Following John Leguizamo’s criticism of James Franco’s casting as Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro in the independent film Alina of Cuba, producer John Martinez O’Felan responded, calling the comments “culturally illiterate.”
To be directed by Miguel Bardem and based on a screenplay written by Jose Rivera and Nilo Cruz, Franco stars opposite Mía Maestro, who plays Natalia “Naty” Revuelta, a Cuban-born socialite with whom Castro becomes involved romantically. The film is based on the true story of Alina Fernandez – played by Ana Villafañe – a Cuban exile turned social advocate who learns at age 10 that she is Castro’s daughter.
Leguizamo, a Colombian-American actor who wrote and performed in the Broadway production of Latin History for Morons, took to Instagram on Friday to criticize the decision to cast Franco, questioning why Hollywood “shuts out” the Latino community and notes that a film about Castro is “Seriously difficult story to tell without approval.”
“How is this still going on?” Leguizamo, who has previously expressed the lack of Latinx representation in Hollywood, said of the casting. “How does Hollywood exclude us but also steal our narratives? The appropriation of Hollywood and streamers is over! Boycott! This one blew up! Plus, a very difficult story to tell without praise, which would be wrong! I don’t have a problem with Franco, but he’s not Latino!’
In response, O’Felan, the film’s producer, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that he admired Leguizamo but that his comments were a “blind attack.”
“A guy like John Leguizamo is historically considered by Hispanics as one of the first Latin American actors from the ’90s, and I’ve always admired him as a fellow outsider. 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 that suggests his personal view of being ‘Latino,’ because a land or area of residence does not determine a person’s blood history or genetics,” he continues.
O’Felan goes on to say that Leguizamo’s memo is a great talking point because they represent the same confusion and identity crisis in Hollywood right now within the Hispanic community in America that we should only identify as Latino, which is largely due to that of the lies spread by actors who are supposed to represent us, but instead create division among their own people.”
The producer concludes that Leguizamo’s criticism ultimately diminishes who the film is: Fernandez.
“I think he’s going to have to get over himself and also recognize that this story is about a Latina immigrant living in America, which is historically important, led by a Latina woman, and I’m just an outsider making it, so he’s going to you also have to understand that it’s kind of disappointing to see our work being attacked by someone who claims to be a leader in the Latino community,” he states.
Alina of Cuba features a cast and crew from “at least seven nations from around the world” according to O’Felan, with production design by Carlos Osorio, editing by Diego Fernando Bustamante, costume design by Daniela Rivano and Juan Carlos Gil as director of photography. Nana Fisher, who has often worked with Franco, will serve as head of his makeup team, while Jessica Drake will serve as the lead cast’s dialect coach.
Alanna de la Rosa, Maria Cecilia Botero, Harding Junior, Sian Chiong and Rafael Ernesto Hernandez are among the film’s supporting cast, with filming set to begin on August 15 in the Colombian cities of Cartagena and Bogota.
The role is one of Franco’s first since the 2019 animated film Artic Dogs and the HBO series The Deuce. The Oscar-winning actor was accused in a 2018 LA Times report by multiple women of sexually exploitative behavior following his Golden Globe win for The Disaster Artist. In 2021, Franco settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by actresses Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal — former students of the now-defunct Studio 4 acting school. Franco’s lawyers denied the allegations, but the actor admitted sleeping with students, although he said he wasn’t with anyone in his class.
