Alina of Cuba producer responds to John Leguizamo's criticism. Find out here

Producer John Martinez O'Felan has responded to Colombia-born actor John Leguizamo after the latter had commented on the casting of actor James Franco in the upcoming movie "Alina of Cuba". Franco is set to essay the role of iconic Cuban leader Fidel Castro in filmmaker Miguel Bardem's "Alina of Cuba".

Leguizamo recently took to Instagram and slammed the decision to cast James Franco in the movie, alleging that Hollywood is 'excluding' the Latinx community and the film based on Fidel Castro is difficult to narrate without exaggeration.

He further said he doesn't have problems with Franco but the actor is not Latino.

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After his post on Instagram, producer John Martinez O'Felan responded that he admires him as a great actor of the 90s. Still, his comments seem culturally uneducated and a blind attack with zero substance related to the project.

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He further said that his views on being a 'Latino' are ignorant since the living area or land mass doesn't determine the blood history or genetics. He continued by saying that John is suffering from the same identity crisis within the Hispanic community in Hollywood, who argue that they should only be identified as Latino. This perception is creating division in their community.

He concluded by saying that Leguizamo should see beyond himself, stop claiming to be the leader of the Latin community, and realize that the story is about a female Latin immigrant living in America.

Alina of Cuba stars James Franco, Ana Villafañe, and Mia Maestro in the lead roles and tells the life story of Alina Fernandez (Ana Villafañe), a social advocate who was exiled from Cuba and learns at the age of 10 that she is the daughter of Fidel Castro. The filming is expected to begin on August 15.