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.
