The Fast & Furious actor brings his famous recurring screen identity into a different position of power in the atmospheric prison mystery, while opening up about its haunted location, Latino representation and the hard lessons he has learned in Hollywood.

Hollywood’s “Hector” Returns

Noel Gugliemi has spent more than three decades becoming one of Hollywood’s most recognizable Latino character actors, often before audiences even knew his name. His face has appeared across studio blockbusters, crime dramas, comedies and television, frequently as a figure who enters a scene already carrying an implied history.

Online, Gugliemi is nearly as famous for repeatedly playing characters named Hector as he is for any individual film. Beginning most famously with the street-race organizer in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, he has carried the name through numerous unrelated films and television series. Fans have even dubbed his loosely connected body of roles the “Hector Cinematic Universe.”

Gugliemi explained the pattern bluntly during an appearance on Drink Champs: “In Hollywood, they only know two names for Mexican actors, bro. It’s Hector and Carlos.”

After receiving scripts filled with those two names throughout his career, Gugliemi eventually embraced Hector as his signature and began requesting the name himself whenever he had the influence to do so. What began as repeated Latino typecasting became an instantly recognizable personal brand with genuine pop-culture staying power.

After receiving scripts filled with those two names throughout his career, Gugliemi eventually embraced Hector as his signature and began requesting the name himself whenever he had the influence to do so. What began as repeated Latino typecasting became an instantly recognizable personal brand with genuine pop-culture staying power.

Time of Death adds Hector Ramos to that legacy, but with an important reversal. This time, Gugliemi is not being typecast as a prisoner or gang member. He is one of the guards controlling the prison and a key figure in the mystery surrounding a vanished inmate, which is central to the film’s story.

“This time I’m the guard, not the prisoner,” Gugliemi told Latin Heat. “So that worked for me.”

A Mystery Buried Inside a Decaying Prison

Directed by Will Wernick, Time of Death stars Jack Ryan franchise star and HBO Max The Penguin actor Michael Kelly as Detective Frank Morley, who is sent to a decaying prison on the verge of shutdown after a prisoner vanishes without a trace.

What begins with the familiar machinery of a police investigation steadily develops into a more disorienting psychological mystery as Morley’s search for facts destabilizes his grasp on what is real. The story combines the propulsion of a missing-person investigation with the atmosphere of Gothic prison horror. Screenwriter Jason Rosen deserves particular credit for the film’s intelligent, layered writing and for giving Gugliemi a substantial role woven directly into the central mystery.

Legendary Usual Suspects actor Kevin Pollak brings decades of dramatic and thriller experience to Warden Beau LaRue; Meanwhile, known for his work on iconic films like Heat, and more recently Send Help, Dennis Haysbert lends his unmistakable authority to Officer Aarons; and American Pie franchise actress Mena Suvari appears as Dr. Allison Burrell.

For Gugliemi, whose extensive filmography also includes Training Day, Bruce Almighty, S.W.A.T., Crank and The Dark Knight Rises, he easily becomes part of that formidable ensemble star cast of actors, placing one of cinema’s most recognizable street-level character actors alongside performers whose voices and faces carry their own immediate weight.

During an exclusive interview with Latin Heat, Gugliemi spoke about making Time of Death, the puzzle at the center of its story and the camaraderie behind its grim setting. The conversation then widened into an powerfully candid discussion of Latino representation, the difference between visibility and genuine support, and the personal code that has allowed him to survive Hollywood long enough to tell the difference.

Becoming Hector Ramos

For a film built around uncertainty, Gugliemi is an ideal piece of the ensemble. Audiences immediately recognize the toughness and authenticity he brings into the frame, but Hector’s exact position within the mystery is less easily read.

“I like doing different films that are different from things that I’ve done before,” Gugliemi said. “I like the thriller, suspense side of it all. And just me being a prison guard—this time I’m the guard, not the prisoner.”

“I love doing out-of-the-box stuff, so getting to be a part of this film was an awesome experience, especially with the cast that we had and the location we were filming at.”

Hector works closely with the prison’s senior authority figures, played by Pollak and Haysbert.

