The recent announcement that James Franco will play Fidel Castro in the upcoming movie Alina of Cuba did not sit well with actor John Leguizamo. Shortly after the news was made public, Leguizamo took to social media to blast the casting of Franco in the role. The Encanto star says he has no problem with Franco personally but that "he ain't Latino." As Leguizamo put it:
“How is this still going on? How is Hollywood excluding us but stealing our narratives as well? No more appropriation Hollywood and streamers! Boycott! This F’d up! Plus seriously difficult story to tell without aggrandizement, which would be wrong! I don’t got a prob with Franco but he ain’t Latino!”
Alina of Cuba producer John Martinez O'Felan has since responded to Leguizamo's comments in a statement provided to THR. O'Felan referred to the post as a "blind attack" and suggests that perhaps Leguizamo is mistaken on what it truly means to be "Latino." He seems to then reference Franco's Portuguese descent with a reference to "blood history."
“A guy like John Leguizamo has historically been looked up to by Hispanics as one of America’s earliest actors of Latin descent since the 90s and I’ve always admired him as a fellow underdog. But his comments are culturally uneducated and a blind attack with zero substance related to this project. The reality of the ignorance piece falls within his statement suggesting his personal view on being ‘Latino,’ because a land mass or living area does not determine a person’s blood history or genetics."
The producer went on to suggest that comments like this only create division in their community.
"[Leguizamo's] note is a great talking point because they represent the same confusion and identity crisis in Hollywood right now within the Hispanic community in America who are arguing that we should only identify as Latin, which is mostly because of the falsehoods being spread by the actors who are supposed to be representing us, but instead create division amongst their own people.”
Alina of Cuba Is Not a Fidel Castro Biopic
While James Franco will have a sizable role in the film as Fidel Castro, Alina of Cuba is not a biopic about the former Cuban leader. The focus is primarily on his love child, Alina Fernandez, who was born from an affair. After getting older and learning about her true heritage, Fernandez wound up becoming a very outspoken critic of the Cuban government and eventually fled for a new life elsewhere in the early 1990s. O'Felan wants to remind Leguizamo that Alina of Cuba is about Fernandez and not Castro.
“I think he should move past himself and also acknowledge that this story is about a Latin female immigrant living in America who is of historical importance, led by a Latin woman and I’m just an underdog who is making it, so he should also understand that it’s kind of disappointing to see our work getting attacked by someone who claims to be a leader of the Latin community."
Alina of Cuba will be directed by Miguel Bardem and it is written by Jose Rivera and Nilo Cruz. Alongside Franco will be Mia Maestro as Natalia "Naty" Revuelta, Fernandez's mother who has an affair with Castro. Fernandez will be played by Ana Villafane. The movie doesn't yet have a release date.