Actress Zoe Saldana, 36, glows on the cover of July’s InStyle magazine, and she used the interview to address the backlash that came with her decision to play Nina Simone in a forthcoming biopic. The actress donned dark brown makeup and prosthetics to play the legend.

“I didn’t think I was right for the part, and I know a lot of people will agree, but then again, I don’t think Elizabeth Taylor was right for Cleopatra either,” Saldana said. “An artist is colorless, genderless… It’s more complex than just ‘Oh, you chose the Halle Berry look-alike to play a dark, strikingly beautiful, iconic black woman.’ The truth is, they chose an artist who was willing to sacrifice herself. We needed to tell her story because she deserves it.”