Odessa A'zion Exits Deep Cuts After Casting Backlash

Odessa A’zion has heard the all the pushback about her recently announced movie role. Shortly after she was confirmed to star in the upcoming A24 film Deep Cuts, the actor posted a lengthy statement revealing she had immediately exited the project. She thanked her fans for informing her that she would have been playing a character of a different ethnicity.

A’zion had been cast as Zoe Gutierrez in the adaptation of Holly Brickley’s 2025 novel Deep Cuts. In the book, Zoe is explicitly written to be of Mexican heritage. The casting choice sparked a ton of backlash online, and on Jan. 29, A’zion revealed that she had left the project due to this uproar.

“Guys!! I am with ALL of you and I am NOT doing this movie,” A’zion wrote in an Instagram story. “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 so sorry that this happened.”

The actor explained that she had overlooked important details about Zoe because she was initially auditioning to play the lead role of Percy Marks. “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!” A’zion wrote. “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??? F*ck that. I’m out!”

A’zion admitted that she prematurely agreed to the part because she was “so excited to work with this group of people.” The movie stars A’zion’s rumored boyfriend Drew Starkey, as well as Cailee Spaeny.

She went on to imply that the movie’s script doesn’t make it clear that Zoe is Mexican. “I’ve been so busy with other work I was trying to carve out time to re-read [the script], I wish I found that time sooner and clocked her name. That’s all that’s mentioned in the script when I just finally did [re-read it],” A’zion posted.

A’zion shared that she “still [hasn’t] read the book,” so her only knowledge of the story came from the film’s script. “The script is focused on Percy and Joe, so of course on my initial read that was my main focus as well,” A’zion wrote. “I was happy to be involved as a different role, but I just can not do it knowing more about Zoe now.”