Risky business! Mexican actress Kate del Castillo has finally spoken out about her rendezvous in the jungle with famous fugitive Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the seemingly flirty texts from the drug lord and her anger at Sean Penn for not making his intentions for the visit clear to her.
The soap star, 43, sat down with Diane Sawyer for a special edition of ABC’s 20/20 in her first television interview. Clips of the interview were revealed on Good Morning America on Friday, March 18, where del Castillo looked back at her adventure into the mountains of Mexico with Sean Penn in October.
Del Castillo admits she feels “hurt” by Oscar-winner Penn, who she thought was helping her get a film made about El Chapo’s life, not writing an article for Rolling Stone. “I think he was never interested in the movie,” she said. “I’m angry at myself because I believe in people, and I didn’t know Sean Penn.”
The actress, who plays a fictional drug lord, Teresa Mendoza, in the telenovela La Reina del Sur, also spoke about Guzman’s crush on her, which became evident after his flirty text messages to del Castillo were leaked to the media. “I don’t think it was necessarily me, Kate del Castillo. He probably had a crush on Teresa Mendoza,” she said when Sawyer asked whether Guzman really fell for her. “I think he’s maybe an admirer. I don’t know. Ok, maybe, yes.”
The Jane the Virgin guest star, who is also a fan of motorcycles, race cars and tequila, explains that adrenaline was what drove her to meet with El Chapo. “I just like risk,” she tells Sawyer. She also recounts the terrifying moment when she tried to offer the fugitive some words of wisdom. “I said, ‘Amigo,’ while we were walking, ‘Amigo, just don’t forget what I said on my tweet originally. You’re a powerful man. You can do something good.’”
The full Diane Sawyer special edition of 20/20 airs on ABC on Friday, March 18, at 10 p.m. ET.
