A serious bone of contention for a lot of people has been the casting of Zoe Saldana as singer, civil rights activist, pianist, cultural influencer Nina Simone. Much of it is based on Saldana's physical appearance, which is a great deal different from Simone's in just about every way. But there's also Simone's powerful, some would say volatile spirit that will be hard for Saldana to duplicate. Those concerns certainly won't be quieted by the new documentary, What Happened, Miss Simone?, which premiered at Sundance and now has a new trailer.
Directed by Liz Garbus, the film looks at Simone's life and career, both the good and the bad. And there was plenty of both to go around. Simone was a tremendously talented singer with a unique voice, but she was constantly plagued by personal demons that drove away friends and family alike. Rest assured this isn't just another easy, puff piece of a documentary. It goes to some ugly places, but my take away after seeing it at Sundance was Simone is treated fairly all the way around. However, the first thing people said to me afterwards was "No way Saldana could ever play her".
Netflix picked up the film and will premiere it on June 26th.
Netflix picked up the film and will premiere it on June 26th.
