Actors, pundits and even politicians have since argued that more needs to be done to remedy the historical exclusion of Latinos at a key moment in Hollywood, where there is a public demand for more inclusion and diversity in the industry.
But the controversy also fueled a larger debate online: Who is eligible to play what kinds of roles? Whether an actor’s ethnicity, race or nationality matches the character, with some arguing that artistic freedom and skill should be the guiding principle.
“It’s about people who are tired of the lack of Latino representation in the industry, of the constant erasure of the community, and of people not making the effort to authentically cast these roles,” said Ana-Christina Ramon, UCLA co-author. The Hollywood Diversity Report, which features the representation of different ethnic groups on and off screen.
The story grabbed national headlines after Colombian-American actor John Leguizamo took to Instagram to condemn the decision.
“How is this still going on?” he said on Instagram. “How is Hollywood excluding us, but also stealing our narratives? No more appropriation of Hollywood and broadcasters! Boycott!”
Leguizamo, who wrote and performed in the Broadway production of The Latin History of Morons, continued:
“We’re 30 percent of the box office — I want 30 percent of the roles, okay? Thirty percent,” said the actor in a different video posted on Instagram. “That means out of every 10 movies, three of them have to be Latino movies, and out of 10 actors in your Marvel movies, three of them will be Latino actors.”
Latinos make up more than 18 percent of the population, yet make up just 5.7 percent of film roles in 2020, according to the UCLA 2021 “Hollywood Diversity Report.” Small screen representation is equally dismal: Latinos made up just 6.3 percent of the share of televised roles in the 2019-2020 season, according to the same report.
Castro the film is based on a screenplay by Jose Rivera, who is Puerto Rican, and Nilo Cruz, a Cuban American. It follows the true-life story of Alina Fernandez (played by Cuban-American actress Ana Villafañe), a Cuban expatriate turned social advocate who was born out of the love affair between Cuban socialite Natalia Revuelta and “El Comandante,” the name of Castro.
Miguel Bardem, who is Spanish, has signed on to direct.
Fernandez – who learned Castro was her father when she was 10 and would grow up to be a fierce critic of his regime – has expressed her approval of Franco’s casting, praising the “obvious physical resemblance to Fidel Castro”. , as well as his “skills”. and charisma,” she said in an interview with Deadline.
Franco’s agent and publicist did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
John Martinez O’Felan, the project’s lead creative producer, told Deadline that they were looking for an actor with a “physical likeness” to Castro and focused on his “Gallic heraldry,” adding that Franco, whose father is of Portuguese origin, fits that mold best.
O’Felan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, he also dismissed Leguizamo’s criticism that Franco was not Latino as “culturally uneducated” and misguided, representing “Hollywood’s confusion and identity crisis” about who should identify as Latino.
The term “Hispanic” is used to describe people from the Americas and Spain who speak Spanish or are descended from Spanish-speaking communities; while “Latinx,” a gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina, describes people with roots in Latin America. The two can overlap and are often used interchangeably.
O’Felan’s technical argument makes no sense, Ramon said. The Cuban leader was a historically well-known Latin American figure who had tremendous influence on the lives of people in Cuba and Latin America and, given his background, should have been represented by someone of the same Latin descent—or at least descent. Spanish, Ramon. tha is director of research and civic engagement for the Division of Social Sciences at UCLA.
Film critic Carlos Aguilar argued that the current push for more representation of people of color in Hollywood makes it much harder for the lack of representation and appropriation of Latino roles by non-Latino actors to go unnoticed.
“Hollywood used to get away with it, almost without consequences, but things are starting to change, that just doesn’t fly anymore,” Aguilar said.
Leguizamo, and others, have pointed in recent days to several examples of white actors playing Latino roles over the years — from Marlon Brando playing Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata (1952) to Al Pacino in “Scarface” portraying the immigrant Cuban turned drug kingpin, Tony. Montana.
Talk of Hollywood involvement has brought attention to other casting controversies. In 2018, for example, Ed Skrein faced backlash from the Asian American community when he was cast in Hellboy as Ben Daimio, a comic book character who is Japanese American.
The outrage was such that Skrein decided to remove himself from the role.
As the controversy unfolded, some people on social media argued that actors should have the artistic freedom to play any character, regardless of their race, ethnicity or nationality, and be based on talent alone.
But experts say this would be an ideal scenario if, in fact, there was a level playing field. For Latinos, historically this has not been the case.
“But those who make that argument seem to forget that we’re on this path of, of course, correcting positive and meaningful Latinx representation in the industry, but we’ve barely begun to address the historical lack of representation,” Aguilar said. “But we’re not there yet, so this is still a utopia.”
Aguilar and Brown say that Latinas are rarely cast in roles that are not explicitly Latino, often pigeonholed as stereotypical gangster or maid characters, or passed over for lead roles unless they are explicitly written as Latino.
“There just aren’t enough roles for them, so when you don’t even consider them for visible roles like these historical figures, directly tied to their identity, you’re basically saying there’s no room for them in this industry, “Aguilar. said.
News of Franco’s casting came after Warner Bros. Discovery said it would not release “Batgirl,” starring Afro-Latina actress Leslie Grace, and canceled HBO Max comedy series “Gordita Chronicles.” which tells the experiences of a girl from the Dominican Republic and her family adjusting to their new American life in Miami.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D) said Sunday that the shutdown of both projects shed light on what he called “systemic racism against Latinos” in the entertainment industry.
“When your industry is based in LA, a city that’s 47% Latino, but Latinos make up only 6% of the industry, that’s a pretty strong case for systemic racism in a ‘liberal’ industry,” he said in I tweetadding that this created a “narrative gap” of Latino history, culture and contributions.