“My character was the right-hand man of the two main prison guards there—the warden, Kevin Pollak, and Dennis Haysbert,” Gugliemi explained. “I was kind of like the right-hand man of those two.”

“I love that stuff where I’m the go-to guy and the one that’s making a lot of this stuff happen, because I’m the guinea pig in the story.”

Despite Hector’s proximity to those in power, Gugliemi said his character does not have a complete understanding of what is unfolding around him.

“I kind of knew what was going on, but didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “At the same time, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but I was part of the reveal later. So it was cool.”

A Puzzle That Demands the Audience’s Attention

Gugliemi sees the film as one that requires active participation from its audience, rewarding viewers who pay attention to details that only become fully legible once its pieces converge.

“It’s kind of like a figure-it-out puzzle as you’re watching the film,” he said. “You’ve got to put your thinking cap on, because you don’t really know what’s up until the end.”

“It’s one of those movies where you really have to keep on your toes, because if you miss a certain part, it’s not going to make sense. It’s one of those puzzles you’ve got to put together.”

Its prison setting turns the investigation into a pressure chamber, tightening the mystery until its late revelations force earlier moments to be reconsidered.

“It definitely has you wondering: Who did this? Who got away with that? What’s going on in the prison? What’s happening here?” Gugliemi said. “You don’t get it until you watch the end—then you get it.”

Filming Where “It All Went Down”

Production took place inside the former West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, a Gothic stone facility that operated for more than a century. The prison witnessed executions by hanging and electric chair before closing, and now operates as a museum and tourist attraction known in part for its reported paranormal activity.

“We were at a real joint where it all went down,” Gugliemi said. “It’s a museum now, so they can walk you through it and tell you, ‘This death happened here, and that happened there.’ We got to hear and see some of that stuff firsthand.”

That physical authenticity gives Time of Death a scale and texture that would be difficult to reproduce on a conventional stage. The heavy stone, aging cells and execution history are not decorative production design; they are part of the environment surrounding the performances. The film’s most unsettling asset was already standing before the cameras arrived.

“They actually say it was a haunted prison,” Gugliemi recalled. “We didn’t have any incidents on set, but just to walk around it, you could feel the presence and how creepy it was.”

The Complicated Legacy of Hollywood’s “Hector”

The ease with which audiences associate Gugliemi with a particular kind of role makes him an especially revealing figure through whom to consider Latino representation.

His performances brought specificity and authenticity to characters that might otherwise have been anonymous stereotypes. At the same time, the repetition exposes the limited imagination with which Latino men have often been cast: criminality becomes not merely one story they can inhabit, but the default language through which the industry recognizes them.

The “Hector Cinematic Universe” joke sits directly inside that contradiction. It celebrates Gugliemi’s extraordinary recognizability and endurance while also revealing how routinely Hollywood recycles the same names, visual codes and assumptions when constructing Latino men.

Gugliemi has been savvy enough to turn that limitation into a career-long signature. The industry’s lack of imagination remains visible underneath the meme.

His own path into acting was anything but conventional. Of Mexican and Italian descent, Gugliemi was abandoned by his parents and experienced homelessness as a teenager before acting redirected the course of his life.

What began unexpectedly grew into a career spanning well over 100 screen credits. His role as Hector in The Fast and the Furious became the decisive acceleration point, making both his face and that character name part of popular culture.

Social Media Has Opened New Doors

“Now with Latino acting, it’s a lot different because of social media,” Gugliemi said. “A lot of people are blooming more than they were in the past because now we have an open gateway to be seen, to be heard, to tell our stories and catch people’s attention.”

“I like that things like that are happening.”

Yet access to an audience does not automatically create access to sustainable opportunity. Nor does the increased public language around representation prove that those who use it have consistently opened doors for others.

Gugliemi draws a sharp distinction between visibility and solidarity, and between appearing supportive in public and taking meaningful action when no one is watching.

“Where Are All of Our Latino Films?”

Speaking candidly, Gugliemi said some of the most important support in his own career came from outside the Latino community.

“Back in the early days, not a lot of Latinos helped Latinos,” he said. “I would be lying to you if I told you different. I got farther in this business because of Black and white people than my own people.”

