Actress Odessa A’zion has exited A24’s planned film adaptation of Deep Cuts after online backlash targeted her casting as Zoe Gutierrez, a supporting character described in the novel as Mexican and Jewish. In Instagram Stories posted Wednesday night, A’zion said she agreed with critics and would not continue with the project, writing, “I am NOT doing this movie… I’m OUT.”
The criticism flared soon after her casting became public, with readers arguing the role should go to a Latina actor and objecting to what they saw as a familiar pattern: adaptations smoothing away cultural specificity to fit a casting choice. A’zion, who is Jewish and says she does not have Mexican heritage, told followers she originally auditioned for a different part and accepted Zoe without having read the book, adding that she should have done deeper homework before saying yes.
The dispute also pulled author Holly Brickley into the conversation. Posts shared and recirculated online quoted Brickley stressing that Zoe’s background in the book is half Jewish and half Mexican and that she had no role in casting decisions, as fans pressed for the character’s identity to remain intact on screen.
A24 has not announced a replacement. The film remains a high-profile package: Sean Durkin is attached to write and direct, with Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey set to star in the central story about two music-obsessed twenty-somethings whose relationship stretches across the 2000s. Earlier versions of the project had Austin Butler and Saoirse Ronan in the lead roles before they departed because of scheduling conflicts, leaving the production team to reconfigure the cast ahead of a planned start date reported for February.
