Odessa A’zion has dropped her role as Zoe Gutierrez in Sean Durkin’s “Deep Cuts” following online backlash over the actor not being Latina.
Earlier this week, The Wrap revealed that the “I Love L.A.” and “Marty Supreme” breakout star was cast as Zoe Gutierrez, a Latina character in the A24 film adaptation of Holly Brickley’s debut novel.
Set in the 2000s, the story follows two music-obsessed young adults — Joey Morrow (to be played by Drew Starkey) and Eileen Percy Marks (Cailee Spaeny) — as they navigate talent, identity and love through the indie music scenes of Brooklyn and San Francisco.
Character Zoe Gutierrez’s identity plays an important role in the book, as she is written as a half-Mexican and half-Jewish lesbian.
Many social media users — including her fan accounts — took to the web to criticize A’zion for taking on the role, especially during a political climate when Latino communities are being targeted across the country by ICE and Border Patrol.
One A’zion fan account on X, created in October 2025 and managed by two Latinas from Brazil, paused their activity until further notice following the news. “We’re here to state that we do not agree with this casting, especially given the current political state of the US,” @bugzbees wrote in a Jan. 27 post.
A fan account under the name “Your #1 Odessa A’zion updates fan account” also voiced disagreement over the casting, also opting to pause activity on their X profile.
“We do not agree with the decision to cast a white, non-Mexican actor as a character who was originally written as a Mexican woman of color in the ‘Deep Cuts’ adaptation,” @OdessaAzionUPD wrote on Jan. 28. “This choice perpetuates harmful patterns and representations affecting Latinos of all nationalities, particularly within the current political climate in the United States.”
A’Zion cleared the air on her Instagram account late Wednesday.
“I am with ALL you and I am NOT doing this movie,” the 25-year-old shared on her Instagram story. “F— that. I’m OUT.”
In her follow-up posts, A’Zion said she originally auditioned for the role of Percy, but was offered Zoe instead; she accepted the role. At that moment, A’zion had not yet read the book and admits she should have paid more attention to all aspects of the character Zoe.
“I’d never take a role from someone else that’s meant to do it,” she added. “There [is] a plentitude of people more capable of playing this role and I am NOT one of them.”
The latest series of events underscores the prevailing issues with Latino representation in Hollywood.
According to UCLA’s 2025 Hollywood Diversity Report, which analyzed the top 104 English-language films released theatrically in 2024, Latinos made 1% of the leading roles, despite comprising roughly 20% of the total U.S. population.
Amidst online discussions over Latino representation users chimed in with presented different actors who could have taken on the role instead. This included Mexican and Jewish “Euphoria” actor Alexa Demie, who told Nathan Fielder in a 2020 podcast for A24 that she nearly quit acting — after losing out roles to “blond-haired, blue-eyed” actors.
Melissa Barrera’s name also circulated around the web as a fan suggestion for the role of Zoe Gutierrez.
Earlier Wednesday, the Mexican actor took to her Instagram stories to speak up about representation and erasure in Hollywood — underscoring racist practices that would shut out people of color from lead and side character roles, but without directly referring to A’zion.
“So in 2026 if there are 1000 roles out there for actors and 50 of those are written for Latinos, LATINOS should play them,” Barrera wrote. “Give Latinos the Latino roles!”
Several actors have previously been accused of whitewashing in Hollywood, including James Franco, who was cast as Fidel Castro in the upcoming film “Alina of Cuba.” Angelina Jolie faced pushback for her role as the Egyptian queen in the film “Cleopatra,” which was eventually canceled. Emma Stone, who played a Chinese Hawaiian character in the 2015 film “Aloha,” was also criticized for accepting the role.
The A24 film adaptation of “Deep Cuts” will be produced by Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein and “Marty Supreme” director, Oscar nominee Josh Safdie. Brickley, the book’s author, is also an executive producer.
The Times reached out to A’zion’s representatives for further comment.
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