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The casting of Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone in the upcoming biopic about the singer and civil rights activist has resulted in a fresh round of criticism from Ms. Simone鈥檚 family and fans.

Following the unveiling of the poster and trailer for 鈥淣ina鈥� on Wednesday, critics once more vilified the choice to cast the lighter-skinned Ms. Saldana as the African-American activist, whose dark complexion and African features were essential to both her identity and her notion of beauty for black women.

The outcry comes as Hollywood strives to address questions of race in the face of growing scrutiny over the industry鈥檚 diversity practices 鈥� including the tradition of assigning lighter-skinned actors for characters who would naturally have brown skin.

鈥淚t's disrespectful and demonstrates the depth of the ignorance of the person making the film of the very subject of the film,鈥� Miriam Petty, an assistant professor in the radio-television-film department at Northwestern University told the Associated Press. She urged fans to boycott 鈥淣ina,鈥� saying, 鈥淚 think it's important not to support this film financially because the problem with biopics is they become the last word.鈥�

Over the years, Hollywood has faced a rising tide of criticism over white or light-skinned actors hired to play dark-skinned roles 鈥� from the exclusion of ethnic Hawaiians in the Adam Sandler film 鈥�50 First Dates鈥� to Jake Gyllenhaal鈥檚 casting as the titular character in 鈥淧rince of Persia: The Sands of Time.鈥� Critics also called out the听new 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� films for hiring听British actor Benedict Cumberbatch to play Khan Noonien Singh, as well as the adaptation of Japanese manga story 鈥淕host in the Shell鈥澨齠or casting Scarlett Johansson as the protagonist, Motoko Kusanagi.

In June, award-winning director Cameron Crowe听publicly apologized听to those who felt that hiring Emma Stone to play half-Asian Captain Allison Ng in "Aloha" was dismissive of Hawaii鈥檚 native populations 鈥� though Mr. Cameron defended the decision, saying the character was based on a 鈥渞eal-life, red headed local.鈥�

More recently, 鈥淕ods of Egypt鈥� and 鈥淲hiskey Tango Foxtrot鈥� have faced similar criticisms, with some noting the omission of Egyptian and Afghan actors to play characters of those ethnicities.

The diversity issues extend beyond casting 鈥� and beyond film.

A study of more than 400 films and series found that 87 percent of all directors were white, with broadcast TV directors the least diverse at 90 percent, and just 15 percent were female, according to researchers at the University of California鈥檚 Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. Only a third of speaking characters were female, and just听about 28 percent听were from minority groups 鈥� about 10 percent less than the makeup of the US population today, the study found.

鈥淲hen we start to step back to see this larger ecology, I think we see a picture of exclusion,鈥� 听Stacy Smith, a USC professor and one of the study's authors, told AP. 鈥淲e don't have a diversity problem. We have an inclusion crisis.鈥�

Not that the industry hasn鈥檛 progressed, some sociologists say. In the ethnically diverse cast of the lucrative 鈥淔ast and Furious鈥� franchise and the casting of Daisy Ridley and John Boyega as the leads for 鈥淪tar Wars: The Force Awakens,鈥� Hollywood is showing a growing understanding of the value of diversity 鈥� at least from a business perspective.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like suddenly the networks got the memo: 鈥楪uess what, diversity sells,鈥� 鈥� said Darnell Hunt, director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies and a professor of sociology at the University of California in Los Angeles, told the Monitor earlier this year. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 only watch people like themselves but they do like seeing their stories.鈥�

Still, the debate over 鈥淣ina鈥� suggests that the industry鈥檚 race discussion is far from over. Simone鈥檚 estate has expressed disapproval of the film, responding coldly to Saldana quoting the civil rights activist.

Yet Robert Johnson, founder and chairman of the studio releasing 鈥淣ina,鈥� called Saldana's performance 鈥渁n exceptional and mesmerizing tribute.鈥�

鈥淪he gave her heart and soul to the role and displayed her extraordinary talent,鈥� he said in a statement Thursday. 鈥淭he most important thing is that creativity or quality of performance should never be judged on the basis of color, or ethnicity, or physical likeness.鈥�

鈥淣ina鈥� is slated for an April 22 release.

This report contains material from The Associated Press.

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