Original subtitles

This series is based on Kate del Castillo's account

of events related to her meeting with Sean Penn and "El Chapo" Guzmán.

The opinions expressed are those of the commentators featured.

I wanted to draw a comparison between the government and a criminal.

And so I did!

Actress Kate del Castillo has admitted

that she sent an open letter to El Chapo Guzmán on Twitter.

All hell broke loose.

It was all over the news that night.

All they talked about was Kate's tweet to El Chapo.

Controversy surrounds Kate del Castillo.

She said about the drug dealer: "Today, I believe more in El Chapo Guzmán..."

No! No, Kate del Castillo!

You said that you admired El Chapo. Is that still true?

I never said I admired him. You didn't read the letter properly.

Were you expecting me?

Had they decided to kill Mr. Guzmán, they would have had to kill everyone.

They cannot choose who to kill.

And they knew they ran that risk as well.

Another important aspect that allowed his location to be pinpointed

was the discovery of Guzmán Loera's intentions

to film a biographical movie.

You would think that the greatest risk Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo took

in doing this interview was involving the narcos.

But it turns out that the greatest danger came from the State.

If anything happens to me, it will be due to the government, not the Cartel.

MEXICO WANTS TO QUESTION KATE

My only protection is this camera.

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES

WELCOME TO BADIRAGUATO

I'm joined here by Kate del Castillo, looking gorgeous as always!

Thank you.

Well, all Mexicans know Kate,

precisely because she's been in soap operas since she was very young.

Kate was the number one leading lady.

Plainly put, if there were five top protagonists, she'd be one of them.

And millions of Mexicans were Kate's fans thanks to La Reina del Sur, obviously.

Let's resume our chat with actress and businesswoman Kate del Castillo.

That's why she's a star, and nobody compares to her.

And ever since that tweet, her life as an actress changed.

JANUARY 2012

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has become Mexico's most wanted fugitive

after escaping from prison in 2001.

He's hiding in the Sinaloa mountains

to evade capture.

I had just come back

after seeing in the new year with my parents.

I came back filled with energy and love.

But I also started reflecting on things that are painful to me,

on things that I might be missing.

I decided to sit at the desk in my room.

I poured myself a glass of red wine.

I wrote all of that and said to myself, I'm going to tweet this.

It was an open letter coming from an open heart.

And I decided to send it.

I pressed "Send," I closed my laptop,

and I went to sleep without knowing what would happen.

KATE DEL CASTILLO - JAN 10

"Today, I want to say what I think, and whoever approves, great.

Today, in 2012, I have more fun.

I listen to the music that I love: Chavela Vargas, Manu Chao, Calle 13...

I don't believe in marriage. I believe in love.

I don't believe I have to be with someone for the rest of...

I don't believe in the Church, and I don't believe in religion,

but I believe in God.

I don't believe in society, because it has made me feel ashamed of who I am.

Today, I believe more in 'El Chapo'

than the governments that hide truths from me, even though they are painful..."

TODAY, I BELIEVE MORE IN "EL CHAPO"

THE FOLLOWING DAY.

Today's topic is Kate del Castillo, who finds herself in the eye of the storm

after sharing her views on Twitter.

She talks about love, religion and even El Chapo.

Hello. I'm Verónica del Castillo.

My boss at Univision said to me, "What did your sister do?

You might need to have bodyguards."

And I said, "What did she do?"

Have a great time. See you soon.

As I was leaving Univision, I saw all the press.

Tell me about your sister. Have you spoken to her recently?

We are united as a family. I really appreciate your interest.

Please excuse us.

It turned into a media frenzy.

They turned it into a huge scandal. As if she had written, I don't know what...

It turned into a circus because people went crazy.

You'd turn on the TV, and they would be analyzing the "Kate del Castillo" case.

I thought that, in that tweet,

Kate del Castillo showed quite a bit of defiance.

Of course, we're talking about an actress here,

and not just any actress.

When I wrote that tweet,

I wanted to compare the Mexican government

with someone like that.

And the biggest one is him, El Chapo.

I could have said anything,

but I said "El Chapo" to draw a comparison and make it clear.

KATE DOESN'T BELIEVE IN THE BIBLE

Then what happened?

Everything was distorted, like many things that happen in this country.

It became the story of "Kate del Castillo,

the actress who is telling El Chapo

to support Mexico because we need men like him."

And then it was just madness.

That tweet was very powerful.

It came at a time of great instability in Sinaloa.

There were deaths, people missing...

I wouldn't discredit her urge to talk about violence.

Some of the things I read on social networks are just...

Sorry to say this, but many people are stupid.

What time did Kate fire off that tweet?

I felt proud in the sense that,

in Mexico, we don't talk about religion or politics,

and this brought some topics to the table.

So my goal was reached.

Because of this, Kate del Castillo became famous internationally.

The day after the tweet,

I had agreed to take a friend of mine to Tijuana,

because there's a very good plastic surgeon over there,

and she was going to have surgery.

