Odessa A’Zion’s Deep Cuts Replacement Found by A24 After Casting Controversy

A24 has welcomed a new cast member to its upcoming film adaptation of Deep Cuts, based on Holly Brickley’s 2025 coming-of-age romantic novel of the same name. This comes after the recent backlash regarding the casting of Marty Supreme star Odessa A’Zion, who was initially tapped to play Zoe Gutierrez. In the book, the character was a Jewish woman with Mexican heritage.

“Set in the 2000s, Deep Cuts is a love story about two music-obsessed twentysomethings navigating the messy realities of ambition, belonging, and adulthood over the course of an era-defining decade,” reads the movie’s synopsis.

Who is joining the Deep Cuts cast?

According to Deadline, Marvel’s Runaways and The Last of Us star Ariela Barer has been tapped to replace A’Zion for the role of Zoe in A24’s Deep Cuts movie. Just like the character, Barer is both Mexican American and Jewish. She will be joining previously announced cast members Cailee Spaeny (Civil War) and Drew Starkey (Outer Banks).

A’Zion addressed the casting controversy on her Instagram account, announcing that she had officially exited the project. She revealed that she wasn’t aware of the character’s ethnicity when she got cast because she hadn’t read the book yet.

“Thank you guys for bringing this to my attention. I AGREE WITH EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! This is why I love you guys. I’m so sorry that this happened,” A’Zion wrote. “It is SO important for me to let you in on how it all went down: I went in for Percy, but was offered Zoe instead and instantly said yes! I’m so pissed y’all, I hadn’t read the book and should have paid more attention to all aspects of Zoe before accepting…and now that I know what I know???”

Her statement continued, “F**k that. I’m out! I’d never take a role from someone else that’s meant to do it. That SHOULD do it! That’s not me. There are a plentitude 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 will be written and directed by Sean Durkin. This marks the filmmaker’s latest collaboration with A24, following the critical success of 2023’s biographical drama The Iron Claw. The film is produced by Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, and Jordan Tappis, with Brickley serving as an executive producer. Grammy winner Blake Mills has also signed on to create original music for the film.

(Source: Deadline)

Source: Comingsoon.net