-I want to talk about...
the show, but I really want to...
You're one of Mexico's most accomplished actors.
You know, very, very, very, very great career.
But maybe fours ago -- three years ago --
you were in the papers for a different thing.
-Yes. A little detail, there.
-Yeah.
You had a secret meeting with El Chapo.
-Yes. -And Sean Penn.
-Yes. -Talk to me about this.
What -- why -- how?
What?
How did this come about?
Why did you do it? What was it like?
-Well, scary, for sure. -Yes.
-[ Laughs ] But, um...
Well, he reached out to me in 2014,
and he wanted to give me
the rights of his life, so -- his story rights.
So, I was like, "Well, you know, I'm an actress.
I'm a storyteller. I'm a -- you know, why not?"
So, I grabbed, like, a --
you know, like a little team of producers and a big actor, so --
to do this big Hollywood movie that he wanted me to do.
So, that's why. And we went there to see him,
to visit, when he was...
running.
[ Speaks indistinctly ]
...we found him. -Yeah.
Wow. This is unbelievable.
Wait, so, you, I mean...
I don't even understand how he gets ahold of you.
I mean, how does -- -Me, neither.
[ Indistinct talking ]
-Does he call? I mean, what does he --
-No. He e-mailed me. But not here -- I mean, not him.
His lawyer when he was in jail the first time --
or the second...
[ Laughter ]
I don't -- I don't remember.
But -- -I mean, El Chapo.
I would've been frightened out of my mind.
-I know. I was excited. You know, I'm a Latina.
[ Light cheering ]
I'm a woman. Yeah.
[ Cheering ]
So, it's hard, you know? I left everything in Mexico.
And I came here to find a better life,
to do different kind of roles.
And suddenly, I have this big opportunity,
and I said, "Why not?
I want to tell this story.
I'm Mexican, and as a Mexican,
I want to know how a guy from the Badiraguato, Sinaloa,
poor, comes to be the number one, you know,
drug lord in the world."
-Yeah. -So...
-Yes. -Somebody must have helped him.
-Yeah.
And are you going to tell the story?
-No. -No.
-You know what? I'm a bit fed up with the situation.
I'm still trying to get over what happened.
To be honest, it was a very hard moment for me.
-Yeah. -It was a couple of really,
really bad years for me and my family.
So, for right no-- I mean, for now,
I just -- I'm ready to rip that up.
I want to, you know, focus on my career
as an actress, as a producer, as a, you know, businesswoman.
Yes. -Well, dude, let's talk about "La Reina del Sur."
-I love your accent. -Thank you!
I'm so proud of it. -You're rolling the Rs.
-"La Reina." -That's good.
Roll the R. -I'm trying to roll the R.
Absolutely. I have to. -[ Laughs ]
This is a big deal, though. This is season 2.
It's eight years since you did...
-Yes. I know. -Who does that?
-Nobody. It's just weird.
I don't know how people are still interested in "La Reina."
I mean, I know, because I'm a fan of the story, too.
Because it was based on a novel from this Spaniard author,
Arturo Perez-Reverte.
And it was a best-seller for
I don't know how many decades, now.
But it went, like, everywhere.
And every time that they...
they repeat it, it's like...
-[Indistinct]. -Yes.
It's just crazy. And then, eight years later,
and everybody's just -- There's so much expectation
that I'm so ner-- No pressure, right?
-I know. -[ Laughs ]
You're like, "Ugh." But I mean, was it tough
going back into the character?
I mean, like... -To be honest,
I thought it was gonna be tough, but no.
She has so much of me, or I have a lot of her in me.
[ Speaks indistinctly ] Mexicana.
She's a -- well, I'm not a drunk, but I do drink.
[ Indistinct talking ]
[ Laughs ]
I love tequila. She loves tequila.
We're both Mexicans.
[ Both laugh ]
Well, you know...
-Yeah, you do have...
-And we both know people who knows people
who knows people, right? -Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-Explain to everyone what the show is about.
-Well, the start of season 1 is this young woman who's naive,
falls in love with this guy who gets killed by the cartel.
So, she has to run for her life,
because they're gonna -- you know, gonna kill her, too.
So, she running.
And she literally runs all the way to Spain,
where she becomes the best drug trafficker ever,
being a woman in this man's world,
and also, in the sur de Espana.
So, that's why it's the "Reina del Sur,"
because it's the sur of Spain --
the south of Spain.
And then, we leave her pregnant in a place that,
we don't know what it is, and with a new identity.
And then, eight years later --
thank God is starts nearly eight years later,
because I don't need to, you know,
looking like I was eight years ago.
So....[ laughs ]
[ Indistinct talking ]
-You're doing fine, yeah.
-That was good for me. So, now,
we start with her in Italia, with a new identity.
Her name is Maria Dantes.
And then, she has, now, a 9-year-old daughter...
-Oh. -...who gets kidnapped by the cartel.
So, she has to go back. But now, she...
She's not running for her life. She's running to get these guys.
-I mean, it is -- It's like watching a movie.
Every episode is a movie.
I mean, big production value.
-It's the biggest one. It's the biggest in --
I'm telling you, in Latin America,
Spanish-speaking, it is -- the second season --
the first one of its kind. -Yeah.
And Telemundo, I know, is having the English closed captioning,
too, so you can -- -Yes. So you can -- yes.
-Everyone can enjoy the show. -Yes.
-I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Kate del Castillo in the season premiere
of "La Reina del Sur."
Take a look.
-[ Speaks Spanish ]
♪♪
[ Gunshots ]
[ Glass shattering ]
♪♪
-[ Speaks Spanish ]
-Yeah!
That's right!
Kate del Castillo, everybody.
"La Reina del Sur" returns to Telemundo
for season 2 on Monday, April 22nd, at 10:00 p.m.