Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez & Cast Of ‘Annihilation’ Arrive At Premiere

Oscar Isaac, Tuva Novotny, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Natalie Portman walk the red (but actually black) carpet at the premiere of new film Annihilation.

ANNIHILATION CAST ARRIVES AT PREMIERE

The film, directed by Alex Garland, centers around Portman’s character, a biologist, whose husband, a soldier played by Isaac, is the only surviving troop member sent into an environmental disaster zone. He returns injured and ill, motivating Portman to head to the disaster zone herself to research what happened and how she can save her husband’s life.

Portman, 36, wore a black gown with poofed shoulders, a low neckline and a lacy skirt. Rodriguez, the 33-year-old star of Jane the Virgin, wore a shimmering blue and bronze sleeveless Cristina Ottaviano dress. “Don’t trust this smile, s–t gets real in the shimmer,” she joke don her Instagram page.

Despite it’s main cast featuring many women and people of color, Annihilation has received backlash for whitewashing its characters. The film is based on the book trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer, in which Portman and Leigh’s characters are described as Asian and half-Indian. At the premiere, Leigh responded to these comments and defended the film’s decision to cast herself and Portman. “It’s not in the first novel at all, which I think is the book that Alex read and that he based it on,” she explained to Variety. “I think had he known about those things, it might be a different cast. But we’re lucky to have a movie with all women.”

Rodriguez added, “How often to brown girls get to play in sci-fi?”

Annihilation hits theaters Feb. 23. See the trailer below.