Kate Del Castillo On Representation, El Chapo And La Reina Del Sur 3

Kate del Castillo started her acting career 30 years ago in Mexican telenovelas like Muchachitas. In 2007, she made her Hollywood debut in a leading role, but her stature as an international celebrity skyrocketed in 2011 with La Reina del Sur (Queen of the South). She portrayed Teresa Mendoza, a woman from Mexico who becomes the most powerful drug trafficker in the south of Spain. The Telemundo “Super Series” broke viewing records, with the debut season’s finale outperforming all U.S. television networks, regardless of language. Season 2 premiered eight years later in 2019, completing its run as the #1 rated U.S. program in its time slot, regardless of language.

In 2015, del Castillo brokered an interview between actor Sean Penn and infamous drug trafficking head Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, for which she was investigated by the Mexican government.

In this interview, Kate talks about Hollywood representation, her side of the Sean Penn – El Chapo controversy, and what to expect in this third season of La Reina del Sur, which debuts on Tuesday, October 18th at 9 pm ET/PT on Telemundo.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Warner Bros. Discovery cancelled Batgirl, starring Afro-Latina Leslie Grace. James Franco was cast to play Fidel Castro in an upcoming movie. John Leguizamo has been especially vocal about the lack of equitable representation in Hollywood, citing the many historical examples of white actors playing Latino parts. What’s your take?

Kate del Castillo: It’s been 20 years since I’ve got here and we’re not getting anywhere. We still are not being cast. I don’t see a lot of people that look like me and speak like me yet.

Hispanics make up 19 percent of the U.S. population, but only three percent of lead acting roles and one percent of the directors.

Kate del Castillo: To be honest, that’s heartbreaking for me. I’ve been here for a long time and am trying to get to a point that I don’t have to explain myself—who I am and the difference between me and Eva Longoria or Jennifer Lopez or Eva Mendes. It’s not comparing to be better than the others. It’s just that I bring something different. Stop objectifying us or sexualizing us, which is hard also because as actresses, we want to work. Sometimes it’s hard to know the difference between a character that’s being sexualized and a character who’s just being sexy. It’s a fine line. But still, we have so much to learn, and I’m getting tired.

Changing direction, is there anything that you would’ve done differently—now that you’ve lived through it—during the controversy over the interview with El Chapo and Sean Penn?

Kate del Castillo: I felt so dumb by being played by this character, [Sean] Penn, that I wish I was wiser in that way—not so naive. But I would have done everything the same way because I had my good reasons to do it. I’m an actor struggling in the United States, and I wanted to bring an amazing story—and why not? Somebody was going to give it to me, as exactly as a lot of other actors and producers have done before. Definitely, there was something [about this controversy] that had to do with me being Mexican and a woman.

I wish things were different and I take responsibility of every single decision I made. But there were so many other things that were not in my hands—and I wasn’t even aware of it, because they put me out of it. They didn’t let me know a lot of stuff that was going on around the whole thing. Now that I’m alive and my parents and family are okay, I say it was a great adventure.

It helped you break out of the stereotype of the pretty actress without a lot of depth.

Kate del Castillo: Probably—but that was not the best way to do it. We try to make margaritas out of the lemons. On the other hand, I know that I’m going to be stigmatized for the rest of my life—but it’s okay. That moment does not define who I am. I had a career before and I’m still working, thank God.

Let’s turn to the third season of La Reina del Sur. What can we expect?

Kate del Castillo: Teresa Mendoza is the warrior that we all knew she was but enhanced in so many ways. She’s coming out of prison after four years of confinement. She’s crazy—and very smart. What has she been doing during the four years? Working out, not only physically, but also mentally. So that’s the Teresa Mendoza you have to expect. She wants to see her kid. She wants revenge—and freedom, of course. All of this is so she can go away with her kid and live freely for once in her life.

What else can you tell us?

Kate del Castillo: We’re going to go to Latin America, which is amazing for people who have never been there to see la majestuosidad of every single one of location. We’re showing a Latin America that is gorgeous. We went to Machu Picchu, Peru. We went to Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. We went to Argentina, Colombia, Mexico—so many places.

And now, La Reina, she’s not dealing drugs anymore. She had to do some things with a drug trafficker in Season 2, but she’s out of that business. Thank God, because I think we are all fed up with narco-series. This season has become like a political thriller, or an action political thriller, let’s say. It’s like 60 little movies—that’s how beautifully shot it is, that’s how the production values are in this third one.

The filming must’ve been an adventure.

Kate del Castillo: In this third one, we speak every single language. It’s so inclusive. We speak Italian and Russian, even the dialects of Bolivia, Amaya and Quechua, and in Columbia, Arawakan. We didn’t fake anything. All the actors are from the local country, so we are very attached to reality. We’re very proud of it.

You’re doing what we talked about at the beginning. You’re casting people in the community for roles about the community. That’s what everybody needs to do, particularly, mainstream Hollywood.

Kate del Castillo: Absolutely, they need to start differentiating a Colombian from a Mexican from a Venezuelan. You can have so many different accents. It’s so beautiful. We are not only Mexicans.

You mention Teresa Mendoza’s transformation. Can you give us details? Do you have to go through a lot of fight training?

Kate del Castillo: I did, and it was all my fault. That was so stupid because nobody asked me, not the director, not the producer. Since Teresa is in jail for so many years by herself, my goal was not only to have her lose weight, but to be ripped. She’s ready—and you’ll see her fight.

I wanted her to look different, to see a real change. I regretted it so bad later. By the second month, I wanted to kill myself, but it was all worth it. When I watched the first seven episodes, I thought that this would be good for the fans to see Teresa Mendoza more . . . Mendoza que nunca.

Listen to The Revolución Podcast full episode featuring actor Kate del Castillo with co-hosts Kathryn Garcia Castro, Diego Lastra, Linda Lane González, and Court Stroud, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon
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