Roberta Colindrez to Star in Amazon’s Film “Cassandro,” About The Liberace of Lucha Libre

Roberta Colindrez is preparing for the Lucha of her life…

The 35-year-old Mexican actress will star opposite Gael Garcia Bernal in his Amazon film about “The Liberace of Lucha Libre”, Cassandro.

Roberta Colindrez

Colindrez will play best friends with Bernal’s Saúl Armendáriz as she finds community in the Lucha Libre world training young fighters.

The film, produced by Ted Hope and Todd Black, is shooting in Mexico City.

Cassandro, directed by Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams, tells the true story of Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso who rises to international stardom after he creates the “exotico” character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre,” and in the process upends not just the macho wrestling world but also his own life.

Armendáriz at the age of 15 quit school and began training for Lucha Libre, beginning his professional wrestling career in 1988 under the mask as Mister Romano. Ultimately he would abandon the character and take on the exotico character of Baby Sharon. Exoticos are male wrestlers who dress in drag.

Colindrez is best known for her work in the Tony award winning musical Fun Home as well as her stand-out roles in Amazon’s I Love Dick, FX’s Mrs. America, Starz’s Vida, and HBO’s The Deuce.

Colindrez will next star in the Amazon series, A League of Their Own

Netflix to Premiere the Walter Mercado Documentary “Mucho Mucho Amor” in July

There’s mucho mucho amor for Walter Mercado, it’s that love’s coming your way…

Netflix has released the official trailer for Mucho Mucho Amor, the documentary on the late Puerto Rican astrologer, television personality and gay icon.

Walter Mercado

For decades, Mercado captivated the Latin American world with his with his glamorous style, gender-nonconforming persona and warmhearted cosmic readings, before disappearing

from public eye. He began having cardiac problems in 2012, and said he “had gone and seen death and came back to life again,” and experience that seemed to change him. Hepassed away last November reportedly from kidney failure.

But Mercado is poised to reach a new level of fandom with a lovingly crafted documentary about his life and career, directed by Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch

Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in January, and will begin streaming on Netflix next week.

The official synopsis reads: “Every day for decades, extravagant Puerto Rican astrologer, psychic, and gender nonconforming legend Walter Mercado charmed the world with his televised horoscopes. Equal parts OprahLiberace, and Mr. Rogers, Walter reached over 120 million viewers at his peak, enthralling the Latin world with sequined capes, opulent jewelry and horoscopes that shared a message of love and hope to his devoted viewers. Then, he mysteriously disappeared. Over a decade later award-winning directors Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch and producer Alex Fumero capture Walter’s final two years, when the pioneering icon grappled with aging and his legacy, and prepared for one last star-studded spectacle.”

“From the moment that I was born, I knew that I was not like everybody,” Mercado says in the trailer for the film about his life. “Everything about me was different.” With a dizzying array of glittering blazers and luminescent capes, at one point Mercado is seen being escorted on a gilded throne through a crowd of clamoring fans. 

The film will also explore his mysterious disappearance from public life, which one subject speculates was motivated by a fear of aging in view.

Mucho Mucho Amor arrives on Netflix on Wednesday, July 8. 

Armisen to Appear on the “Saturday Night Live” 40th Anniversary Special

Fred Armisen is coming home, so to speak…

The 48-year-old half-Venezuelan actor, who currently stars on IFC’s recently renewed Portlandia series, has been added to the list of guests for Saturday Night Live‘s SNL 40th Anniversary Special on Sunday.

Fred Armisen

Armisen, who was a cast member on the long-running NBC late-night sketch comedy series from 2002 until 2013, had quite a number of memorable characters and impersonations during his run, including President Barack Obama, Garth (of Garth and Kat), Steve Jobs, Liberace and Prince.

The special will be expanded to 3 1/2 hours to accommodate the growing roster of guest stars, including SNL icon Billy Crystal; Bradley Cooper and Edward Norton; singer Miley Cyrus; and ex-castmembers Kevin Nealon, Ana Gasteyer, Colin Quinn, Joe Piscopo, Tim Meadows and Will Forte.

The SNL 40th Anniversary Special will air from 8:00 – 11:30 pm ET/PT on Sunday, February 15 on NBC.

Here’s the full list of guests set for the special:

Fred Armisen
Dan Aykroyd
Alec Baldwin
Jim Carrey
Dana Carvey
Chevy Chase
Dane Cook
Bradley Cooper
Billy Crystal
Jane Curtin
Miley Cyrus
Robert De Niro
Jimmy Fallon
Will Ferrell
Tina Fey
James Franco
Will Forte
Zach Galifianakis
Ana Gasteyer
Bill Hader
Jon Hamm
Tom Hanks
Derek Jeter
Norm Macdonald
Peyton Manning
Steve Martin
Melissa McCarthy
Paul McCartney
Tim Meadows
Seth Meyers
Garrett Morris
Eddie Murphy
Bill Murray
Mike Myers
Kevin Nealon
Laraine Newman
Jack Nicholson
Edward Norton
Joe Piscopo
Amy Poehler
Colin Quinn
Chris Rock
Paul Rudd
Maya Rudolph
Andy Samberg
Adam Sandler
Jerry Seinfeld
Molly Shannon
Martin Short
Paul Simon
David Spade
Emma Stone
Jason Sudeikis
Taylor Swift
Justin Timberlake
Christopher Walken
Kerry Washington
Kanye West
Betty White
Kristen Wiig