His criticism shifts part of the conversation away from an exclusively external demand that Hollywood do better. Gugliemi also asks what Latino professionals who have attained influence have done with it.

For him, the scarcity of Latino-led films is not an abstract statistic. It is evidence of opportunities that were not created, careers that were not developed and power that was not passed forward.

“Where’s my proof? Where are all of our Latino films?” he asked. “We don’t have a lot of Latino films out there.”

“Back in the early days, I could name about 50 white movie stars and 50 Black movie stars, but you could only name about 10 or fewer Latino stars.”

Calling Out Performative Advocacy

Gugliemi is particularly skeptical of public advocacy that, in his view, is not matched by a person’s conduct or history when the cameras are off.

“Now that social media has come out and we cannot be ignored, people want to jump on the bandwagon and say, ‘It was always about our people,’” Gugliemi said. “No, it wasn’t—because if it was, where are our Latino films from back then, when you had power?”

In an industry where the language of representation can itself become part of a public image, Gugliemi said he has learned not to accept the right message as automatic evidence of the right behavior.

“When I see people on a podcast, a radio interview or in a magazine, I don’t know if I can get behind you because I don’t know you personally enough to know if you’re really about what you’re saying,” he explained.

“I thank you for saying the right stuff, but I don’t know if you’re really about that off camera the way you talk about it on camera.”

Praising Real Ones & Latino Trailblazers

That distinction allows Gugliemi to identify the people he believes have handled success correctly. Among the Latino performers whom he considers authentic in both their accomplishments and their willingness to support others, he specifically named Emilio Rivera and Danny Trejo.

Both actors built careers from the kinds of roles Hollywood frequently assigns Latino men, yet expanded their presence far beyond any single archetype and remained, in Gugliemi’s estimation, accessible and real.

“My platform is not my platform,” Gugliemi said. “My platform is to give my platform to someone else, pass the baton, help people succeed and let them know that you can do what I’m doing.”

“This is for everyone.”

“Emilio Rivera is one of them. Danny Trejo—that’s another one,” he continued. “These are guys who are men of integrity and have done it correctly. They’re real ones in the game.”

Learning to Protect a Good Heart

Gugliemi’s advice to young Latino actors is grounded in his own experience helping performers through Suspect Entertainment, which worked to place Latino talent in film and television.

He initially gave that time freely, connecting people to rooms they could not have entered alone because he wanted to see others succeed. .

“It’s okay to have a good heart, but you’ve got to know how to protect your heart,” Gugliemi said. “You’ve got to know who you’re helping and why.”

“You might be helping the wrong person achieve some goals and putting someone in a spot who shouldn’t be in that spot.”

His decision to charge for that work was not a rejection of community. It was a boundary: if someone proved disloyal or simply quit, he would no longer be left carrying the full cost of the time he had invested.

“Do a heart check and a personality check first before you help anybody,” he said. “Be careful. Recognize who you’re dealing with, who you’re talking to, who you’re messing with and who you shouldn’t be messing with.”

Integrity as a Path Forward

Gugliemi’s larger lesson is not to stop helping or to treat every relationship with suspicion. It is to move with integrity, evaluate character before extending opportunity and expect the same standard from others.

“Watch out for slime, and don’t be slimy yourself,” he said. “You know how you move forward in any business? Just be a man of integrity. Do what you say. If you say something, do it.”

For Gugliemi, integrity is not merely a private virtue. It is also how lasting professional relationships are built.

“That’s why people want to do favors for you and advance you, because people go, ‘I can trust this guy. He’s a man of integrity. She’s a woman of integrity,’” he said. “People naturally want to do favors.”

“And be nice to everybody. I don’t care if you’re the one washing the windows on the building or you own the building.”

The Film That Changed Everything

The Fast and the Furious remains the film Gugliemi credits with changing the momentum of his career.

“After Fast and the Furious, my phone started ringing a lot more,” he said. “That’s what kicked off the roller-coaster ride.”

The role gave him reach and longevity, but his ambitions now extend beyond waiting for Hollywood to imagine him differently. He is developing projects of his own that deliberately move him outside the criminal and street-oriented roles that made him recognizable.

