Odessa A’zion has been riding high in Hollywood of late. She turned heads with her performance recently in Marty Supreme, which just scored her a BAFTA nomination. This announcement came alongside the news of her casting in the upcoming A24 movie based on the novel Deep Cuts. However, that choice has led to major backlash. Now, the actress has responded.
While this book-to-screen adaptation might have been a major get for the actress, it sparked some backlash among fans of the novel. Even a popular social media fan account for the actress spoke out against her casting. The issue was that the role A’zion had been cast in, Zoe, a close friend of the story’s main characters, is written as Mexican. Once this was brought to the attention of the German-American A’zion, she posted to her Instagram stories to announce she’s willingly stepping away from the role. She wrote…
THANK YOU guys for bringing this to my attention. I AGREE WITH EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! This is why I love you guys. I'm so so sorry that this happened. It is SO important for me to let you in on how it all went down: I went in for Percy but was offered Zoe instead and instantly said yes! I’m so pissed y’all, I hadn’t read the book and should have paid more attention to all aspects of Zoe before accepting… and now that I know what I know?? Fuck that! IM OUT.
It’s been far from uncommon for white actors to take on roles originally written as other races, and the number of high-profile performances where white actors actually played as other races have certainly not aged well. However, in recent years, there has been a more significant push to give proper representation to minorities and marginalized groups by making sure the people playing the parts are from the same groups as the roles they are playing.
The simple fact is that the number of roles available to minority groups tends to be limited. As such, many feel it's important not to shut those actors out for the available roles.
In a later post, A’zion indicates that she had read the script for Deep Cuts, but had apparently done so some time ago and didn’t remember the details of the Zoe character. Now that she’s aware of the situation, she doesn’t want to take the role away from an actress who would be more suited to the character. She continued…
I’d never take a role from someone else that’s meant to do it. That SHOULD do it! That’s not me. There are a plentitude of people more than capable of playing this role and I am NOT one of them. I can’t wait to see who it ends up being.
As the actress's statement went on, she noted that she was trying to find time to re-read the project, and wished she had "found that time sooner and clocked her name." She also reiterated how thankful she was to her fans who pointed this out.
Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey are currently cast in Deep Cuts. They'll play the two lead roles of Percy and Joe, a couple who meet and bond over a shared love of music. It appears we can expect a new casting announcement to be made regarding Zoe sometime in the near future. Sean Durkin is set to direct the film. He previously worked with A24 on The Iron Claw. So, as we learn more about this movie and this situation, we'll keep you updated.
