50 Fun Facts About Nacho Libre

Which real Mexican priest, who wrestled in a mask to fund his orphanage, inspired the story of Nacho Libre?

Fray Tormenta, or Friar Storm, wrestled for more than two decades to support the children in his care, and after retiring he still put the mask on to say mass.

What job does Ignacio hold at the monastery orphanage where he was raised in Nacho Libre?

The cook has almost no money for ingredients, so the orphans eat badly. That shortage is what pushes Ignacio into the ring for prize money.

Which orphanage supplies does a street thief snatch from Ignacio early in Nacho Libre?

Tortilla chips meant for the orphans are taken by Steven, the thief Ignacio later recruits as his tag-team partner.

Under which ring name does Steven wrestle alongside Nacho in Nacho Libre?

Esqueleto, Spanish for skeleton, is the name Steven picks, while Ignacio shortens his own to Nacho so that the monastery will not find out.

Nacho Libre was filmed entirely on location in which Mexican state, the setting of its monastery?

Oaxaca gave the film its old missions, bleached stone landscapes and arenas filled with real local wrestling crowds.

Which 2004 comedy directed by Jared Hess made Jack Black want to team up with him for Nacho Libre?

Napoleon Dynamite made Jack Black a fan of its director, and the two met in Los Angeles to plan a film together.

What is the name of the newly arrived nun whom Ignacio secretly adores in Nacho Libre?

Sister Encarnación comes to the orphanage as a teacher, and Ignacio wrestles with his feelings for her from then on.

Which gold-masked champion is Ignacio's wrestling idol and his final opponent in Nacho Libre?

Ramses brushes Ignacio off when asked for advice, then cheats in their match by tearing off Nacho's mask.

What does Ignacio vow to buy for the monastery's orphans with his wrestling prize money in Nacho Libre?

A bus is his goal, and after his final victory he keeps his word, then takes the children out on a field trip.

How is Ignacio's secret wrestling life exposed to the whole monastery during mass in Nacho Libre?

His robe catches fire and burns away to show the wrestling costume underneath, forcing him to confess to everyone.

In Nacho Libre, Ignacio tries a folk remedy in the hope of gaining the fighting powers of which animal?

An eagle is the animal whose strength he hopes to borrow, but the remedy fails and the losing streak goes on.

What food does Steven hurl into a rival luchador's eye after the wrestlers' party in Nacho Libre?

A corn cob, known in Mexico as an elote, is thrown like a knife after the rivals slash the tires of Ignacio's moped.

How does Ignacio get into the party thrown for the best professional wrestlers in Mexico in Nacho Libre?

Posing as a mariachi gets him through the door, but his improvised song for the champion gets him thrown out again.

Which wrestler beats Nacho into second place for the right to face the champion in Nacho Libre?

Silencio wins the bout but pulls out after Steven injures him, which hands the big match to the runner-up.

To which ancient Zapotec city does Ignacio take the orphans on a field trip at the end of Nacho Libre?

Monte Albán was a Zapotec capital for nearly a thousand years, built on a ridge that was leveled by hand.

The monastery in Nacho Libre strictly forbids wrestling because the brothers consider it which kind of sin?

Vanity is the charge against the sport, which is why Ignacio hides behind a mask and a shortened name.

What happens in Nacho and Steven's very first tag-team match, to their surprise, in Nacho Libre?

They lose but get paid, because every luchador on the bill takes a share of the night's revenue, and the crowd wants them back.

Jack Black said Mike White's idea for a Nacho Libre sequel would send Nacho to which country?

Japan was the destination Black mentioned in 2006, though Jared Hess said three years later that the studio had never asked him for a sequel.

The Nacho Libre video game, a cartoon-style wrestling title from Majesco, came out on which handheld console?

Nintendo DS owners could play as any of 20 luchadores and play themed games on the touch screen.

Which Pixar film kept Nacho Libre off the top of the US box office on its opening weekend?

Cars was in its second weekend when the wrestling comedy opened with about $28 million, enough for second place.

Which Mexican actor plays Ignacio's tag-team partner Steven in Nacho Libre?

Héctor Jiménez, who comes from Tijuana, followed the film by playing Mr. Tumnus in the 2007 spoof Epic Movie.

Which Mexican actress, later seen in HBO's Eastbound & Down, plays the nun Ignacio adores in Nacho Libre?

Ana de la Reguera was born in Veracruz and starred in telenovelas, and she later appeared in Cowboys & Aliens.

Which real luchador, the son of wrestler Dr. Wagner, plays the gold-masked champion in Nacho Libre?

Silver King wore the film's golden outfit in at least one real title defense after the release.

Which Swedish actor, known for Fargo and The Big Lebowski, plays the Emperor in Nacho Libre?

Peter Stormare first made his name in Sweden by playing Hamlet for the director Ingmar Bergman.

