John Leguizamo took to Instagram to speak out against the recent casting of James Franco as Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro in the upcoming independent film, “Alina of Cuba.”
“How is this still going on?” Leguizamo asked his Instagram followers.
“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 [problem] with Franco but he ain’t Latino!”
“Alina of Cuba” showcases the life of Alina who is Castro’s illegitimate daughter and a critic of his reign in Cuba before she left the country and defected to Spain in 1993.
Franco will star opposite Ana Villafañe, who portrays the title character Alina Fernandez, Castro’s daughter.
Despite the critics coming from Leguizamo, the real Alina Fernandez supported Franco’s casting as Fidel Castro. She is participating in the film as an on-set creative and biographical consultant.
Leguizamo’s post came in response to a Deadline article reporting on the announcement that Franco, who is Caucasian, would cast Fidel Castro.
John Martinez O’Felan, the film’s lead producer, told Deadline the production chose Franco after searching through “the entire ranks of actors with Latin roots in Hollywood to find someone who has a similar facial structure” to Castro. Someone with “Galician heraldry,” or roots in northwest Spain.
Leguizamo is an often advocate for Latino representation in Hollywood. in a 2020 intevriew with People, he said: “We’re less than 1% of the stories told by Hollywood and streaming media and networks when we’re almost 20% of the population, 25% of the U.S. box office. I just feel like it’s such a damage to kids not to see themselves reflected back in positive ways.”
