Saúl Armendáriz and Gael García Bernal.Photo:Aurelien Meunier/Getty; Courtsey of Alejandro Lopez Pineda/AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC
Aurelien Meunier/Getty; Courtsey of Alejandro Lopez Pineda/AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC
Gael García Bernal’s new movieseems stranger than fiction, but it’s based on the real-life story ofSaúl Armendáriz— better known as his lucha libre alter ego, Cassandro.
Which details in the movie are true to Armendáriz’s life? And did the luchador ever consider that Hollywood might tell that inspiring story? “No,” he admits, “but I am blessed that professional wrestling has led me to have very beautiful experiences.”
Here’s everything to know aboutCassandroand its real-life subject, who theEl Paso Timescalled “Mexico’s first openly gay luchador, a brave move in the theatrical but overwhelmingly ‘man’s man’s’ world of professional wrestling.”
Cassandro (left).Daniel Berehulak/Getty
Daniel Berehulak/Getty
Who is Saúl Armendáriz a.k.a. Cassandro?
Armendáriz’s late mother Maria raised him from age 13 onward, after she and his father Sabas Galindo divorced. In William Finnegan’s 2014New Yorkerprofile“The Man Without a Mask,” Armendáriz revealed his childhood was full of physical and sexual abuse.
At 15, Armendáriz dropped out of school to begin training as a luchador, debuting early personae called “Mister Romano” and “Rosa Salvaje.” The moniker “Cassandro” came from an admired brothel keeper in Tijuana named Cassandra, according toThe New Yorker.
He hasendured several injuriesthanks to his line of work, especially competing in the more violent form of wrestling known as “lucha extrema,” and opened up to multiple outlets about a suicide attempt in 1991. On June 4, 2003, Armendáriz overcame a years-long addiction to drugs and alcohol.
In more recent years, he has delivered motivational speeches, taught aspiring luchadors and become a certified massage therapist and chiropractor.
At the January world premiere of the biopicCassandroat the 2023Sundance Film Festival, it was announced that Armendáriz had suffered a stroke resulting in limited speech and movement on one side of his body, perThe Hollywood Reporter. Nevertheless, the superstar was beaming and decked in his characteristic sequined glamor.
Saúl Armendáriz and Gael García Bernal at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.David Becker/Getty
David Becker/Getty
How did he impact lucha libre?
Lucha libre hasroots in Mexican historydating back to the 19th century, but exploded in popularity in Mexico City in the 1930s and then internationally in the 1950s thanks to television. In its most recognizable form, it involves staged fights with preordained winners and losers, form-fitting masks, elaborate costumes and character tropes including “exóticos.”
The Cassandro persona that Armendáriz began entertaining audiences with in lucha libre matches across Mexico in the late 1980s was an “exótico,” a boldly flamboyant character in drag makeup and colorful costumes.
Masked “exóticos” often played the role of the “rudo,” or villain, in lucha libre. But Armendáriz dared to show his face and urge match promoters to let him triumph as the “técnico,” or hero. Of his entrance as Cassandro, he toldThe New Yorker, “I wore a butterfly blouse of my mother’s. I wore the tail of my sister’s quinceañera dress. And then, to wrestle, a woman’s bathing suit.”
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Armendáriz made a name for himself as an openly queer “exótico,” after most luchadors adopting that trope publicly distanced themselves from homosexuality. In 1992, he became the first “exótico” to win a world lightweight championship.
“The reactions I get, even in Mexico, are mostly positive,” he toldEl Paso Timesin 2012. “I have fans of both sexes and all ages. Women will yell at me to come over and kiss their husbands, which I do. It’s part of the craziness of the show."
Saúl Armendáriz a.k.a. Cassandro.Peter Macdiarmid/Getty
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty
What happens in the movieCassandro?
Armendáriz’s life made its way to Hollywood thanks to writer-director Roger Ross Williams. A producer forThe New Yorker Presentsapproached the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker about adapting Finnegan’s profile into a short film.
“As a storyteller,” Williams tells PEOPLE, “there’s just a moment where a story hits you and you know this is right… It was this immediate instinct and it was so strong, and it was almost like, I don’t know, the Lucha libre spirits, the gay spirits, whatever, were speaking to me! I just was like, I have to tell this story.”
Bernalwas the filmmaker’s top choice to play the title role in the feature-film version — and Armendáriz’s choice, too, he says. “The movie was never considered with anyone else but Gael García Bernal! It was an honor for me.”
Hardships and setbacks emerge, but Bernal, as Armendáriz, discovers the power in adopting a stage persona with far more confidence than himself. The film’s climax depicts the bittersweet 1991 match against El Hijo del Santo; later, Armendáriz appears on the famed luchador’s talk show to talk openly about his queerness.
Gael García Bernal in “Cassandro”.Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video
Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video
How much ofCassandrois true-to-life?
Armendáriz served as a consultant on the new movie based on his life story. When watchingCassandrofor the first time, he says, it was “the accurate portrayal of the importance of my mom to me and our relationship, the challenges I faced, and the obstacles” that rang true the most.
Also in the film, Armendáriz has a secretive lover (Castillo) who is a fellow luchador and married to a woman. As he revealed toTheNew Yorker, that relationship is true-to-life and lasted 12 years, “from the age of 18 to 30. It was very damaging.”
The driving force of the movieCassandrois the undeniable fact that “he triumphed over an entire macho industry, and he did it as his authentic self,” as Williams says of Armendáriz. “Learning to love yourself is a big theme inCassandroand a big theme in all of the lives of all of us, but especially gay people, the LGBT+ community.”
Cassandrois in theaters now 15 and begins streaming on Amazon Prime Video Sept. 22.
source: people.com