Creating Roles Hollywood Has Not Offered Him

“I’m writing a film right now,” Gugliemi revealed. “It’s kind of like Pretty Woman. It’s a love story and a fish-out-of-water story.”

“The way I explain it in three sentences or less is: a gangster who works at a five-star restaurant steals Hollywood’s biggest main squeeze.”

He is also developing a faith-centered documentary that would allow audiences to see a different side of him.

“I’m also working on a documentary called What Is a Christian? I’m the host of that,” Gugliemi said. “There are stories I’m writing that are breaking character and putting me in a different limelight.”

“Because I always say that if no one is going to give you the opportunity, give the opportunity to yourself.”

That impulse toward self-determination connects the two sides of Gugliemi’s conversation. His criticism of Latino representation is ultimately about who receives the power to create opportunity, while his career advice is about what a person does once that power arrives.

It is not enough to be visible. Someone must use that visibility to widen the frame for other Latinos.

Hector Holds the Keys in ‘Time of Death’

For now, Time of Death offers audiences a different view of Gugliemi within the kind of dark, high-stakes world he knows how to command.

The film does not attempt to erase the screen identity he spent decades building. It shifts his position within it—from the man seemingly limited by his environment and his role, now in control of it. Something that at this stage of his career, Gugliemi seems adamant to represent behind the camera as well in his real life.

Hector may be another familiar name in Gugliemi’s filmography, but this time he holds the keys.

That combination makes Time of Death a particularly fitting new chapter in his career. It delivers the “Hector” audiences immediately recognize, places him within a polished ensemble mystery led by Kelly, Pollak, Haysbert and Suvari, and surrounds them with a real location whose history intensifies the film’s psychological unease.

For viewers encountering him through the film, Hector Ramos is an entry point into a career—and a larger conversation about representation—that extends far beyond the prison walls of the film, and the walls of Hollywood.

Time of Death is now available to rent or purchase on major digital platforms.

The post EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood’s “Hector” Noel Gugliemi Takes the Keys in ‘Time of Death’ first appeared on .

Filmmaker Gigi Saul Guerrero Is Set to Direct

By Xavier LeBlanc

The 2021 Latin Heat Rising Star Award recipient, Annie Gonzalez, is living up to that title as she has now officially been cast in the lead role of iconic Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera in the aptly titled film Jenni. The film is being directed by fellow Mexican actress and filmmaker Gigi Saul Guerrero, who is currently signed to a first-look deal with Blumhouse Productions. Jenni is the first feature film to be authorized by Rivera’s estate, and is being produced by Mucho Mas Media and De Line Pictures.

This will be Gonzalez second lead role in a feature film and she is doing it up in a big way. She will not only star in the title bio-pic she will also executive produce for Greenlit At Vix. Filming began in Bogota, Colombia and will wrap up in Los Angeles and is set to premiere exclusively via ViX and in select movie theaters in the United States and Mexico later this year.

Jenni will center on Rivera’s rise as a Spanish singer who successfully crossed over to U.S. and global audiences, as well as her work as a women’s rights activist. Rivera’s unprecedented, groundbreaking career as a female entertainer within an industry formerly dominated by men, made her one of the best-selling regional Mexican artists of all time. Rivera earned 15 gold and platinum selling records, top-drawing international tours and in 2012 she was named one of the top 25 most powerful women by People en Español. 

Gonzalez is a talented young Latina actress who first began her career as a child with appearances on shows such as ABC’s Without a Trace, and has rapidly established an impressive resume for herself in recent years. This includes her most notable breakout role on the 2020 Netflix series Gentefied, in which she played the character of Lidia Solis. The show’s themes revolved around gentrification, family and dreams of three Mexican-American cousins in the East L.A. As a Mexican-American woman herself, Gonzalez identifies as being proudly Chicana. 

Most recently, Gonzalez wrapped production on her starring role in the upcoming Searchlight Pictures film Flamin’ Hot as Judy Montañez, the wife of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos’ inventor Richard Montañez. The film, which also stars Jesse Garcia as the inventor, is being directed by the multi-talented Eva Longoria, who was recently signaled out by Variety as one of 20 Directors To Watch in 2023. Gonzalez previously credited Longoria and others for opening up doors for Chicanos in Hollywood, and is now primed to do so herself after landing such a coveted role in Jenni. 

