James Franco is making an unlikely return to the spotlight after a sex scandal by playing Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Franco, 45, is currently in Naples, where filming is imminent on the indie film Alina Of Cuba, which tells the story of Castro’s illegitimate daughter Alina Fernandez. As this picture shows, it looks as if Franco has prepared for the role of the revolutionary communist wholeheartedly: transforming himself by growing an untidy beard and bulking up his frame considerably.
It certainly makes a change of image from previous roles, which have included playing the late Hollywood heart-throb James Dean.
Californian Franco’s father is of Portuguese and Swedish descent, and his mother has Russian Jewish heritage.
Producer John Martinez O’Felan of Mankind Entertainment says that the dash of Portuguese makes Franco the perfect fit to play Castro, whose father was Spanish-born.
It looks as if James Franco has prepared for the role by transforming himself by growing an untidy beard and bulking up his frame considerably
Actor James Franco pictured at the Golden Globes Awards in January 2018. That year it was reported that five women had accused him of inappropriate or sexually exploitative behaviour
He said: ‘Our director’s original order was to find an actor who holds a close physical resemblance to the real Castro to build from; along with finding someone Alina Fernandez would strongly endorse.’
He added: ‘We combed through the entire ranks of actors with Latin roots in Hollywood to find someone who has a similar facial structure to Castro. We found that James, by far, had the closest facial likeness of our industry’s leading actors.’
Castro was married twice and had at least ten children. He had a son, Fidelito, with his first wife Mirta before they divorced in 1955.
But during the marriage he also fathered two illegitimate children: Jorge with an admirer, and Alina with Havana beauty Natalia Revuelta Clews, who was involved in the revolutionary movement.
A lina discovered when she was ten that El Commandante was her biological father. As an adult, she became one of Fidel’s most outspoken critics and eventually, in 1993, she fled to Spain, disguised in a wig. She now lives in Miami, Florida.
Castro was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, and under his rule, Cuba became a one-party Communist state. He died in 2016.
Franco will play Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the indie film Alina Of Cuba which is currently filming in Naples
Alina Of Cuba has been written and will be directed by Spanish film auteur Miguel Bardem. It is one of Franco’s first ventures back into acting after a four-year hiatus.
In 2018 it was reported that five women had accused him of inappropriate or sexually exploitative behaviour. The following year, two students from his acting school, Studio 4, filed a lawsuit against him and his partners, seeking damages after allegations that they had endured ‘sexually exploitative auditions and film shoots’. Franco denied the claims.
The lawsuit was settled with Franco paying more than $2.2 million. Some $894,000 went to the two women citing sexual exploitation, and the rest to 1,500 former students who said that they were defrauded.
In December 2021, Franco admitted to having had sex with students; and revealed that he had been receiving treatment for sexual addiction since 2016.
Former Eastenders star takes to the stage
Former Friday Night Dinner and EastEnders star Tracy-Ann Oberman is heading to Stratford -upon-Avon, where her radically re-imagined production of The Merchant Of Venice begins previews from September 21 — at the Swan Theatre — as part of the RSC’s autumn/winter season. But she admits she had to be reined in over her idea for publicising the show.
A campaigner against anti-Semitism, Oberman — who plays Shylock in her version, The Merchant Of Venice 1936 — said: ‘It was Hitler’s favourite play. I wanted to put that on the posters, but was told it probably wasn’t a selling point.’
Harry’s not too posh for Becks
The bromance between Prince Harry and David Beckham may no longer be quite as close as it was, but they do remain on good terms. I’m told that the Prince made a point of saying hello to Becks on September 4 when he went to watch LAFC take on Inter Miami, Beckham’s team.
The two men got to know each other in 2010, when backing the FA’s bid to host the World Cup. The friendship progressed and they were pictured together attending the 2012 Olympics in London. Becks and his fashion designer wife Victoria were invited to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018. ‘They are friendly,’ I’m assured.
Prince Harry pictured at the LAFC match against Inter Miami on September 4
Meet Thandiwe’s talented Miss Ripley
Ripley Parker (pictured) is a rising screenwriter and is the 22-year-old daughter of Thandiwe Newton and Ol Parker
Introducing the talented Miss Ripley… Ripley Parker, that is. The 22-year-old is the elder daughter of actress Thandiwe Newton and writer/director Ol Parker, and she is a rising screenwriter, like her dad.
Parker, pictured left, has written a Heartstopper-meets-Fleabag comedy drama called Everything Now, for Netflix. Produced by Left Bank Pictures (who make The Crown), it’s about a 16-year-old called Mia who returns to school after spending seven months in an eating disorders unit. It streams from October 5.
