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Producer of ‘Alina, a Cubana’ responds to John Leguizamo’s criticism of the casting of James Franco as Fidel Castro: ‘His comments are culturally illiterate’

After criticizing John Leguizamo in the cast of the independent film James Franco as the Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro. alina kubiProducer John Martinez O’Phelan responded, calling the comments “culturally illiterate”.

Directed by Miguel Bardem and based on a screenplay by José Rivera and Nilo Cruz, Franco stars alongside Mia Maestro, who plays Natalia “Nati” Revuelta, a Cuban-born socialite with whom Castro is romantically involved. The film is based on the true story of Alina Fernández, played by Ana Villafán, a Cuban refugee-turned-social defender who discovers at age 10 that she is Castro’s daughter.

Leguizamo, a Colombian-American actor who has written and acted in Broadway productions. latin history for idiotstook to Instagram on Friday to criticize the decision to cast Franco, questioning Hollywood’s “exclusion” from the Latino community, noting that the film about Castro is “a very difficult story without hype”.

“How’s it going?” Leguizamo, who has previously spoken out about the lack of Latino representation in Hollywood, opined about the cast. “How does Hollywood exclude us but steal our narratives? No more appropriation by Hollywood and streamers! Boycott! Is broken! Plus a seriously complicated story, no frills that would be wrong! I have no problem with Franco, but he’s not Latino!

In response, O’Fellan, the film’s producer, said in a statement. the hollywood reporter That admires Leguizamo, but his comments are a “blind attack”.

“Someone like John Leguizamo has historically been regarded by Hispanics as one of the first Latin American actors since the 1990s, and I have always admired him as a fellow countryman. But his comments are a blind and culturally illiterate attack with zero substance related to this project. ”

“The truth of the fact of ignorance is attributed to his statement indicating his personal view of being ‘Latino’ because land mass or residential area does not determine a person’s blood or genetic background,” he continues.

O’Phelan goes on to say that Leguizamo’s note “is great to talk about this because they represent the same confusion and identity crisis in Hollywood right now in the Hispanic community in the United States, which insists that we should only identify as Latino, which is mainly because . About the lies spread by actors who claim to represent us but instead create division among their own people.”

The producer concludes that Leguizamo’s criticism ends up hurting who the film is: Fernández.

“I think she has to get over herself and also recognize that this story is about a Latino immigrant woman living in the United States who has historical significance, led by a Latina woman, and I’m a normal person who does that, so she does too. have to understand that it’s a little disappointing that “to see our work attacked by someone who claims to be a leader in the Latino community,” she says.

alina kubi According to O’Phelan, it has a cast and crew from “at least seven nations around the world”, with production design by Carlos Osorio, editing by Diego Fernando Bustamante, costumes by Daniela Rivano and Juan Carlos Gil as director of photography. . . . Nana Fisher, who has always collaborated with Franco, will lead her makeup team, and Jessica Drake will serve as the lead actress’ dialect coach.

Alana de la Rosa, María Cecilia Botero, Harding Jr., Sian Cheong and Rafael Ernesto Hernández are among the supporting actors in the film, which will begin shooting on August 15 in the Colombian cities of Cartagena and Bogotá.

Franco’s role is one of the first since the 2019 animated film. arctic dogs and the hbo series Two. The Oscar-winning actor was accused Los Angeles Times In 2018, allegations of sexual exploitation by several women after winning the Golden Globe the mess maker. In 2021, Franco settled a sexual misconduct lawsuit brought by actresses Sarah Teeter-Kaplan and Tony Gaal, alumni of the defunct acting school Studio 4. Franco’s lawyers denied the allegations, but the actor admitted he slept with students, although he denounced. He didn’t go with anyone in his class.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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