Gonzalez’ work on Gentefied may have uniquely prepared her to take on the role of a legend like Rivera. In the past, Gonzalez described her role of Lidia Solis as “a woman anyone can relate to, who feels pain, has weaknesses, shows vulnerabilities, who has gone through so much and done a lot.” Her upcoming role as Rivera is likely to reflect many of those very same characteristics, and it shows that Gonzalez is very well suited to embody the fascinating traits that made Rivera a beloved figure around the world. 

Jenni is set to premiere on TelevisaUnivision’s premium streaming tier VIX+ and in select theaters throughout the U.S. and Mexico. A release date has not been announced yet for the highly anticipated biopic. Augusto Rovegno, the senior VP of acquisitions and SVOD programming at TelevisaUnivision was previously quoted as saying “This original film will celebrate her (Rivera’s) life and share how she inspired women and young generations in general to overcome obstacles and live their best lives.”

Gonzalez has always seen herself as a performer, and at an amazingly mere 7 years of age, imagined herself as an actress one day receiving prestigious Oscar and Tony Awards. She has openly expressed her desire to “demonstrate the full range of my acting chops”, and thanks to this groundbreaking new role she may very well be on her way to accomplishing all of this and more. The future is indeed bright for this gifted Chicana actress, and viewers everywhere are undoubtedly in for quite the treat when Gonzalez graces screens as the cultural and music icon that is Rivera. 

She is repped by Innovative Artists and Silver Lining Entertainment

The post Annie Gonzalez Stars as Jenni Rivera in Mucho Mas Media’s Biopic ‘Jenni’ first appeared on .

By Xavier LeBlanc

In 2020, over 270 Latino writers and showrunners wrote an open letter entitled “Dear Hollywood”, which demanded action on inclusivity. As LatinHeat’s own Bel Hernandez has expressed in the past, “we need studios and networks executives to greenlight our projects”. This is where producer and head of Mankind Entertainment, John Martinez O’Felan comes in. He and his team are passionately focused on creating the demand for studios to hire more Latino executives.

LatinHeat sat down with O’Felan to discuss the challenges facing Latinos in the film industry, and how he hopes to impact change for Latino presentation in cinema with Mankind Entertainment. He also shared in-depth insight about his much talked about feature film project Alina of Cuba, James Franco’s performance, as well as his surprising thoughts regarding John Leguizamo. Martinez also shared all-new details about his two other new Latino centered film projects that are currently in development, including Barton Creek and Anna in the Tropics. 

To begin, O’Felan first elaborated on his own background and experience being Latino, and how he defines his identity:

John Martinez O’Felan: I’d like to start off by sharing my Latin cultural vantage point to frame how I see the critical mass of the cultural solution for better representation. In my Latino heritage, I come from a family with scrolled roots to one of the most ancient Spanish / Mexican lineages of Latin ancestry, one that verifiably dates back to far before 1699 B.C, through the ancient Hispanic Rite, and verifiable through various international Hispanic and tribal histories. With that level of historical enlightenment by heraldry, I see being “Latin” as a united global race with Hispanic roots, that developed and traces over eras of social and societal development. One proof of such is that the word “Latino” actually was heavily influenced by “Ladino,” a language spoken by Judeo-Spanish tribes who first migrated to the Latin America we know today: so even the word Latino is linked to Spain, so my cultural view honors all unbiasedly as a people. Taking that thinking into consideration and being someone who has spent 15 years of new company evangelization in a push for a new frontier for global Hispanic Cinema, I think the solutions have to initially hold a “global financial focus.”

Xavier LeBlanc: What inspired you to choose Alina of Cuba, Anna in the Tropics and Barton Creek? 

JMO: Part of my selection process as a Latino has been to promote new history. I’m 43 years old and coming from my generation, that’s one thing that I always felt that we lacked was a representation as to history. So, these projects that I took on take a look back at contributions that other Hispanics and Latinos have made to society between the stories of the character themselves, and also to celebrate artistic influencers like Nilo Cruz. He was the first Latino to ever win the Pulitzer prize for drama. So, I felt that with no one promoting new Latin history in America right now, I felt that sense of calling to advance that angle of the film industry. And that’s what’s driven my passion to get us to where we are now.

