Zoe Saldaña in Nina (2016): The Sheer White Dress Scene

This is the least fun page on the list to write, because the woman in the white dress has since said she should never have taken the part.

Nina (2016): the white dress, from the bedroom to the terrace (1m14s)

What happens in Nina

Cynthia Mort’s film finds Nina Simone in 1988, broke, drinking and hard to be around, as she hires a hospital orderly named Clifton Henderson (David Oyelowo) and drags him to her home in France and, eventually, back toward the stage. Principal photography began in October 2012, when Saldaña was 34. The scene itself is simple: Simone standing outdoors in a white dress sheer enough that, from behind, it hides very little.

The film around it went badly, and not quietly. Saldaña wore darkened makeup plus nasal and dental prosthetics for the role. Simone’s daughter objected to the casting, the estate’s account told her to “take Nina’s name out of your mouth,” and Rotten Tomatoes has the film at 2%. In August 2020 she apologized: “I’m so sorry. I know better today and I’m never going to do that again.” Someone else, she said, should tell Simone’s story.

I’m including the scene because it’s on the record and she’s in it. I’m not going to be cute about it, and you shouldn’t be either. Give her credit for the apology, which is more than this industry usually manages.

It ranks fifth on our Zoe Saldaña overview. For a role she also produced, and a far happier one, try her love scene in From Scratch.

Zoe Saldaña as Nina Simone on the terrace, Nina (2016)

Film: Nina (2016) · U.S. limited release and VOD, April 22, 2016 (RLJ Entertainment) · written and directed by Cynthia Mort · Zoe Saldaña as Nina Simone, David Oyelowo as Clifton Henderson

All Zoe Saldaña scenes

Back to the hub: Zoe Saldaña nude: every scene, ranked.