha Baron Cohen fake teeth!! I <3 Freddie :)
Ugh. I don't think one has to look like the person they're portraying but Zoe as Nina? NO.
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The poster formerly known as SnowOwl, formerly known as Nightowl!
I feel like an idiot since everyone on here knows who Nina Simone is,and I have no clue whatsoever. Is she a singer,actress,author? I might not know who she is but I do know after looking at that picture above that Zoe Saldana is a bad choice to play her. She looks like Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder. Unless this is supposed to be a comedy that look is not going to work.
Submitted by kacky on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 2:11pm.
I agree, if you have to plaster a big fake nose onto someone, that means they can't act.
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LOL trudat. And Nicole Kidman just threw a side-eye in your direction.
"Why does she have to look like Nina?". For a biopic, hello?? Is this a real question?
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"If French is the language of love, then Spanish is the language of badassery!" -MK
Hollywood's version of racial progress: let's put a light-skinned black woman in black face! Sigh.
Awful - the makeup on her face is much darker than on her face. A very fake look.
Zoe is pretty and skeletal, which are rewarded in Hollywood, but she's not much of an actress. #FAIL
@MrsPotatoHead - that's an interesting theory about the tea...and that's probably right!
@Twatty - I am from NJ but ironically I've only seen 2 episodes of Boardwalk Empire. That's a show I've been meaning to get into.
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Submitted by P.T.Bull on Tue, 09/25/2012 - 10:33pm.
"This bitch is crazier than a pillowcase full of clear-level scientologist possums."
Submitted by MrsPotatoHead on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 2:14pm.
Sorry for the off-topic/spoiler convo...
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@SF: I wonder if the tea has something in it that makes people docile? Also, what's with the heads in fish tanks
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Mr. Datura grossed me out by speculating that the "tea" is the liquid the Governor keeps the heads submerged in. I don't think that's true, but the thought made me gag.
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"You will drink the black sperm of my vengeance!" Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Submitted by MrsPotatoHead on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 1:41pm.
The actress who plays Michonne on Walking Dead (Danai Gurira) would have been a good choice too.
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I have such a crush on Michonne. She's a total bad-ass.
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"You will drink the black sperm of my vengeance!" Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
TWD - I need to rewatch last nights episode. I dozed off halfway through and missed the ending.
Why does she have to look like Nina? We all know she isn't Nina, so what's the point?
I don't see the need for all this makeup, just tell me Ninas story and don't screw it up thank you.
Hollywood is stupid.
and I may be alone in this, but I think Zoe is beautiful in an exotic way.
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Success is a great deodorant ~ Liz
Condi -- because Hollywood has to "prettify" everything, because they think people can't handle reality, which may actually be true.
SANS -- hey, do you watch "Boardwalk Empire"? Man, I was shocked by something that happened there!
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"I'm from Chicago, bitch!"
Stan Hooper...I am with you a billion percent: KIMBERLY ELISE!!! Girl has more talent in one exhale vs. this, who is she again?
Fell in love with her in Diary of a Mad Black Woman.
Then there was Woman Thou Art Loosed.
And the list goes on. The genuinely talented ones -- too many times -- don't get wildly famous.
Sad.
so is JLo gonna play Whoopi Goldberg in her biopic?
www.twitter.com/so_infamous
LMFAO @ someone saying Zoe Saldana looks like Robert Downey, Jr. in "Tropic Thunder.
www.twitter.com/so_infamous
Sorry for the off-topic/spoiler convo...
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@SF: I wonder if the tea has something in it that makes people docile? Also, what's with the heads in fish tanks?
I think one of the majorly frustrating things is that it's really hard for black women, ESPECIALLY dark skinned black women, to get any sorts of roles in Hollywood. Then when there is finally a role that specifically needs a dark skinned black woman, they hire a Dominican/Puerto Rican to play her and just put her in dark makeup with prosthetics. REALLY?
What is this broke down Erykah Badu mess?
"Let them all boil in their own hotdog juice." Deb 7/2012
I agree, if you have to plaster a big fake nose onto someone, that means they can't act.
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Cockadouche!
@Twatty - **Walking Dead SPOILER ALERT**
The Governor is uber creepy, and his village too. and yeah, that's not going to end well b/w him and Andrea. I was surprised too that Michonne offed her zombie pack mules right then and there but now we know why they were following her around without trying to eat her. That last scene was absolutely terrifying. *shudders*
What's with the tea, though? LOL. I wonder if that tea that the Governor likes so much is going to come back to bite him in the ass...
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Submitted by P.T.Bull on Tue, 09/25/2012 - 10:33pm.
"This bitch is crazier than a pillowcase full of clear-level scientologist possums."
Submitted by Lisbet459 on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 1:46pm.
Holy shit that ad was bad. "Oh look at me, I'm a special snowflake!"
Very unfortunate. Her makeup job looks like the truly awful ones in Cloud Atlas.
If they weren't going to allow her to be a "pretty" Nina Simone (as Beyonce was allowed to be a "pretty" Etta James in Cadillac Records), why cast her at all? This goes against the Hollywood rule that female biopic leads have to be much better looking than the actual people they're portraying. They should have just chosen an actress who resembles Simone more closely. Putting a prosthetic nose and dark makeup on Saldana is stupid.
Submitted by Nanners on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 1:30pm.
Next dead celebs to get a shitty biopic:
Mae West (film produced by and starring Xtina)
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Ha! That actually sounds like brilliant casting ;)
I do get offended that they take a strong, iconic woman like Nina Simone and have her played by a sickly anorexic or junkie or whatever she is. And in blackface and facial prosthetic, no less. I don't like Zoe for some reason, maybe she was just cursed with a mean-looking face. She reminds me of the Grinch when he has a "wonderful, awful idea."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/supersyl08/5350374076/
Didn't anyone learn anything from Beyonce's blackface photoshoot?
Coming to a redbox near you!
This is like when Jessica Alba was cast in Fantastic Four and they put her in a blond wig and blue contacts. I was like, were Jessica Alba's legendary dramatic chops really that essential to the role that y'all couldn't just cast a blond and blue eyed crappy actress? REALLY?
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*tosses a bag of hot dicks into Jeanneee's trough* BON APPETIT BITCH! - Raul Duke, 1/26/11
SANS -- I watched Walking Dead last night. I was disappointed she (spoiler alert) dispatched her walker friends so quickly, but I know why she did it. And Andrea wants to get in that dude's pants. He's not good; bad juu-juu.
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"I'm from Chicago, bitch!"