Jewish actress Odessa A'zion has pulled out of an upcoming film after an online backlash to her being cast as a character with Mexican heritage.
A'zion, who stars alongside Timothée Chalamet in the Oscar-nominated Marty Supreme, had been cast to play a character with Jewish and Mexican heritage, Zoe Gutierrez, in the film adaptation of bestselling 2025 romance novel Deep Cuts.
But fans of the book objected to the casting, arguing the role should have gone to a Latin American actress.
A’zion, who is Jewish and from the US, has now publicly walked away from the production and apologised for accepting the role, saying she would “never take a role from someone else that’s meant to do it.”
Posting on Instagram, A'zion said: “I am with all of you and I am not doing this movie ...Thank you guys for bringing this to my attention. I’m so sorry that this happened. I went in [to audition] for [another role] but was offered Zoe instead and instantly said yes ... I hadn’t read the book and should have paid attention to all aspects of Zoe before accepting… and now that I know what I know? F*** that. I’m out!”
She added: “I’d never take a role from someone else that’s meant to do it … That’s not me. There [are plenty] 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.”
The film is being produced by A24, the production company behind Marty Supreme and other critically acclaimed films including Ladybird and Everything Everywhere All at Once as well as popular shows Euphoria and Beef.
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