Gael Garcia Bernal is a Unique Mexican Wrestler in the First Look at ‘Cassandro’
Bernal plays real-life sportsman Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso, in a new movie about the man.
Gael Garcia Bernal stars in 'Cassandro.' Photo: Courtesy of Prime Video © Amazon Content Services LLC.
True life stories are always good fodder for movies, and ‘Cassandro’ has a great, inspiring one to tell. Gael García Bernal, most recently seen in Marvel’s Disney+ Halloween special ‘Werewolf by Night’, is starring as wrestler Saúl Armendáriz, and a first look image is online.
Though scripted, the new movie comes from Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams, who wrote the script with David Teague and Julián Herbert. Williams and Teague previously worked together on their award-scoring ‘Life, Animated’, about a family who uses Disney animated movies to reach their withdrawn autistic son.
Though Armendáriz’ name might not be that well known outside of wrestling circles, his is a fascinating story.
An American-born luchador wrestler who grew up near the U.S.–Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, he was a young man with dreams of competing at the highest levels in wrestling. Armendáriz moved to Mexico and began training in one of the sport’s hotspots, Ciudad Juarez.
But while some thought his homosexuality would be a hindrance in such a machismo-driven industry, he soon rose to the top of the Mexican wrestling world by embracing a flamboyantly gay persona known as “Cassandro.” The character––who became known as “the Liberace of Lucha Libre”––proved to be a huge hit with wrestling fans, and he eventually became the first foreign-born wrestler to win a world title.
"Cassandro' will release globally on Prime Video in 2023.
Cassandro is considered an LGBT icon and a legend in the arena of wrestling, so this is an important role for Bernal to get right. But he certainly seems to strike the right note and look in the initial image.
‘Cassandro’ also stars Roberta Colindrez, Perla De La Rosa, Joaquín Cosío, and Raúl Castillo. The movie has yet to confirm a release date, but it’ll debut on Prime Video next year.
And 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for cine-wrestlers, as ‘The Nest’ and ‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’ director Sean Durkin is working on a new movie about the sport called ‘The Iron Claw’.
That drama has Zac Efron and ‘The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White bulking up to play part of the legendary Von Erichs wrestling dynasty. It’s also without a release date from A24 just yet but should be out at some point in the new year.
