Gael García Bernal Says Kissing Bad Bunny Was ‘About Trust,’ Wants People to Know Another Secret
Gael García Bernal, 45, just sat down to talk about his starring role in Amazon Prime Video’s “Cassandro,” which portrays the life of Saúl Armendáriz, one of the first openly gay lucha libre “exótico.”
While the movie was released to a round of applause from critics back in September, García Bernal still has much to say about it. And yes, that includes some unexpected comments about his on-screen kiss with Bad Bunny.
The Guadalajara, Mexico-born actor is finally able to speak about “Cassandro” now that the SAG-AFTRA strike is over. And surprisingly, his excitement hasn’t died down one bit. In fact, García Bernal explained to Variety just how important it is to put the “exótico” genre of lucha libre on the world stage. “It’s the only sport where there are openly gay athletes competing at the very high level.”
The Mexican Golden Globe winner also spoke about his experience acting alongside Bad Bunny, who plays his love interest, Felipe, in the movie. As you may already know, the two stars share a much-reported kiss on screen — so of course, García Bernal had something to say about it.
García Bernal described his on-screen kiss with Bad Bunny as a “fun” experience
Speaking with Variety, the Mexican actor described his admiration for exóticos like Armendáriz, whose ring name is “Cassandro,” as well as the wrestler’s acclaimed peer, Baby Sharon.
“Him and a few other exóticos, because it was not only him, they were the first ones to openly come out,” Bernal told the outlet. While the actor clarified the movie is not Armendáriz’s “coming out story,” interestingly enough, he says the main character that comes out in the film is “society” at large.
So… about that kiss with Benito. The Variety interviewer very innocently mentioned how García Bernal “gets” to kiss Bad Bunny in the film — and the Mexican actor was a bit taken aback.
“You know, he got to kiss me also,” the actor joked. “I just want to mention that to put that out there.” Could we love him even more?!
Speaking more seriously about the much-buzzed-about kiss, he explained: “It’s about trust.” Adding that the kiss was actually “easy” for them, the actor recalled, “We just talked about it. It was fun and no problem.”
“No problem” for them maybe — but many fans are still freaking out about it:
Last week, García Bernal spoke to Vanity Fair Spain about filming “Cassandro,” and even finding commonalities with its subject, Armendáriz. “Cassandro portrayed another character to find himself, to know who he is, and that is my job as well.”
The actor also described how working on the film felt like “all those flimsy taboos were breaking.” He also sees a future where other sports break more gender and sexuality constructs, too. “I think there should be a way where, maybe a group of players, a team, deconstruct all of that. It would be fantastic.”
He also shared with the outlet even more details about what it was like working with Bad Bunny. Calling the singer “muy lindo,” he recalled. “Night shoots tire me out, but [Bad Bunny] was so willing, calm, and had really good vibes.”
Saying he thinks Benito was “thankful” for the opportunity,” he remembered playing catch with the singer onset. “He was very fun,” he described.
One more notable detail? García Bernal shared his special acting “secret” with Variety — and it’s not what you expect. “I don’t say often because it’s like a secret kind of thing, but I always like to take dance lessons for each character I play in order to internalize something.”
Those “Cassandro” dance moves probably looked a bit like this:
Now, without further ado, we present to you one of the cutest onset Polaroids we’ve ever seen:
Watch “Cassandro” now on Amazon Prime Video.