"Boycott!": John Leguizamo Insta-Rants After James Franco Lands Role Of
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All on Mon Aug 8 12:36:08 2022
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Actor John Leguizamo lashed out at Hollywood and streaming platforms on
Friday, accusing them of �cultural appropriation� after he learned that actor James Franco had been cast as dictator Fidel Castro in the upcoming film
�Alina of Cuba.�
Sharing a screen shot of an article announcing the casting decision on Instagram, Leguizamo added a caption complaining that both Hollywood and streaming platforms often cast non-Latino actors to play iconic Latino roles.
�How is this still going on? How is Hollywood excluding us but stealing our narratives as well? No more appropriation Hollywood and streamers!� Leguizamo said. �Boycott! This F�d up! Plus seriously difficult story to tell without aggrandizement which would b wrong! I don�t got a prob with Franco but he
ain�t Latino!�
The filmmakers defended the decision by pointing out the fact that Franco, whose ancestry includes Portuguese along with Russian, Jewish, and Swedish, actually shared a similar facial structure to Castro � who was born in Cuba
but of Spanish (European) descent.
�To get there on such a tough look to cast, we used Fidel Castro�s ancient Galician heraldry as our focal compass, and then combed through the entire ranks of actors with Latin roots in Hollywood to find someone who has a
similar facial structure,� John Martinez O�Felan told Deadline, adding, �In executing a close search into our hopefuls through the eye of Spanish and Portuguese genealogy which the Galicians held, we found that James, by far,
had the closest facial likeness.�
Castro�s own daughter Alina Fern�ndez approved the casting decision as well, saying, �James Franco has an obvious physical resemblance with Fidel Castro, besides his skills and charisma.�
Fernandez also touted the fact that nearly the entire project � both in front of the camera and behind � is Latino.
�I find the selection of the cast amazing,� she said. �Ana Villafa�e is extraordinarily talented, and not only as an actress because she is also a great singer, a very complete performer. I�m sure that M�a Maestro, an
actress I admire, will understand and interpret Naty, my mother, in a unique way and I can�t wait to see her building her character.�
Leguizamo followed his first complaint with a video explaining that his complaint had arisen out of his own experience with what he described as
�brown face� � white actors like Charlton Heston and Ben Affleck being made
up to look Latin in order to play certain roles.
�Brown face in Hollywood ain�t new! Imagine all the Latin stars who could�ve been made in these roles!!! But we weren�t allowed. We have been the largest ethnic group in America since the birth of the Nation and the most excluded from the good and riches of our labor and sacrifice!� he added in a second follow-up, along with a list of �White actors playing Latino!�
Anthony Hopkins as El Zorro in �The Mask of Zorro�
Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as Maria and Tony in �West Side Story� (1961) Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in �Argo� (2012)
Will Ferrell as Armando in �La Casa de mi Padre� (2012)
Jack Palance as Fidel Castro in �Che� (1969)
Eli Wallach as Tuco in �The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly� (1966) and as
Calvera in �Magnificent Seven� (1960)
Hank Azaria as Agador in �The Birdcage� (1996)
Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata in �Viva Zapata!� (1952)
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena in �The Mask of Zorro� & �The Legend of Zorro� (1998 and 2005)
Johnny Depp as Bon Bon/Lieutenant Victor in �Before Night Falls� (2000)
Cliff Curtis as Pablo Escobar in �Blow� (2001) and as Emilio Restrepo in �Colombiana� (2011)
Madonna as Evita in �Evita� (1996)
Armand Assante as a Cuban in �Mambo Kings�
Al Pacino as Tony Montana in �Scarface� (1983)
John Turturro as Jes�s in �The Big Lebowski� (1998)
Jack Black as Nacho in �Nacho Libre� (2006)
Ingrid Bergman as Mar�a in �For Whom the Bell Tolls� (1943)
Robert Downey Jr. as Steve Lopez in �The Soloist� (2009)
Jared Leto in Lonely Hearts as Raymond Mart�nez (2006)
Pacino in Carlito�s Way 1993
Marisa Tomei in The Perez Family
Barry Miller in Fame movie playing Puerto Rican kid named Ralph
--
Let's go Brandon!
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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