Ripley said: ‘I hope it will mean something to someone, somewhere. It’s the show I wish I had seen when I was 15.’
Next she is set to adapt Young Adult fantasy novel Lies We Sing To The Sea for a film made by Kris Thykier’s UK-based company Archery Pictures.
British actress Thandie Newton (right) with her daughter Ripley Parker as they attend the annual British Academy Film Awards in 2019
Ripley’s younger sister Nico was in the live-action Dumbo and is also a rising star — but on the other side of the camera.
Their parents separated last April, shortly after Newton dropped out of Magic Mike’s Last Dance ‘to deal with family matters’ (she was replaced in the movie by Salma Hayek).
Sources said she had appeared stressed during filming and had brought her two pet rabbits to her hotel for emotional support.
Is newcomer Cailee Spaeny about to land herself a spot at the Oscars? The 25-year-old actress, from Springfield, Missouri, is being lauded for her sensitive portrayal of Elvis’s wife in Priscilla and was the surprise winner of the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival (many thought she might get a newcomer award instead).
Spaeny said that making the movie had been ‘very daunting’, but that Priscilla Presley herself had helped. ‘Priscilla was very generous with her time and was very kind and supportive,’ she said.
Sir Elton John is launching his musical version of The Devil Wears Prada in the UK, after an attempt at lift-off in the U.S ended in disaster.
The show, pictured, opened in Chicago last summer for a preview run before an intended stint on Broadway. However it was critically mauled to such an extent that it never made it to the Great White Way.
The New York Post memorably dubbed it a ‘haute mess’ and added: ‘Every song is lousy and there is nothing worth fixing.’
The show is now due to open in Plymouth in July 2024, before transferring to the West End next October. It is promised to be ‘hilariously fun and fabulously stylish’. The whoopsie in Chicago is fleetingly acknowledged as ‘a developmental run’.
Vogue stars bid farewell to boss… and building
A-listers including Naomi Campbell, Kate and Lila Moss, Zendaya and Tom Holland have been secretly recording tributes to outgoing British Vogue Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful.
A string of fashion’s creme de la creme have been trooping into the basement of Vogue House, which has been booked out as a studio for the past few weeks. There, they have filmed tributes to Enninful — as well as bidding fond farewells to Mayfair’s Vogue House, which Conde Nast is vacating.
I’m told: ‘The changes are being celebrated as the end of an era. Edward will be the last Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue, as the next person will be called Head of Editorial Content. And he’s definitely not going quietly.’
His successor is expected to be low-profile Londoner Chioma Nnadi, who has been working alongside Vogue supremo Dame Anna Wintour in New York for the past few years. Hers is the only name in circulation at Conde Nast. A source says: ‘If it is Chioma — and everyone at Conde Nast is saying it is — it would stack up, as it is very important for Anna to have a woman editor of Vogue, not a man.
British Vogue Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful (pictured) final Vogue issue will be in March 2024
‘One of the big differences between Edward and Anna was that he wanted to make the magazine gender neutral, whereas Anna was adamant it would always be a woman’s magazine.’
Apparently Enninful’s husband Alec Maxwell has been filming the celebrity tributes via his production company. The footage is expected to be released online to coincide with Enninful’s final issue, which will be the March 2024 edition, released in February.
The 51-year-old announced in June that he was leaving to pursue lucrative new commercial avenues. He will remain the global creative and cultural advisor of Vogue. His ultimate boss Wintour, 73, who has been the editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988, shows no signs of wanting to step aside.
When it comes to singing, there’s Wonka – and wonky
Chalamaniacs watch out — Timothee Chalamet is to show off a new talent in Wonka… a rather tuneful voice.
Paul King, the Wonka director, tells Total Film magazine: ‘He’s got a beautiful singing voice. The person it reminds me of is… Bing Crosby.
‘There is quite a range, because it goes from a couple of bigger show-stopper sort of things to moments of real emotion.’
The film — an origin story about Roald Dahl’s loopy chocolatier — is set for a Christmas release.
Timothee Chalamet, who is starring as Willy Wonka in the new film, has been seeing a voice coach
Chalamet has also been seeing a voice coach to tackle the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, put on hold due to the industry strikes.
Let’s hope he doesn’t get tips from Dawn French, who says her voice is so bad it lost her a chance to appear in the original Mamma Mia! film.
French met and sang for the musical director, feeling that it was a ‘formality’. But after three songs ‘he kind of surrendered, closed the lid on his piano, and said: “Well, it’s been very nice to meet you.”‘
Afterwards, ‘my phone went and it was Maureen, my agent. She said: “Listen, er, it’s not going to work. Your singing was appalling.”‘
