Ana Villafane | Entertainment News, Photos, and Videos

James Franco has booked his next movie role.

The 44-year-old actor will be playing the role of Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the upcoming film Alina of Cuba.

The movie will star Broadway actress Ana Villafane as Castro’s daughter Alina Fernandez and Mia Maestro as Natalia “Naty” Revuelta, the woman who he had an affair with.

Deadline reports that the movie “follows the true-life story of Cuban exile turned social advocate, Fernandez, whose birth was the result of the tryst between Revuelta and Castro. Revuelta sacrificed her and her physician husband’s personal belongings and finances to help fund the start of the communist revolution. Fernandez learned that she was Fidel Castro’s daughter at the age of 10 when after years of secret visits to her home, her mother finally revealed that ‘El Comandante’ was her biological father. Alina grew to become one of Castro’s most outspoken critics, arrested on more than one occasion for trying to leave, and was classified as a dissident forbidden to travel outside of Cuba. Ultimately, she defected to Spain in 1993, an event that drew headlines from every major news network around the world, before she made Miami her permanent home.”

The movie is being shot on location in Colombia and production begins August 15.

James also had an acting role announced last month, four years after sexual misconduct allegations.

More Broadway shows are resuming performances in the coming weeks and the stars of Chicago are celebrating the show’s big return!

Ana Villafane and Bianca Marroquin, the new stars of the long-running musical, appeared at the Empire State Building on Monday (August 30) in New York City.

The ladies lit the ESB in red to honor the return of Broadway. They were joined at the lighting by Charlotte St. Martin, who is the president of The Broadway League.

Chicago returns to Broadway on September 14 and for all performances through January 17, 2022, audiences will be allowed to either exchange or refund their tickets into any other date until two hours before the performance.

Ana, who previously starred in Broadway’s On Your Feet, will be playing Roxie. Bianca, who has played Roxie countless times since 2002, will be playing Velma for the first time.

Click through the gallery to see all of the photos… More Here! »

Melissa Roxburgh and J.R. Ramirez happily strike a pose together while stepping out for NBC and The Cinema Society’s NBC Midseason 2020 Party held at The Rainbow Room on Thursday (January 23) in New York City.

The co-stars and real-life couple were joined at the event by their Manifest co-stars Parveen Kaur and Jack Messina, as well as Will & Grace‘s Eric McCormack and Indebted‘s Fran Drescher, Steven Weber, Adam Pally, Abby Elliott and Jessy Hodges.

This Manifest‘s Melissa Roxburgh and J.R. Ramirez very first official appearance since keeping their relationship relatively private.

Also in attendance to represent their shows were Good Girls stars Retta and Reno Wilson, The Blacklist‘s Amir Arison, Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Terry Crews, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector‘s Russell Hornsby, Brooke Lyons, Roslyn Ruff, Arielle Kebbel and Tate Ellington, and New Amsterdam‘s Margot Bingham and Ana Villafañe.

READ MORE: Manifest’s Melissa Roxburgh & J.R. Ramirez Are Dating in Real Life!

Lin-Manuel Miranda poses for a photo on the red carpet at the premiere of Cats on Monday (December 16) at Lincoln Center in New York City.

The Hamilton star was joined by so many other Broadway stars to support the stage-to-screen adaptation of the musical.

Queer Eye stars Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness were both at the event to support their friend Taylor Swift, who stars in the movie.

Some of the Broadway stars who attended the premiere included Hercules‘ Krysta Rodriguez, Hadestown‘s Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada, Mean Girls‘ Renee Rapp, former On Your Feet stars Ana Villafane and Josh Segarra, future Company actress Katrina Lenk, former Wicked star Jenna Leigh Green, and Cats‘ original Tony-winning star Betty Buckley.

Also in attendance were Booksmart‘s Beanie Feldstein, model Sara Sampaio, singer Jennifer Nettles, CBS News’ Gayle King, Orange Is the New Black‘s Emma Myles and Dale Soules, theater owner Jordan Roth (in perfect high-fashion Grizabella cosplay), and of course, Cats composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

MORE PHOTOS: See what the Cats cast wore to the premiere!

50+ pictures inside of celeb guests at the Cats premiere… More Here! »

Kathryn Gallagher poses for a cute photo with You co-stars Elizabeth Lail and Nicole Kang at her TodayTix Presents concert on Monday night (January 28) at the W New York – Times Square in New York City.

The 25-year-old actress and singer, who is heading back to Broadway in the fall with the new musical Jagged Little Pill, performed an intimate concert in the venue’s Living Room Lounge.

Kathryn performed some of her own original songs, as well as hits by Alanis Morissette and Britney Spears, in addition to Broadway tunes like “She Used to Be Mine” from Waitress and “Mama Who Bore Me” from Spring Awakening.

Some other special guests in the crowd included her friends Stephanie Styles, Beanie Feldstein, Ana Villafane, and Ethan Slater.

“the two things I love most in the world: sad songs + big love. Thank you @todaytix for letting me do both,” Kathryn wrote on Instagram after the show.

Sarah Hyland wears a strapless black dress while attending the opening night of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre on Sunday (April 22) in New York City.

The 27-year-old actress was joined by her boyfriend Wells Adams, Darren Criss, Ezra Miller, and J.K. Rowling herself.

Sarah and Wells came out to support her father, Edward James Hyland, is starring the play as Albus Dumbledore and Amos Diggory.

Also in attendance were Whoopi Goldberg, Fantastic Beasts actor Dan Fogler, Brooke Shields, Liev Schreiber with his kids Samuel and Alexander, Imogen Heap, Ana Villafane, Cherry Jones, Jessica Williams, and Ellen Burstyn.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child first opened in London in 2016 and officially opens on Broadway TONIGHT (April 22) at the Lyric Theatre.

FYI: Sarah is wearing a Christian Siriano dress, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.

Vanessa Hudgens is starring in the Kennedy Center production of the musical In the Heights and photos from the show have been released!

The 29-year-old actress is appropriately playing the role of Vanessa in the show written by Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. The production just opened on March 21 and it will close on the 25th.

Also appearing in the show are Hamilton‘s Anthony Ramos as Usnavi and On Your Feet‘s Ana Villafane as Nina, among others.

“It’s all happening y’all. #intheheights #kennedycenter,” Vanessa captioned a photo of the cast with Lin-Manuel on Instagram this week.