Zoe Saldana Will Play Nina Simone In Biopic

Zoe Saldana is set to portray the late and great Nina Simone in the upcoming and long-awaited biopic about the bluesy-folk legend, who was widely known not only for her voice and musical abilities, but also for her civil rights activism. She passed way at the age of 70 in 2003.

The film, simply titled Nina, was written by Cynthia Mort (who will also direct), and will begin production in L.A. in mid-October, so says The Hollywood Reporter (via Rolling Stone).

Apparently there were some setbacks with the movie production initially, partly because Mary J. Blige, who was cast as the lead in the beginning, dropped out.

You might recognize Saldana from her work in 2009’s Star Trek and Avatar movies. She also appeared alongside Britney Spears in the 2002 film Crossroads, and was a part of 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Saldana’s got her work cut out for her, and honestly I’m not too familiar with her films (other than a couple that I mentioned above), but hopefully she’ll pull it off and pay respect to Simone in the way she deserves.