James Franco Fidel Castro Casting Controversy Explained

screenrant.com:

There has been a lot of controversy over the decision to cast James Franco as Fidel Castro in the new movie Alina of Cuba. The biopic will be directed by Miguel Bardem with Mía Maestro to play Natalia Revuelta, a Cuban socialite that Castro had an affair with. Ana Villafañe will also star as Castro’s daughter, Alina Fernandez and the movie is expected to start production in August in Colombia.

Alina of Cuba focuses on Castro and Revuelta’s daughter, Alina, and her life as a social advocate after being exiled from Cuba. Franco will be starring alongside Alanna de la Rosa, Harding Junior, Sian Chion, Rafael Ernesto, and Maria Botero who starred in Encanto as the almost villainaous Abuela. Lead creative producer, John Martinez O’Felan, has said the movie hopes to be “truly inclusive through uniting actors and creatives from both intergenerational and recent Latin roots from the U.S, Latin America, and the world” (via Hola!), hence the casting of actors from a mixture of heritages.

Related: You Were Never Lovelier Is A Hollywood Musical Featuring Fidel Castro

However, there has been a huge backlash to Franco’s casting from the public and actors alike because of the decision to choose a White American to play a Cuban historical figure. O’Felan claims Franco’s casting was due to their facial similarities and Latin roots. Franco has a quarter Portuguese ancestry through his father’s family, but he is not Latino. The controversy stems from sensitivity around White Americans being cast in non-White roles, especially biopic roles, over actors who are of the same heritage as the characters. In this case, the backlash against casting James Franco in the role of Castro is due to plenty of Latin-American or Cuban actors being ignored