So I pick her up, we get to Tijuana,

and we go straight to Los Arcos, an amazing restaurant,

because I was dying to have Mexican food.

I take some photos with people - all very normal - and then we go...

to the hospital.

I turn on the TV in the hospital room

and start watching Joaquín López-Dóriga.

And Joaquín says,

"Stay tuned. Up next in Tercer Grado, we'll be talking about this and that,

and the issue of Kate del Castillo."

They bashed me mercilessly...

They said I didn't know how to write, that my writing was terrible,

that I saw myself as a politician,

and I thought I was the "Queen of the South."

Anyway, they completely destroyed me,

but they didn't talk about what the tweet said,

and that's what really hurt me and also made me very angry.

Why were these men talking about me, as if Kate del Castillo were a "topic",

without properly reading and analyzing that tweet?

It scared me, because I had never been the main topic of discussion,

on a show about politics.

When the show ended, I wanted to die. I didn't understand anything.

And then I get a phone call.

Someone says to me, "Kate, you are currently in Tijuana, right?"

I reply, "Yes, I'm in Tijuana. How did you know?"

I hadn't told anyone that I was going to be there.

And he says, "I just wanted to tell you that they know..."

I ask, "Who knows?"

And he tells me, "The Cartel.

You are in the rival Cartel's territory,

and they're not very happy."

I hang up.

I left with my heart pounding and the feeling that I was being hunted,

that someone was going to kill me.

I think that, in any conversation, mentioning a drug dealer

or a politician, or talking about the government and all that,

involves a certain risk.

That's normal.

JOURNALIST INVESTIGATING NARCOS MURDERED

BODY OF SEVENTH JOURNALIST MURDERED THIS YEAR FOUND

I was terrified.

I can hardly explain how scared I was.

Like when you truly feel your life is in danger.

I left and got lost in Tijuana. I took the wrong exit.

I ended up in a horrible neighborhood that was deserted.

I was sweating. My heart was pounding.

I didn't know why... I felt I was being chased, but I didn't quite know why.

I finally found the exit and left.

And I went straight to my home in Los Angeles that night,

unable to understand anything.

I never thought sending that tweet would be dangerous.

On the contrary, on the contrary...

I know next to nothing about El Chapo,

but I feel like I know him.

It is known that he used to be poor and used to sell oranges.

His father possibly grew opium.

Just like other people from the Sierra, he will never admit that he suffered.

He will never utter a word about suffering

that will make him, or force him to, bow his head.

El Chapo Guzmán is the avenger of his own poverty.

He fought his whole life to avoid being poor ever again

because to him that was a nightmare.

El Chapo Guzmán grew up with an abusive father,

who spent his money on prostitutes and alcohol.

His father left, or he was simply not present,

and it was an uncle who more or less guided him...

Well, him and his brothers.

The uncle had a big farm where he grew marijuana.

And that's where he started working.

It's very hard to read or understand a character like El Chapo

if you don't try to assess him

with the farmer's mentality that he grew up with.

In other words, El Chapo doesn't come from a wealthy family.

How do you become a drug lord?

Do the research

and you'll always find they share the same trait...

poverty.

Sinaloa is the synthesis

of all the ecological microsystems that can be found in Mexico.

Sinaloa is the fertile land.

We are ashamed of growing drugs.

Why? Because it's the only source of income we have.

And we earn very little. But the government won't allow it.

Sinaloa is also the place...

...that is now associated with the war against drugs,

with its victims...

Sinaloa is also associated with violence.

I'm going to tell you a story.

In 1975...

amongst a group of politicians from the United States,

who were afraid of Mexicans

and the substances that Mexicans brought into the United States...

One day, a helicopter

carrying federal and military police officers

arrived at a small town called "San José del Barranco,"

which was next to La Tuna Badiraguato, Sinaloa.

The soldiers walked the streets displaying their weapons,

so that everyone in the town would fear them, instead of respecting them.

They shot a young man.

The men fled the town.

The women, it was later said...

were stripped naked by the military men.

They had to travel down to Culiacán to report these actions,

because it wasn't right that the military and the police made them go through that.

They reported this to the Public Ministry.

And what do you think happened?

Nothing happened.

That is what El Chapo Guzmán's family had to endure during Operation Condor.

The town in which the military men and police officers arrived...

was La Tuna.

At that time, El Chapo was 17 years old.

Operation Condor and the massive bloodshed,

the countless human rights violations...

That was the emotional education

that people like El Chapo, El Mayo,

and many of the criminals that make the headlines today grew up with.

OCTOBER 1972

Kate del Castillo is born in Mexico City.

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is 15 years old.

Around that time he starts working for the largest cartel in Mexico.

I was born in a very small apartment in Polanco, a neighborhood in Mexico,

where I lived with my parents and sister.

My sister is almost three years older than me.

My mother worked for some time when she was younger,

but in truth she dedicated herself to me and my sister full time.

