James Franco's casting as Fidel Castro in the upcoming period piece "Alina of Cuba: La Hija Rebelde" has caused major backlash, but the Oscar nominee has one important supporter: Castro's daughter, Alina Fernández. "James Franco has an obvious physical resemblance with Fidel Castro, besides his skills and charisma," Fernández told Deadline of the "This Is the End" star portraying her Communist leader father. "The project is almost entirely Latino, both in front and behind the camera," Fernández added, citing Franco's Portuguese heritage. "I find the selection of the cast amazing. The filmmakers worked a lot and I can't be more grateful to them for their overall inclusive selection."
Alina of Cuba is based on the true-life story of Fernandez, a Cuban American immigrant and human rights advocate whose birth was the result of a passionate love affair between Castro and Natalia "Naty" Revuelta. Revuelta, a Cuban-born socialite, sacrificed her and her physician husband's personal belongings and finances to help fund the revolution. Fernandez learned of her connection to Castro at the age of 10: when after years of secret visits to her home, she was finally told by her mother that "El Comandante" was her biological father. Fernandez and her mother stayed in Cuba after the former's stepfather and her sister fled to the U.S. after his medical clinic was shut down. Fernandez eventually became one of Castro's most outspoken critics; she was arrested on more than one occasion for trying to leave and classified as a dissident forbidden to travel outside of Cuba. She defected to Spain in 1993 and later made Miami her permanent home.
The biopic will shoot in Cartagena, Colombia this summer with Goya Award-winner Miguel Bardem set as director. Alina of Cuba, formerly known as Castro's Daughter, is written by Academy Award nominee Jose Rivera, and Pulitzer prize winner Nilo Cruz.
Alina of Cuba is being shot entirely on location in and around Cartagena and Bogota, with Colombia's colonial Spanish architecture and design standing in for Castro-era Havana, Cuba. Production starts on Aug. 15.
John Leguizamo, a Colombian American actor who wrote and performed the Broadway production Latin History for Morons, took to Instagram to slam the decision to cast James Franco, questioning why Hollywood is "excluding" the Latin community and notes that a film on Castro is a "seriously difficult story to tell without aggrandizement." "How is this still going on?" Leguizamo, who has previously been vocal about the lack of Latinx representation in Hollywood, said of the casting. "How is Hollywood excluding us but stealing our narratives as well? No more appropriation Hollywood and streamers! Boycott!" Producer John Martinez O'Felan has responded, calling the comments "culturally uneducated."