Zoe Saldana has been blasted by Nina Simone's brother, who is furious that she is playing his sister in an upcoming biopic.

Nina Simone's brother has hit out at Zoe Saldana.

The 37-year-old actress plays the singer and civil rights activist - who died in 2003 aged 70 - in the upcoming film, 'Nina' and the late star's sibling Sam Waymon says she should have ''thought a thousand times'' before taking on the role.

He told the New York Post's Page Six: ''If I was asked to play someone of the monumental stature of Nina Simone, I would've had to think a thousand times before saying yes. I'm outraged by the fact that Zoe Saldana was chosen.''

Much of the backlash around Zoe's casting comes from her appearance in the teaser showing her sporting a prosthetic nose and a darker skin tone for the role.

 Sam explained: ''Nina Simone didn't have a fake nose or fake lips. Everything about her was real. Why would you go with something made up like that? Blackface was used by Hollywood early on to dehumanise and to not have to cast [black people]. I would have thought more highly of [Zoe] if she would've turned down the role.''

He also hit out at the movie for featuring a love affair between Nina and her assistant Clifton Henderson, played by David Oyelowo, claiming that Clifton was actually gay.

He said: ''It never happened. Clifton was a gay man. In addition to a prosthetic nose and blackface, now they're making a gay man straight. It's a disgrace to the gay community. It's disrespectful to Nina, who was about the truth.''