Zoe Saldana in Nina Simone biopic?

Los Angeles: Actress Zoe Saldana is in talks to star as the iconic singer Nina Simone in her biopic.

Actor David Oyelowo will also star in the film, playing the character of Simone`s manager Clifton Henderson, said The Hollywood Reporter. The project which has been talked about for several years but did not materialise because of financial issues will finally begin its production in Los Angeles on October 16. Cynthia Mort has written the script and will be directing the film while Mark Burton, Barnaby Thompson, Stuart Parr and Ben Latham Jones are producing it. Simone rose as a singer-songwriter in the 1950s and became involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, even advocating violence. Tax issues forced her to relocate to other countries, including France, where she passed away in 2003. Henderson was her assistant and manager later in life. Saldana recently wrapped ‘Out of the Furnace’, a thriller that also stars Christian Bale and Casey Affleck, and the sequel to ‘Star Trek’. PTI