Anti-communist activist and daughter of Fidel Castro, Alina Fernández, has given her support to James Franco after he was cast to play her father.
Since the announcement last week, many have spoken out against the American actor's casting.
John Leguizamo and other Latin actors have criticised the decision to cast Franco as the Cuban leader. "How is this still going on?" the actor wrote in an Instagram post last week.
"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 b wrong! I don't got a prob with Franco but he ain't Latino!"
However, Fernández said that, "the project is almost entirely Latino, both in front and behind the camera."
"James Franco has an obvious physical resemblance with Fidel Castro, besides his skills and charisma," Fernández told Deadline. "I find the selection of the cast amazing."
The film, titled 'Alina of Cuba' follows the life of Fernández and her exile from Cuba in the 90's. The 66-year-old became a vocal critic of her father and the Cuban government. She left Cuba for Spain in 1993 using false papers and a wig.
Ana Villafañe stars alongside Franco as Fernández and Mía Maestro as her mother Natalia Revuelta, the socialite who had an affair with Castro.
Jose Rivera writes the script. Rivera wrote 'The Motorcycle Diaries' which followed a young Che Guevara, and Nilo Cruz, a Pultizer prize-winning playwright.
This is the second project, alongside period drama 'Me, You', announced recently to star Franco. They mark a return to acting after he stepped away in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations made against him.
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