A24’s ‘Deep Cuts’ Hit by Casting Backlash as Odessa A’zion Exits

Just days after her casting was announced, Odessa A’zion has walked away from A24’s film adaptation of Deep Cuts following intense backlash from book fans over a perceived whitewashing of its Latina lead.

The Marty Supreme star was set to play Zoe Gutierrez, a character described in Holly Brickley’s 2025 novel as half Mexican and half Jewish. After readers protested that the film was erasing a core part of Zoe’s identity, A’zion took to Instagram Stories to say, bluntly, “Fuck that. I’m OUT,” and confirmed she had voluntarily exited the project.[1]

“I Hadn’t Read the Book”: How the Casting Blew Up

A’zion’s casting in writer-director Sean Durkin’s adaptation was reported earlier this week, pairing her with Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey in a 2000s-set story about music-obsessed twenty-somethings chasing belonging and adulthood.[2] Within hours, fans of Brickley’s book began circulating passages describing Zoe’s Mexican and Jewish background, arguing that casting a non-Latina actor undermined one of the novel’s central identity arcs.

A’zion responded by apologizing and admitting she’d accepted the role before doing her homework. “I went in for Percy, but was offered Zoe instead and instantly said yes! … I hadn’t read the book and should have paid more attention to all aspects of Zoe before accepting,” she wrote, adding, “I’d never take a role from someone else that’s meant to do it. That SHOULD do it!”[3]

Brickley’s novel has developed a fiercely loyal readership, with many fans treating Zoe’s mixed heritage as non‑negotiable. Some Deep Cuts book accounts even paused activity in protest, underscoring how tightly readers are tying representation to adaptation fidelity.[4]

Open Letter, Industry Pressure and A24’s Adaptation Track Record

The backlash didn’t stop with social media. More than 100 Latino actors, writers and filmmakers have signed an open letter calling on A24 and the wider industry to treat the Deep Cuts controversy as a turning point for casting practices, urging studios to stop sidelining Latino performers from roles written as Latino.[5]

A’zion is not the first name to come off the project. Austin Butler and Saoirse Ronan were attached earlier in development before reported scheduling conflicts took them off the call sheet, according to Variety, so Durkin’s cast has already been rebuilt once.

A24, which has built a prestige reputation with buzzy book‑to‑film projects, is now facing questions about how it vets casting against source material—especially on identity-driven stories. The studio has seen its adaptations scrutinized before, as readers grow more vocal about who gets to embody beloved characters on screen. Our coverage of how Netflix’s data quietly proves the power of book adaptations shows just how high the stakes can be when fans feel the text isn’t respected.

For book lovers, Deep Cuts is turning into a litmus test: will studios treat race and culture as as central to fidelity as plot and dialogue? It’s the same question hovering over a wave of upcoming projects, from romantic comedies to prestige dramas—see, for instance, how closely Emily Henry readers are watching the People We Meet on Vacation adaptation for page-to-screen authenticity.

A’zion, for her part, told fans she’s eager to see who steps into Zoe’s Doc Martens next. With filming reportedly still scheduled to begin in February, all eyes are now on A24 and Durkin’s team to recast—and to show whether they’ve really heard what readers, and Latino creatives, are saying about who gets to tell Zoe Gutierrez’s story.