Nacho Libre filmed in Oaxaca

[KarenS]

From Napoleon to 'Nacho Libre'
By: Victor Diaz

Jack Black’s serious slapstick is back again in Nacho Libre. It’s the second film for director Jared Hess, who achieved phenomenal success with the offbeat comedy Napoleon Dynamite

Nacho Libre finds Black leading a double life split between a Mexican monastery and a wrestling ring. Black plays Nacho, an orphan who grew up in a monastery and doesn’t seem to fit in.

"He's got a battle raging inside, because on the one side he loves the lord, but he loves the lucha the excitement the life of a luchador," Black said.

Nacho Libre is an outlandish comedy, but the setting is completely authentic. The origin of Lucha Libre wrestling is uniquely Mexican and the entire film was shot on location in Oaxaca, Mexico.

"It was very important for me to be as authentic to that world as possible so we really wanted to populate the film with real luchadores and real fans of Lucha Libre,” director Jared Hess said.

Both Hess and Black speak Spanish and hired locals for the cast and crew.

"You're immersed in the culture and you don't have to build fake Mexican communities, you're just there and that comes through on screen," Black said.

As for his wrestling talent, Nacho's transformation into a holy luchador is a constant source of physical comedy.

"I was not required to be in peak physical condition, because if you look at a lot of the luchadores throughout history, not totally ripped. There's some chub," Black said.

Nacho Libre is rated PG and opens in theaters next Friday.
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Karen for Mexico-On-Line