Zoe Saldana As Nina Simone: “I know what Nina Simone has meant to me,” Produces “Rosemary’s Baby” With Sisters

Zoe Saldana will play Nina Simone in her upcoming biopic "Nina." Saldana came under fire in 2012 when photos leaked from the set of "Nina" made it look like the actress was wearing skin-darkening makeup. Her casting also drew criticism because some argued that Saldana bears little resemblance to the legendary soul singer, who died in 2003. "I don't regret a second of it," Saldana said in a recent interview with Buzzfeed. "I know who I am and I know what Nina Simone has meant to me. It was the most scared and stressed I've ever been in my whole life about playing a character and making a movie, but I did it for her. I just hope that when the movie comes out, whoever sees it will appreciate that all of us came together to tell her story because nobody else was doing it. I will hear, but I will also speak because I don't have anything to be ashamed of. Whatever backlash there is, I will take it like a man - no, like a woman, like an adult, and like an artist." The film was supposed to come out last year but has yet to make its debut; Indiewire speculates that "Nina" could be released in one of the big film festivals this year.

The 35-year-old "Avatar" actress's next new project is "Rosemary's Baby," which she also produced with her sisters, Cisely Saldana and Mariel Saldana. "Rosemary's Baby," an adaptation of Ira Levin's 1967 novel (on which Roman Polanski's film was based), will premiere on May 11 on NBC. Saldana told Buzzfeed about why she wanted to get involved behind the camera, "When I go to the movies and the selection is totally male-driven, I'm bored. I'm irritated with the fact that when I want to be entertained, there's not enough material featuring women out there. I'm a woman, I relate to women. It's our nature, it's our anima; why am I not being created for?"