‘Sidelined’: ‘F1’ Director Faces Backlash For Simone Ashley Cuts

“F1” — a new film about a team of Formula One drivers — is drawing fan backlash for sizable cuts that have been made to actress Simone Ashley’s role.

That revelation has prompted many observers to condemn the way Ashley’s been treated and cite it as the latest example of Hollywood’s erasure of actors of color. “Ashley’s case fits into a broader pattern. Actors of color are regularly featured in trailers and promo material only to be sidelined in final edits,” a Feminegra post reads. Ashley had previously said her role was “very small,” but described attending several Formula One races as part of the filming.

Her experience has been compared to that of “The Good Place” star Manny Jacinto — a Filipino Canadian actor whose role was significantly reduced in “Top Gun: Maverick,” which was also directed by Kosinski. Jacinto has said he did flight training and a strenuous fitness regimen to prepare for the film, only to see his part slashed to a non-speaking role that appeared for just seconds on screen in the final version of the movie.

Kosinski has said the cuts of Ashley’s character were a standard part of the editing process, and he praised her talent.

“It happens on every film, where you have to shoot more than you can use. There were two or three storylines that ultimately didn’t make into the final cut,” Kosinski told People. “But Simone, she’s an incredible talent, incredible actress, incredible singer, and I would love to work with her again.”

Fans, however, took issue with Kosinski’s response, with one X account called @themediumplace noting that “the reward for actors of color being great at their jobs is getting cut from movies and shows.”

Jacinto has previously responded to his “Top Gun” experience by stressing that it spoke to why there need to be more stories about people of color written by people of color.

“It kind of fuels you, because at the end of the day, Tom Cruise is writing stories for Tom Cruise,” he told GQ. “It’s up to us — Asian Americans, people of color — to be that [for ourselves]. We can’t wait for somebody else to do it. If we want bigger stories out there, we have to make them for ourselves.”

Ashley hasn’t publicly commented yet on the cuts to “F1,” though she previously stated that she helmed her own romantic comedy, “Picture This,” which she executive-produced, for the very reasons Jacinto cited.

“I grew up watching romcoms and I never really found many where there were women like me, who looked like me, leading them and playing the love interest,” she told Drama Quarterly in 2024. “I wanted to do that. I wanted to make a movie where I was the heroine in that sense of a romcom, the Bridget Jones.”