In the film Cassandro, which premiered at Sundance on January 20, Gael García Bernal plays the flamboyant titular luchador, a legendary exótico. While training for the film, the actor learned that lucha libre ain’t for no softies. “It was really, really tiring,” he told Vulture. “But really, it was hard on the bones and the muscles.” It appears that all those beefy boys in wrestling movies are really throwing themselves into some stiff ropes: “The ropes are really, really strong,” García Bernal said. “In order for them to help you, you have to really go all the way.” In the video above, García Bernal discusses training along with:
➽ Why García Bernal wanted to be in a lucha libre film
➽ The joy of Cassandro
➽ García Bernal’s friend’s lucha-libre improv