People are unhappy that James Franco will be playing Fidel Castro in the next movie
The upcoming movie Alina of Cuba will tell the tale of Alina Castro, the exiled daughter of the legendary Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who later rose to prominence as a social activist.
Ana Villafae will play the part of Alina, and Alanna de la Rosa, Harding Junior, Sian Chion, Rafael Ernesto, and Maria Botero will also be a part of the cast.
Although the ensemble so far seems very impressive, there is one casting decision for the film that both fans and actors are unhappy with. James Franco has been cast in the role of the illustrious leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro.
Franco is a white actor, and there has recently been a lot of controversy in Hollywood regarding white actors being cast in roles of a different ethnicity, even though there are perfectly capable actors of that ethnicity willing to take the role on. This is the obvious reason why the public is unhappy with the decision.
Franco was chosen to play Castro due to his facial resemblance to Castro and his Latin heritage, according to the film’s creative producer, John Martinez O’Felan, who also justified the choice.
Although James Franco does in fact descend from a fourth of the Portuguese population, this does not make him what most would regard to be a real Latino.
Several Latin actors have posted about the situation on social media.
While Franco is preparing to play the well-known former president of Cuba, actor Jeff Torres posted on Twitter that he is “auditioning for another generic Latin-American drug dealer.”
On the other hand, John Leguizamo tweeted, “How is this still going on?” in reference to the practice of using white actors to portray members of other ethnic groups when those actors are readily accessible, willing, and able to do so.
Miguel Bardem is directing Alina of Cuba, which is scheduled to begin filming in August. It is now unknown whether or not the casting dispute around Franco will have an impact on the final product.