Alina of Cuba is based on the true-life story of former Cuban exile Alina Fernandez (aka “Castro’s Daughter”). The film is a celebration of the bravery of Latina women in seeking and elevating their voices and rights over the last fifty years. Actress Ana Villafane plays the lead role of Alina. Villafane is most known for playing international Cuban music icon Gloria Estefan in the popular Broadway production On Your Feet. She stars alongside Oscar-nominated actor James Franco as Fidel Castro. The script is written by Oscar-nominated Puerto Rican screenwriter José Rivera, and Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz. Martinez spoke about his motivations behind producing Alina of Cuba. Miguel Bardem, who is a Spanish Goya Award winner, directs the film.

JMO: I produced Alina of Cuba as an unbiased celebration of universal Latinism. So, I did it to ultimately promote unity between U.S. and international industries which ultimately impacts and helps grow a greater network for Hispanic material to be distributed. So, in other words I’m trying to prove that stories of Hispanic fabric can travel.

XL: Do you feel that Ana Villafane and James Franco may surprise audiences with their performances in Alina of Cuba, and if so, in which ways?

JMO: Absolutely. You know she’s our leading lady as Alina, and she’s an amazing talent who had her launch on Broadway, and coming with such a pedigree class. And knowing of the history being Cuban through her mother, I feel like she’s absolutely the perfect character fabric of the new age Latina to enact this story. As far as James, his likeness to the real Fidel Castro feels almost like an on-screen conjuring. But, even more exciting will be when the world sees him come out of his skin in what I believe will be one of his best performances of all time. And I say that because he studied, you know very in-depth on the character and dialect. They had a dialect coach and really dug deep, and so I feel like people are really going to love what they see when you see the fire between him and Ana on screen. It’s just going to be so amazing, because I’m already watching the footage and editing, and we’re like “Wow! You know this is something very special”.

XL: What can we expect from the most recently announced cast additions of Luna Baxter, Charlotte de Casa Bianca and Carlos Manuel Vesga in Alina of Cuba?

JMO: I think one thing is audiences I believe are going to see new faces from the international community, and I think those faces are going to impact the growth and demand between industries. Working with an actress like Luna, she’s a high pedigree great actress, and has some of the highest coveted awards. Same with Carlos. They’re amazing actors, and I think that we’ll continue to see these actors transition into more of a global image.

XL: What are some of the goals that you hope to achieve within the industry with Mankind Entertainment?

JMO: I think ultimately I’d like to create more Latin themed stories and also ultimately see more Latinos represented on the big screen. Not just in Latin stories, but also mainstream stories. I use director Robert Rodriguez as a great example of the way he used to cast his movies, or he casts his movies. 

Our focus is on the feature theatrical awards network : With our sales groups, we plan to push our U.S-developed Hispanic/Latino titles to the acquisition’s awards labels, while also creating a global festival presence for Hispanic Cinema in festivals like Cannes and Toronto, where content is globally recognized and impacts studio interest overall.

XL: Are there any notable Latin actors or directors that you would like to collaborate with that you have not yet worked with?

JMO: Well yeah, I mean first and foremost one of my favorite actors, and even you know we may see things differently and see addressing the issues of Hispanic demand differently, but I would love to work with John Leguizamo. He’s someone that you know…there’s a project that I have now, that I mean, I think he could work perfect for. You know also of course Javier Bardem, Gael Garcia, Diego Luna and Anthony Ramos is someone that I think really sticks out to me right now. As well as Ismail Cruz Cordova. As far as directors Robert Rodriguez has always been one of my Hispanic heroes. We’re both from the same hometown. I’m here from Austin, and so I think he’s someone that I strongly admire as well as a director. As far as Latinas I think Ana de Armas is someone that would be an honor to work with, and you know the list goes on I want to work with everyone.

XL: What are some ways that you feel the industry can do more to promote Latin representation, both in front of and behind the camera?

JMO: Ultimately, increasing Latin representation has to start within the packaging model on mainstream titles. So, again I use Robert Rodriguez as a great example of how he would cast his major successes.

