INDIANAPOLIS — Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams is having a moment.
Williams' latest docuseries, "The Super Models," recently debuted on Apple TV+, his upcoming documentary, "Stamped from the Beginning," is coming soon to Netflix, and his first narrative feature film, "Cassandro," is now streaming on Prime Video.
"Cassandro" follows wrestler Saúl Armendáriz, who is gay and participates in lucha libre wrestling matches in the 1980s. He then meets a new trainer, who suggests he compete as an exótico, which is a male wrestler fighting in drag.
Golden Globe winner Gael García Bernal ("Mozart in the Jungle," "The Motorcycle Diaries") stars as the titular character — and Williams always knew García Bernal was his Cassandro.
"He's one of the greatest actors in Mexico," Williams said. "There was no one else for the role. He's an actor who just dives head-first — literally — into his roles and really embraces them."
The 107-minute film also stars Roberta Colindrez ("Vida," "A League of Their Own"), Perla De La Rosa ("A Thousand Clouds of Peace," "One Man's Hero"), Raúl Castillo ("Looking," "We the Animals") and international pop superstar Bad Bunny.
"Bad Bunny's a really good actor and a really nice guy. He's actually very sweet, humble and shy," Williams said. "I thought I would be really intimidated because I thought, 'I'm working with the biggest pop star in the world,' but it wasn't like that at all."
Williams, who became the first Black director to win an Oscar in 2009 with his short film "Music by Prudence," previously told Cassandro's story in 2016 documentary short "The Man Without a Mask" but knew he wanted to continue sharing the empowering story.
"When I met him (Cassandro) in person, he had this incredible inner spirit and energy — he had this positivity just pouring out of him, and I was just like, 'wow, this has to be my first scripted film,'" Williams said.
A lot of times, stories of LGBTQ+ characters in films and TV shows are focused on the character's coming-out journey and struggle with family or friends' acceptance — but "Cassandro" is not one of those.
"This is a really emotional story about a young man's acceptance of himself for who he is. It's not a coming-out story," Williams said. "I like to tell stories of underdogs who overcome adversities and conquer. What Cassandro did is he broke down walls and the barriers of homophobia, and he did it on his own terms."