Cindy Pearlman. Chicago
Sun-Times. May 30, 2001
Hello, America--get me rewrite!
That's what probably went through the mind of Cuban strongman Fidel Castro
as he perused the script of the coming Showtime movie "Fidel."
Patricia Velasquez of "The Mummy Returns," who plays Castro's
first wife in the movie, said, "The script was sent to him three times. The
first time he approved. The second time he said no. The third time he said yes."
Castro shouldn't worry. Velasquez says the film, which stars newcomer Victor
Huggo Martin as Castro, "doesn't take any sides. That made Fidel happy. We
hear that Fidel doesn't mind if you talk about him as long as you tell what
happened in a fair way."
The movie does show Castro to be a bit of a cad. "Fidel met his first
wife when she was 19," Velasquez said. "She was from a very rich
family, and it made sense that they got married and had a kid. In fact, she
helped him through the revolution in Cuba and stood by him when he was in
jail--even though she had to live with no water and no electricity."
But it all hit the fan when "Fidel wrote two letters--one to his wife
and one to his lover," she said. "The wife got the wrong one."
As we say in the States, don't you hate it when that happens? | 