The sad truth is the studios are driven by stockholder numbers, and timelines. So, inevitably are held hostage to having to invest mainly in already proven A-list stars to carry their titles and this is how they mitigate their financial risks. So, looking at it from that angle and considering that production executives have to focus on institutional survival; One way that I see that stands out, is for producers to focus on placing more Latin supporting cast around the already established big names on bigger titles. What this does is ultimately create more bankable Latin actors that can become the next Salma Hayek, the next Jessica Alba and the next Eva Longoria of the newer generation to continue the cycle. In other words, we need to see more diversity around established bankable actors because the buzz value will spotlight new talents that have yet to be seen.

Again, I go into the packaging of Alina of Cuba as a great example. Having James Franco as a major actor in packaging him with stars that are new and growing. I think it will have that impact. Luna Baxter and the Carlos Vesga are great examples of that type of talent in helping grow the industry and the network as a whole.

Martinez also emphasized the importance of highlighting true stories about Latinos, such as that of Carlos Lavernia in Barton Creek. As well as representation when it comes to Latinos of different groups, including Cuban and Mexicans in the US. This Latino-led biopic is written and will be directed by award-winning Cuban-American director Carlos V. Gutierrez. The story follows the triumphant life story of Lavernia, a Cuban political exile and Innocence Project participant, who was wrongfully convicted to life in prison and spent 15 years behind bars before being proven innocent. 

JMO: Stories like his are very inspiring in that you know he had no choice. He had to learn what it is to live in America, what it takes to challenge the legal system and speak the language. So, you know he didn’t have an easy road and I feel like you know his story deserves to be told to ultimately inspire others. 

Given that the Mexican-American mass is 24m+ and 40% of the U.S Hispanic market share, there really needs to be more Mexican American talents, which we also aim to cast in Mr. Lavernia’s story as a Cuban living in Texas around a mass of Chicanos, the neighborhood I grew up in.

XL: How do you feel the Hispanic and Latino marketplace for film and entertainment will change in the next 10 years? 

JMO: I think we’re going through a major population transition right now. There’s 62.6 million Hispanics in the U.S. roughly about 600 million total in Latin America and I think over time we’re going to gradually see studios aiming more to crack the code to cross national awards content that is led by more Latin actors. But, this also means that more producers focused on universality. We need more producers focused on universality and diversity because the content’s not going to get developed and produced by itself.

O’Felan also went into detail on what he has learned about the industry from his experiences working on Alina of Cuba, and his understanding of how the business and unity come together to move everything forward: 

JMO: Using Alina of Cuba as my first key to the Hollywood mecca to studio buyers, I learned first-hand during my process that each publicly traded conglomerate corporation (NBC-Universal, Focus, Sony, Fox, etc) has an executive in charge of independent acquisitions, an area where finished privately financed pictures are purchased in partnership for theatrical distribution: this is where investors recoup. Each year, during a studio’s yearly buying process, they study independent global consumer financial trends, buzz patterns and talent / content bankability en masse, and not just creative “storytelling.” Being that the U.S officially became the Corporation of the United States of America since 1871, ever since Thomas Edison founded the first studio in 1893, studios have historically grown over the last 130 years under the pressure of profitability by stockholders and growing government taxation in parallel.

With this thinking, each studio’s major investment in a finished picture is scaled across the world, and not just the United States or any tiny region, so it’s the global consumer that heavily influences what we’re seeing put out here in the U.S. In the current state, this is why comic book and action brands, which have held bestseller status, have become the norm. However, comic book and action brands aren’t necessarily designed to celebrate or promote culture, which is why studios won’t be shifting away from the Marvel or DC Universe any time soon.

The good news is, however, that right now is an ultra-hot time for independent “awards producers” and private equity financiers to step up and produce more Hispanic-human related content to service and sell to the studios, who will pay guarantees against films within the bulk of the roughly 100 international markets. This is where unity is key, because when a producer hires a large star like a James Franco or Javier Bardem as a co-lead on an awards picture, this allows the picture to introduce new stars while giving them initial clout. A perfect example is when Robert Rodriguez shot Desperado. That film was a case where as an innovator, Rodriguez, a Mexican American from Texas, placed a Spanish star as the male lead, and launched the epic career of Salma Hayek, a Latina born in Mexico who is now one of the most celebrated icons in film history.

