El Paso’s Cassandro, the Liberace of Lucha Is Getting a Biopic

The El Paso born lucha libre star Cassandro is getting an independent feature film made about their life and now we know what actor will be playing the athlete. Oscar winner and two-time Emmy nominated filmmaker Roger Ross Williams is creating an independent film called Cassandro, about the life of Saúl Armendáriz. Armendáriz is a gay professional wrestler who was born right here in El Paso and became known internationally after he became the exotico Cassandro in the ring. Cassandro is known as the Liberace of Lucha Libre and now the wrestler behind the make=up will have the chance to get his life story heard.

Roger Ross Williams won the 2010 Oscar for the Best Documentary Short Subject for his film "Music By Prudence," and was the first African-American director to win an Academy Award, per Indiewire. He was also nominated for another Oscar for his 2016 film "Life, Animated" and his docu-series "The Innocence Files" is one of my favorites that I've seen this year. Another one of his docu-series was HBO's "The Apollo" which earned Williams his second Emmy nomination. Williams told Deadline when he met Saúl Armendáriz, he knew he wanted to create a film about him:

"The true story of Cassandro, Saúl Armendáriz, was one I knew I wanted to tell from the moment I met him. I look forward to being able to bring Saúl’s story to a wide audience."

The biographical film now has its star who will be putting on the tights and flashy wrestling costume. Mexican actor Gael García Bernal will be taking on the role of Saúl Armendáriz, aka Cassandro.

Here in El Paso, Old Sheepdog Brewery teamed up with the Lucha libre star to release a limited edition Cassandro El Exotico mango New England IPA crowler. Fans lined up for hours in their cars to purchase the brew and get a glimpse of Cassandro. For his part, Cassandro was gracious enough to take pictures, sign crowlers, and hand out merchandise for hours in the rain. The crowlers sold out the same day. We're exicted to see such a wonderful El Pasoan who has had such a long career and has done so much for the LGBTQ community getting the opportunity for Hollywood to tell their story to the masses. We can't wait to see this film when it finally drops.