‘Deep Cuts’ Has Found A Jewish-Mexican Actress to Replace O’Dessa A’zion After “Whitewashing” Controversy

Sean Durkin’s “Deep Cuts” has found an actress to replace O’Dessa A’zion — who had to drop out due to not being the right ethnicity for the role, after much backlash.

Ariela Barer (“See You When I See You”) has joined the cast of A24‘s movie. She’ll play Zoe Gutierrez, and yes, she’s half-Mexican, half-Jewish — which is how the role is described in Holly Brickley’s novel, on which the film is based.

Barer is best known for her role as Gert Yorkes in Hulu’s “Marvel’s Runaways,” and she co‑wrote, starred in, and produced Daniel Goldhaber’s “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” (2022). On TV, she played Mel in HBO’s “The Last of Us,” and had a guest starring role in “Grey’s Anatomy.”

I’ve searched extensively for 20-something Mexican-Jewish actresses in Hollywood who could have taken on the role of Zoe in Deep Cuts, and shockingly, Barer is the only one I could find. So, Durkin and A24 didn’t necessarily have to go through a thorough elimination process to cast her. Regardless, I’m sure she’ll do a great job in the role.

Set against the backdrop of the 2000s, “Deep Cuts” traces a romance between two music-obsessed twenty-somethings as they chase purpose, connection, and identity through a decade that shapes them as much as they shape each other. Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Blake Mills will create original music for the film. There was also Barer’s sister, Libe, who is an actress, but she’s in her mid-30s.

A’zion had recently found herself at the center of online controversy, this time over her casting in Durkin’s film. She was set to play Zoe Gutierrez, but some users on social media accused the casting of “whitewashing,” arguing that the character should have been played by an actor of a different background.

Others pushed back, noting that details about the character’s depiction in the film had not been fully disclosed and that much of the criticism was speculative.

Adding fuel to the fire, fired “Scream” star Melissa Barrera — who has struggled to secure major roles since her dismissal — posted on Instagram about the “need for representation” and the “erasure” of it in Hollywood. Many interpreted the post as a response to A’zion accepting the role in “Deep Cuts,” though Barrera did not name the project or actor directly.

The entire controversy felt like sheer and utter lunacy — a case where online outrage had once again overtaken nuance, context, and reality. Regardless, A’zion bowed out, atoning for her “sins” on social media and declaring she “should have never taken a role that was meant for someone else.”