Zoe Saldana on the Nina debacle: Theres no one way to be black
Zoe Saldana covers the new issue of Allure. Most of the interview is about her feminism, her babies, her difficult birthing experience, and how Hollywood mothers rallied around her and the power of the sisterhood. But what will get the most attention, I’m sure, is the part where she discusses Nina, the Nina Simone bio-pic that was widely criticized several months ago. While the film received a lot of criticism, Zoe was widely slammed for taking the role, for agreeing to “blackface” and for associating herself with this terrible project whatsoever. So, months have passed and Zoe has had time to think about how she wants to position herself and what she wants to say. Some highlights from Allure:
Changing dirty diapers: “Everybody told me, ‘Oh, don’t worry, I know you hate changing diapers, but when you have your own kid…. Well, guess what? I had my own kids, and I will do whatever I need to do to not change a dirty diaper. A blowout? I can’t do it—I end up with sh-t everywhere! There is sh-t on the boy; there is sh-t on me; there is sh-t in my hair. And I’m like, How did this happen?”
Her emergency C-section: “The boys came at 32 weeks. They found protein in my urine; my platelets crashed. I didn’t qualify for an epidural, so I delivered under general anesthetic. I didn’t even meet them until a day later. Looking back, I think the boys were three or four months old, and one morning I woke up with just this flood of emotions. Marco had them, too, and we were able to have our deconstruction session in the bathroom while they were napping, to say to each other, ‘Holy sh-t, did we come close to it all changing forever?’ We allowed ourselves to have a moment of ‘poor us.’ And that was it. Then somebody cried, and it was ‘Got to go!'”
She requested that the studio provide babysitters: “The tone changed in the negotiations. I was starting to feel that I was…difficult… [it was] considered a perk, or ‘Give this to me; I’m having a diva fit’? No. This is a necessity that you must cover for me in order for me to go and perform my job… The fact that there are women working in these studios—and they’re the ones [enforcing] these man-made rules. When are we going to learn to stick together?”
On the criticism she got for the Nina debacle: “I have a strong sense of self. I have no problem admitting my errors; just have respect for me. If I am just like wallpaper, there’s no need for me to be here. It’s kind of like that Nina Simone song—you’ve got to learn to leave the table when love isn’t being served”
On the slam from Nina Simone’s estate: “There’s no one way to be black. I’m black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am black. I’m raising black men. Don’t you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain.”
The idea that she was “too pretty” to play Nina Simone: “I never saw her as unattractive. Nina looks like half my family! But if you think the [prosthetic] nose I wore was unattractive, then maybe you need to ask yourself, What do you consider beautiful? Do you consider a thinner nose beautiful, so the wider you get, the more insulted you become?”
She doesn’t regret taking the part: “The script probably would still be lying around, going from office to office, agency to agency, and nobody would have done it. Female stories aren’t relevant enough, especially a black female story. I made a choice. Do I continue passing on the script and hope that the ‘right’ black person will do it, or do I say, ‘You know what? Whatever consequences this may bring about, my casting is nothing in comparison to the fact that this story must be told.’ The fact that we’re talking about her, that Nina Simone is trending? We f–king won. For so many years, nobody knew who the f–k she was. She is essential to our American history. As a woman first, and only then as everything else. Let it be the first movie. If you think you can do it better, then by all means. Let ours be version number one of ten stories in the next ten years about the f–king iconic person that was Nina Simone.”
I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, I can’t help but think she has LARGELY missed the point about the Nina Simone conversation. No one was saying that Zoe is too pretty to play Nina, we were saying that she didn’t look anything like Nina and it was offensive to see a light-skinned Afro-Latina woman wear blackface and a prosthetic nose to play an icon like Nina. The argument was about colorism not beauty. I also have an issue with this: “The fact that we’re talking about her, that Nina Simone is trending? We f–king won. For so many years, nobody knew who the f–k she was.” People knew about Nina Simone. Don’t take credit for introducing Nina Simone’s story to the world. You didn’t do that.
Photos courtesy of Allure.
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