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Catherine Zeta-Jones has been cast to play a Colombian drug lord in the biographical film "The Godmother".

Zeta-Jones is no stranger to roles in crime drama films exploring the illegal drug trade. In 2000, she played Helena Ayala, the wife of a drug lord in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" - a breakthrough role for which she earned her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

In "The Godmother", Zeta-Jones will star as Griselda Blanco, the real-life drug kingpin of the Medellin Cartel, according to Deadline.

Griselda Blanco, born February 15, 1943, was also known as "La Madrina", "The Black Widow" and "The Cocaine Godmother". Apart from being a drug lord, she was also a forerunner in the drug trade and organized crime scene in Miami during the 1970s and early 1980s.

She was assassinated in a motorcycle drive-by outside a butcher shop in Medellin, Colombia on September 3, 2012, reported The Guardian.

Zeta-Jones' casting as Blanco, however, was met with criticism from some individuals, in spite of the fact that she is an accomplished, Academy Award-winning actress, primarily because the role was not given to a Latin American actress. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a native of Wales, one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

"Zeta-Jones is called upon to be Colombian when there are more visible Latina actresses working in Hollywood than ever," Soraya Nadia McDonald wrote for The Washington Post, "thanks in no small part to executive producers such as Eva Longoria and Salma Hayek."

"Hayek was responsible for bringing 'Ugly Betty,' the show based on the Colombian telanovela 'Yo soy Betty, la fea,' to network television," McDonald added. "And Longoria has really taken charge with her production company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment."

Norwegian helmer Eva Sørhaug will direct "The Godmother", based on a script written by Frank Baldwin. Daniela Cretu is producing via her First Born Films banner, while Nicholas Pileggi, known for writing Mafia-themed screenplays, is executive producer.

Filming is set to begin early next year.