- Primary Subject: Odessa A’zion
- Key Update: Actress Odessa A’zion has officially stepped down from her role in A24's Deep Cuts.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: January 29, 2026
- Quick Answer: Odessa A’zion exited Deep Cuts after learning her character, Zoe Gutierrez, is Mexican in the novel, citing the importance of authentic representation and fan feedback.
Odessa A’zion has pulled out of A24's film adaptation of the best-selling novel Deep Cuts. Here's why she decided to depart the project.
Earlier this week, it was announced that the Marty Supreme star has been cast to play Zoe Gutierrez in the film. However, the casting received significant backlash online since the character is supposedly of Mexican heritage in the novel. A’zion is of mixed German and American heritage. Just days later, she has officially dropped out.
Why Odessa A'zion Exited Deep Cuts Movie Adaptation
Following the online backlash over her casting, A'zion announced on her Instagram Stories post (via Variety) that she has exited the Deep Cuts movie adaptation project after listening to the feedback from people online.
"Guys! I am with all of you and I am not doing this movie. Lemme make myself clear," she wrote.
In a subsequent post, the Marty Supreme star thanked her fans for bringing the casting issue to her attention. She explained that she originally auditioned for the role of Percy, but she was offered to play Zoe instead. She accepted the role without reading the novel.
"Thank you guys for bringing this to my attention. I’m so sorry that this happened. I went in for Percy, but was offered Zoe instead and instantly said yes! I’m so p****d y’all, I hadn’t read the book and should have paid attention to all aspects of Zoe before accepting...and now that I know what I know? F*** that. I’m out!" A'zion said.
"I’d never take a role from someone else that’s meant to do it. That SHOULD do it! That’s not me. There are a plentitude of people more than capable of playing this role and I am not one of them. I can’t wait to see who it ends up being."
So far, no new casting announcement has been made for the role of Zoe in Deep Cuts, following A'zion's departure from the project.
What is Deep Cuts About?
Deep Cuts is based on the 2025 best-selling novel by Holly Brickley. Sean Durkin is directing the film, while Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, and Josh Safdie are producing.
According to the book's logline from the publisher:
It’s a Friday night in a campus bar in Berkeley, fall of 2000, and Percy Marks is pontificating about music again. Hall and Oates is on the jukebox, and Percy—who has no talent for music, just lots of opinions about it—can’t stop herself from overanalyzing the song, indulging what she knows to be her most annoying habit. But something is different tonight. The guy beside her at the bar, fellow student Joe Morrow, is a songwriter. And he could listen to Percy talk all night.Joe asks Percy for feedback on one of his songs—and the results kick off a partnership that will span years, ignite new passions in them both, and crush their egos again and again. Is their collaboration worth its cost? Or is it holding Percy back from finding her own voice?Moving from Brooklyn bars to San Francisco dance floors, Deep Cuts examines the nature of talent, obsession, belonging, and above all, our need to be heard.
Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey are attached to star in the film, after Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. So far, no release date has been set.
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