AceShowbiz - Acting veteran Sir Michael Caine scrapped plans to expand his restaurant empire to Cuba, amid fears he would face violent opposition for supporting anti-U.S. revolutionary Fidel Castro. The Brit moved his restaurant empire stateside in the 1990s when he opened his sixth eatery, Miami's South Beach Brasserie - and admits he was keen to expand south to the Caribbean nation.

But a Cuban friend persuaded him to axe the idea amid concerns the actor would face angry protests for appearing to support the regime of the country's former president. He explains, "I had this restaurant in South Beach a long time ago, I owned this restaurant and I had a Cuban friend."

"I said to him, 'I'm thinking of going to Cuba,' and he said, 'Don't.' I said, 'Why not?' He said, 'They will burn your restaurant down if you go to Cuba... (for) being friendly to Castro'."