Moisés Arias, who plays Juan Pablo in Nacho Libre, went on to play Rico in which Disney Channel series?

Hannah Montana made Arias a familiar face after his minor film role, and he later played Norm MacLean in the series Fallout.

Troy Gentile, who plays the young Ignacio in Nacho Libre, later spent a decade as Barry in which sitcom?

The Goldbergs ran from 2013 to 2023, and Gentile also played a young version of a Jack Black character in a second 2006 comedy.

Nacho Libre star Jack Black formed which comedy music duo with his long-time friend Kyle Gass?

Tenacious D began in 1994 and went on to win a Grammy for Best Metal Performance.

Two years after Nacho Libre, Jack Black began voicing the hero Po in which animated film franchise?

Kung Fu Panda gave Black another unlikely fighter to play, this time in animation, beginning in 2008.

Mike White, co-writer of Nacho Libre, wrote which 2003 comedy so Jack Black could play his favorite music?

School of Rock earned Black a Golden Globe nomination, even though White himself is no fan of the music it celebrates.

How is Nacho Libre co-writer Jerusha Hess related to the film's director, Jared Hess?

She is his wife, and the pair co-wrote three of the features he directed in the 2000s.

Nearly two decades after Nacho Libre, Jared Hess and Jack Black reunited for which 2025 video-game film?

A Minecraft Movie was made for Warner Bros. with Jason Momoa starring beside Black.

The luchador who played Nacho Libre's gold-masked champion collapsed and died mid-match in which city in 2019?

London's Camden Town was the venue, where he suffered a heart attack in the ring at the age of 51.

Which musician did Jared Hess originally choose to score Nacho Libre before the studio replaced him?

Beck had accepted as a fan of the director, who later refused to let the studio strip his name from the credits.

Which composer wrote a full score for Nacho Libre after the studio decided its first choice did not fit?

Danny Elfman recorded his score in May 2006, but only about two thirds of it made the finished film.

Which children's television brand, through its film division, was one of the studios behind Nacho Libre?

Nickelodeon's film arm backed the comedy, which went on to earn about $99 million worldwide.

Nacho Libre was delayed two weeks to avoid the second weekend of which superhero franchise's third film?

X-Men: The Last Stand was chasing the same teenage male audience, and the delay was rewarded with a strong opening.

Which film critic wrote that Nacho Libre was a rare Jack Black comedy that does not work?

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was unimpressed, while Manohla Dargis of The New York Times gave the film a warm review.

Which French actor starred in a 1991 film based on the same wrestling priest who inspired Nacho Libre?

Jean Reno played the priest in L'Homme au masque d'or, a title that means The Man in the Golden Mask.

The priest who inspired Nacho Libre was also a model for a jaguar-masked wrestler in which video game series?

Tekken gave its masked luchador a matching backstory: he enters the tournament hoping to build an orphanage.

In lucha libre, the wrestling style of Nacho Libre, what are the rule-breaking villains called?

Rudos bend or break the rules and tend to brawl, while their clean-fighting opponents are known as técnicos.

In the lucha libre world of Nacho Libre, what does an unmasked wrestler most often stake in a wager match?

Their hair is shaved off straight after a defeat, while a masked loser has to unmask and reveal his real name.

What injury did Jack Black suffer after diving out of the ring during a stunt while filming Nacho Libre?

A gash on his eye sent Black to the hospital in a hurry, but he was able to carry on with the shoot.

Besides playing Ignacio, which behind-the-scenes role did Jack Black also hold on Nacho Libre?

Producer was his second credit on the film, one he shared with Mike White, Julia Pistor and David Klawans.

In Nacho Libre, Ignacio's father was a Mexican deacon and his mother a missionary from which region?

Scandinavia was her home, which fits the director's idea of Ignacio as an outsider who was born and raised in Mexico.

Jared Hess followed Nacho Libre with which 2009 comedy about a teenage author whose story is stolen?

Gentlemen Broncos kept the team together, with Jared directing again and Mike White stepping in to produce.

Under lucha libre rules, what is the usual penalty for tearing off an opponent's mask, as Nacho's rival does?

Disqualification is the rule, because losing a mask to an opponent is seen as the ultimate insult in the sport.

Which Brazilian band's song Bat Macumba is heard in Nacho Libre but was left off the soundtrack album?

Os Mutantes were linked with the Tropicália movement of the late 1960s and drew heavily on psychedelic pop.

Which Hollywood studio released Nacho Libre and overruled the director's first choice of composer?

Paramount's marketing chief said the comedy had cost about $35 million and would be extremely profitable.

Steven, the thief who becomes Nacho's partner in Nacho Libre, holds which view of religion?

He is an atheist, an odd match for a friar, yet the two end up praying together before the final bout.

In the same year as Nacho Libre, Jack Black played Kate Winslet's love interest in which Nancy Meyers comedy?

The Holiday cast Black as a Hollywood film composer, a part that Meyers created specially for him.