It’s Official! Zoe Saldana will play Nina Simone, not Mary J. Blige
It’s Official! Zoe Saldana will play Nina Simone, not Mary J. Blige
Posted by Wilson Morales
August 16, 2012
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Zoe Saldana has come aboard to star as the iconic singer in Nina Simone, while David Oyelowo will star as her manager, Clifton Henderson. The film will focus on Simone’s relationship with him.
Cynthia Mort wrote the script and has been attached as director for several years, even as Mary J. Blige came onto the project as star then moved on due to funding issues.
Those issues appear to be finally settled as the movie is due to begin production in Los Angeles October 16.
Mark Burton, Barnaby Thompson, Stuart Parr and Ben Latham Jones are producing.
Simone rose as a singer-songwriter in the 1950s and became involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, even advocating violence. Tax issues forced her to relocate to other countries, including France, where she passed away at the age of 70 in 2003. Henderson was her assistant and manager later in life. Henderson, who was at Simone’s bedside, said she died of “natural causes” in her sleep after a long illness.
“She inspired other singers to do what they believed in,” Henderson said, saying the musician would also be remembered for her activism. “She’ll definitely be looked at as a civil rights movement leader.”
Mort had previously written and directed the Jodie Foster vigilante film ‘The Brave One,’ with Terrence Howard.
Saldana recently wrapped Out of the Furnace, a thriller that also stars Christian Bale and Casey Affleck, and the sequel to Star Trek. She is repped by ICM Partners.
Oyelowo will be seen in Paramount’s Tom Cruise actionner Jack Reacher and is currently shooting The Butler, Lee Daniels’ drama about a real-life worker in the White House. He is repped by ICM, Inphenate and Hamilton Hodell.
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I’m not feeling it.
There are supposed to be 4 responses but I only see 1.
Anyway, couldn’t they get another actress that is closer in appearance to Nina Simon? Nothing against Zoe, I’m a fan, but I don’t see her as Nina.
Firstly Zoe is not black she is biracial light skinned hoe and not because she bleaching in her skin of lol she was always fair-skinned. secondly she have job in hollywood only because she sucks small white man’s d’ck just like most of black or mixed wh0res do in hollywood, so this is not about her so called talent. thirdly she can’t represent full blooded dark skin africa american black woman in any movies about black or african history and culture in america. even african dark skinned black Dominicans have them own history that light skin ppl like Zoe can’t be in it. so this is just other racist bullsh’t against us and we do not need to support this racist white sh’t!
btw Dominican is not race, its the nationality. you can be full blooded african dark skinned black Dominicans, mixed look like Zoe or ugly pale white looking like f’ckin justin bieber lol just because all these dumb self-hating latino slave negros want ugly mixed looking kids for white race and love to f’ck with them ugly pale asses it does not mean ppl like Zoe is black or these fake ass mixed fagg0ts can call themselves black get over it!