NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 13: Actress Jennifer Lawrence attends the "Joy" New York premiere at Ziegfeld Theater on December 13, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images) (2015 Getty Images)
Jennifer Lawrence will get up close and personal with Fidel Castro for her new film – or at least to an actor portraying the Cuban dictator.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar-winning actress is set to play Marita Lorenz, the German-born American who had an affair with the former Cuban president in 1959, shortly after the revolution that brought him to power.
The film, titled “Marita,” centers around Lorenz and how she met and began her affair with Castro when she was 19.
After becoming pregnant and having an abortion, Lorenz left Cuba and joined the anti-communist movement in the United States.
She was eventually recruited by the CIA for a 1960 failed assassination attempt against Castro. According to reports, Lorenz received poison pills from the agency, but instead of giving them to the Cuban leader, she told him about the plot and claimed that she still loved him.
In addition to her love affair with Castro, Lorenz reportedly had an affair with Venezuelan dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez and claimed that she was part of the John F. Kennedy assassination. She also reportedly spied on diplomats for the FBI in the 1970s.
Lorenz has written two autobiographies and currently lives in Maryland.
Sources told the Hollywood Reporter that Eric Warren Singer, co-writer of “American Hustle,” spent many months developing the project before bringing Lawrence on board. Sony Pictures picked up the project.
Trending
Who's making headlines in television, music, movies and more from Hollywood to the Heartland.