Ana de la Reguera as Sister Encarnaciónĭirector Hess originally wanted musical artist Beck to be behind the soundtrack for the film.The film closes with Ignacio, Steven and Sister Encarnación taking the children on a field trip to the city of Monte Albán.
Ignacio becomes a professional wrestler and, true to his word, buys a bus for the orphans with his prize money. Elated and inspired, Nacho rallies himself and defeats Ramses. Nacho is nearly defeated-indeed, unmasked-by Ramses, when Encarnación enters the arena with the orphans. When the crowd begins to support Ignacio, Ramses resorts to cheating. That night, Ignacio sends a message via Steven to Encarnación, explaining his plan and confessing his love to her (as a sister).ĭespite initial difficulty, Nacho does well in the match. Ignacio and Steven agree to team up again. The next morning, Steven comes to tell him that Silencio has been injured (Steven ran over his foot with Ignacio's bike) and cannot fight, meaning that Nacho-as the second-place finisher-receives the right to fight Ramses. Banished from the monastery, Ignacio leaves to live in the nearby wilderness. But the wrestler Silencio wins the match Nacho comes in second place. He admits that he is Nacho and tells them that he intends to fight at a battle royale between eight luchadores for the right to take on Ramses, and for a cash prize, which he will use to buy a bus for the orphans. Ignacio's secret is finally exposed to the entire monastery when his robe catches fire during church, exposing his wrestling costume. He seeks advice from champion luchador Ramses, but Ramses is vain and in no mood to help aspiring wrestlers. Ignacio completes the task, but still loses the next several bouts, frustrating him.
Steven brings him to a water gypsy who tells Ignacio to climb to an eagle's nest, crack open the egg and swallow the yolk, claiming that he will gain the powers of an eagle. Ignacio gets used to losing some fights, but after a while, he gradually grows annoyed with the consistent losses. They continue to wrestle every week, with Ignacio using his pay to buy and prepare better food for the orphans. They are defeated in their first match, but are nevertheless paid, as every wrestler is entitled to a portion of the total revenue. Ignacio changes his name to 'Nacho' to keep his identity secret, while Steven adopts the name 'Esqueleto' (Skeleton). He convinces Steven to join him with the promise of remuneration if they win, and the two join a local competition as tag partners. After a fight between the two, Ignacio decides to disregard the monastery's rules and become a luchador in order to make money. One night, while collecting donated tortilla chips for the orphans, Ignacio is robbed of the chips by a street thief named Steven. He also struggles over his feelings for Sister Encarnación, a nun who teaches at the orphanage. Ignacio cares deeply for the orphans and loves them with all his heart, but his food is terrible because he cannot afford quality ingredients. Now a cook for the Oaxaca monastery orphanage where he was raised, Ignacio dreams of becoming a luchador, but wrestling is strictly forbidden by the monastery. Ignacio's parents were a Scandinavian Lutheran missionary and a Mexican deacon, who both died when Ignacio was a baby. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $99.3 million at the worldwide box office against its $35 million production budget. The film was released on Jby Paramount Pictures. The film was produced by Black, White, David Klawans and Julia Pistor. Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez), a real-life Mexican Catholicpriest who had a 23-year career as a masked luchador and competed in order to support the orphanage he directed. It stars Jack Black, and is loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta ('Friar Storm', a.k.a. Nacho Libre is a 2006 Mexican-American sportscomedy film directed by Jared Hess and written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and Mike White.