Ultimately, O’Felan says, “I’d like to call for Hispanic unity as the first step in the business, because such will allow the independent world to build Latin stars alongside the current standing stars, creating a new universe for diversity and long term growth. In other words, we need to see more diversity around established bankable actors, because the buzz value will spotlight new talents who have yet to be seen.”

During our interview O’Felan stated that “Hispanics need a renaissance”. It seems that he is indeed doing everything possible to make that come true, while also becoming one of the trailblazers that is sorely needed in the entertainment industry right now. Mankind Entertainment’s remarkable lineup of powerful Latin stories and their mission of representation may soon help change the way audiences and Hollywood views Latinos.

The post EXCLUSIVE: ‘Alina De Cuba’ Producer John Martinez O’Felan Talks Latino Representation in Hollywood first appeared on .

By Xavier LBlanc

LatinHeat can exclusively reveal that rising Latin stars Luna Baxter, Carlos Manuel Vesga, and Charlotte de Casa Bianca have joined the already impressive cast line-up of the anticipated film Alina of Cuba. 

Alina of Cuba is based on the true-life story of former Cuban exile Alina Fernandez (aka “Castro’s Daughter”). The film is a celebration of the bravery of Latina women in seeking and elevating their voices and rights over the last fifty years. The script is written by Oscar-nominated Puerto Rican screenwriter José Rivera, and Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz. Miguel Bardem, the Spanish Goya Award winner, is directing the film, which is being produced by John Martinez O’Felan though Mankind Entertainment.

Actress Ana Villafane plays the lead role of Alina. Villafane is most known for playing international Cuban music icon Gloria Estefan in the popular Broadway production On Your Feet. She stars alongside Oscar-nominated actor James Franco as Fidel Castro. Mia Maestro is playing Castro’s lover and Alina’s mother Natalia (“Naty”) Revuelta. Baxter, Vesga, and Bianca co-star alongside the previously announced supporting cast, which includes Alanna de la Rosa, Maria Cecilia Botero, Harding Junior, Sian Chiong, and Rafael Ernesto Hernandez (who portrays Raul Castro).

Luna Baxter is one of Colombia’s most recognized faces and U.S crossover stars. Baxter portrays Lucille, one of two civil rights activists who aid in Alina’s quest to leave Cuba during its economic collapse to deliver her daughter to a better life. Baxter is a Guatemalan-born actress who later moved to Bogota in her teens, where she later landed her first role in The Belko Experiment, leading her to become an area television favorite after being cast on Tarde Lo Conoci, where she co-starred in the entire series, which has run for 105 episodes to date.  In 2018, her work in Tarde Lo Conoci led her to win the Premios India Catalina, Colombia’s highest-rated national TV award, for Best Antagonist, as well as a Produ Award, which is based out of Mexico and aims to promote the Latin American industry worldwide. She later starred in the Nicholas Cage-led film Kill Chain and can be seen in the 2022 RCN Television series, The Story.

Charlotte de Casabianca, the French-born Latina actress, will play Lucille’s collaborator “Mari Paz,” a socialite civil rights activist who arrives in Cuba to aid Alina in her covert quest for deliverance. De Casa Blanca is a well known rising star in Colombia’s television industry and can be seen in Netflix’s The Snitch Cartel: Origin and Boli­var: Una Lucha Admirable.

Carlos Manuel Vesga plays Orlando Fernandez, Alina’s stepfather, who she believed was her biological father, until she was 10 when she learned that Fidel Castro was her birth father and Fernandez was forced to leave his country Cuba, as an exile, to live in in the U.S. Vesga is recognized as a Colombian film and television star, with roles including Amor Sincero, which garnered him a nomination for Best Actor at the Premios TV y Novelas awards. He was awarded Best Protagonist at the Premios India Catalina and co-starred in Loving Pablo with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. Most recently (2022), Vesga starred in Amazon Prime’s Noticia De Un Secuestro, based on the book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

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