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First look: New trailer shows Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone in controversial biopic about jazz singer and activist

Published: 12:57 EST, 2 March 2016 | Updated: 14:07 EST, 2 March 2016

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A new trailer has given fans the first look at Zoe Saldana as jazz singer Nina Simone.

The casting of Zoe, who is Afro-Latina, sparked controversy after some fans objected to the lighter-skinned actress playing the legendary singer and civil rights activist.

The 37-year-old appears to have darkened her skin for the role.

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First look: A new trailer gives the first look at Zoe Saldana as jazz singer Nina Simone in controversial new biopic Nina

The movie follows the late jazz legend as she attempts to make a comeback with the help of her nurse and manager Clifton Henderson, played by David Oyelowo.

The trailer begins to the sound of Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair, as Nina is seen fighting off medical staff and police as she's being committing her to a hospital.

There, she meets David's nurse character and hires him as her manager.

The singer, who died in 2003 aged 70, was diagnosed as bipolar in the 1980s.

Troubled: The singer is committed to a mental institution as her song Black Is The Color Of My True Love's hair plays

Fighter: The singer wrestles with nurses before being put into a straight jacket

Helping hand: British actor David Oyelowo plays her nurse-turned-manager Clifton Henderson, who helps the singer launch a comeback

'You know who I am?' she asks.

'Yeah. My mother used to listen to you,' he replies.

She then hires him to be her manager, saying: 'I want you to come with me. I'll pay you two thousand dollars as month. In return, you take care of all my affairs.'

The troubled artist, who struggled with alcohol and depression, is seen laying in bed, swilling champagne from the bottle and smoking, and then throwing the bottle at his head.

Controversy: Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone in the film, left, and the singer in 1983

Upset: Fans were unhappy that Zoe, who has a lighter skin tone and is Afro-Latina, had been cast as the jazz icon and civil rights activist

She is also seen trashing a room in anger, and waving a gun as she yells 'Tell him to get my my money!'

'She's a complicated lady,' an advisor is heard saying.

'Drinks, smokes, she's out of shape. No one wants to see her play the way she is now.'

David's character then pleads with her: 'What happened, Nina? Why are you playing in front of a hundred people and not twenty thousand?'

Jazz icon: Zoe at the piano as she channels Nina Simone

Tough times: The singer is seen smoking and drinking champagne from the bottle as her manager urges her to get her career back on track

Complicated: The singer waves a gun as she yells 'Tell him to get my money!'

'I need you to help me make this happen,' he says of her comeback.

'I'll try,' she replies.

Later, she says: 'I'll tell you what freedom means to me. No fear. If I could have that for half of my life, no fear, that's the only way that I can describe it.'

'Everyone thinks that you are crazy,' a man's voice tells her.

'What does that have to do with playing music,' Nina laughs.

The film, which was delayed for years after first screening at Cannes in 2014, will be released in the US in theaters and on demand on April 22, it was announced on Wednesday.

It comes after Netflix's What Happened, Miss Simone?, which was recently nominated for an Oscar for best documentary.