Antonio Banderas

US-based outfit Mankind Entertainment is holding talks with Antonio Banderas to play Fidel Castro in Michael Radford’s forthcoming drama "Castro’s Daughter."

Castro’s Daughter tells the true life story of Alina Fernandez, who was the product of a love affair between Fidel Castro and Cuban socialite Naty Revuelta and went on to reject her father’s regime, secretly fleeing Cuba in the early 1990s disguised as a Spanish tourist.

Fernandez herself put Banderas’ name forward as an ideal person to play the role of her father. “I have been a huge fan of Antonio for years, and hope to see him play my father. I think he has a phenomenal charisma, and think he has the nerve to play the role perfectly…..I’m very excited that he would consider this.”

An exclusivity offer has been made by Mankind Entertainment’s John Torres Martinez and talks are underway with Banderas’s rep at CAA, Ara Keshishian. Fernandez will be directly consulting throughout the casting and production process.

Castro’s Daughter is being billed by Mankind as on similar lines to The King’s Speech, but told from a daughter’s perspective—as she overcomes the everlasting effects of the grips of her father through self liberation.

Banderas is currently riding high with the success of Puss In Boots and Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, which received 16 Goya nominations and was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Picture.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Bobby Moresco, who co-wrote Crash, is co-writing Castro’s Daughter with Pulitzer prize-winning author Nilo Cruz. The project is being produced by John Martinez and Joe Lamy, co-founders of Mankind Entertainment, who are also producing Lee Daniels’ project Anna In The Tropics.