Zoe Saldana slammed for being too light-skinned to play Nina Simone

The biopic of legendary singer Nina Simone won't hit theaters for at least another year, but it's already made its potential audience angry. The role of Simone in "Nina" was originally given to Mary J. Blige, but shooting delays caused her to leave the production. Director Cynthia Mort replaced Blige with Zoe Saldana, last seen in "Star Trek" and on Bradley Cooper's arm. The issue with the American-born Latina actress is that she's too light skinned. She will wear facial prosthetics and heavy makeup to play the dark-skinned Simone, which critics — including Simone's daughter — have a problem with. "Nina's music taps into a certain kind of awareness born of the way she looks," anthropology professor Lanita Jacobs says. [Source]

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