I honestly had an amazing childhood.

My father, like any good actor and artist, has always been a dreamer.

And my mother has always been very down to earth,

and has always managed to keep his feet on the ground.

Are all the flowers this pretty out here in the desert?

It was a nice time. My father worked a lot.

He would sometimes be away for two months working on a film.

And when he'd get back,

my parents tell me, I would get very angry.

I resented him for being gone for so long.

Eventually, I understood that we made a living out of acting.

My family has never been in any business other than acting.

I remember going with my father to a play called Salomé.

I was really amazed by all the costumes in Salomé.

I remember they cut his head, and they had a severed head prop.

I felt like I was in a story.

I remember Verónica and I drew the curtain,

and I saw that amazing horseshoe-shaped theater

and all the people coming in and sitting down.

And I heard the murmur you hear when a theater is starting to fill up.

I saw the balconies fill up,

and I thought, "This is so beautiful. It's amazing.

I want to stand here. I want to stand here, always."

I told her, "Listen, dear, do you want to be an actress?"

And she told me, "Well, if you allow me, Daddy..."

I did say, though, "My dear, there are only two things I ask of you.

One, don't dishonor yourself.

Don't be like the rest.

The other thing that worries me, and is perhaps the most serious,

is that there's a chance you might not be emotionally happy in your life."

They tried to avoid it, they tried to dissuade her,

but they finally realized this was her calling.

And they ended up supporting her.

She's always been very independent.

She's bold and daring.

She's always had a very strong temperament.

There was this one time she stepped onto the ledge of a building...

It was on the third floor.

One careless moment...

I suddenly saw Kate sliding through the rails of the balcony.

Her head passed through,

and then she started walking on the ledge of the balcony.

She was on the outer edge of the balcony by then.

She was suddenly standing there...

I managed to reach out and pin her against the wall,

because the ledge she was walking on was no wider than her foot.

Verónica called out loud for me, and when I saw her, I said,

"Quiet. Don't say anything. Don't shout. Don't say anything."

It was just horrible. I still remember how horrible it felt.

Every time I remember that image,

I get very sad and nostalgic because...

Maybe she's had a sort of death wish since she was little.

If anything happened to my sister, I would die.

No, she never realized what she was doing.

To this day, she still doesn't realize.

But even then you could tell what kind of person she was.

"Mr. Chapo, wouldn't it be great if you started dealing in goodness?"

"Come on, don. You would be the hero of heroes.

Let's deal in love. You know how."

And what would you say to El Chapo Guzmán if you saw him?

Gosh, I don't know... I would die!

I would pass out. I wouldn't tell him anything.

Perhaps I took a huge risk

when I mentioned El Chapo in my tweet, I don't know.

But in my country, we have a long history,

in the sense that drug lords have done more for the people than the government.

And I'm not the one saying it. The people are.

Change your destiny...

That's what Kate is asking him to do.

Would it be possible

for a narco who has even more money than the government

to give some of it back to us,

and thus be labelled a "hero of heroes"?

He wouldn't be the first bandit or outlaw to transform his character.

We're celebrating 108 years since the death of Malverde.

Despite what he was, people still believe in him,

more so than Peña Nieto

or any other corrupt politician in the state of Sinaloa.

MALVERDE

Malverde is an unusual subject in the case of Mexico.

He was actually a thief, but also a Robin Hood-like figure.

He was a kind of saint, on the fringes of the Catholic Church,

who ended up challenging the Mexican State.

The logic behind it is very Mexican.

And the truth is that some narcos

have carried out social work in their birthplaces

and in their drug trafficking territories.

I think people are always hoping

that someone will lend a hand to their people.

And that is true for many Mexican communities.

So if someone actually does that, that person becomes a hero for the town.

We believe in him because he has done a lot for us, and the government hasn't.

The image that El Chapo Guzmán projects

amongst many people in Mexico is that of a peaceful man,

a Robin Hood that helps the poor, which we don't agree with.

Ever since he was little, he always had hopes.

He wanted something from life.

In the short time I got to know him, I could tell he was a great person.

In the sense that he lends a hand to people... He helps them.

This is something that hardly anyone does.

More people believe in Joaquín Guzmán Loera

than in any federal government official.

Put the drug trafficking and lawlessness aside.

Look for the positives in this person.

If he saw that you needed a blanket or a roof over your head,

he would give them to you.

Go ask the government, and they will give you nothing.

It's that simple, my friend. It's that simple.

In Mexico there's an absurd Robin Hood myth.

There's a crusader myth, which is also absurd.

And there's the myth of the young uneducated boy of humble origins

who becomes a billionaire featured in Forbes m agazine,

and who pushes the Mexican State into a corner for years.

There's never been a more high-profile drug lord than El Chapo.

His workers organized rallies demanding his release.

Young ladies wore "Release El Chapo" and "Chapo, I love you" t-shirts.

WE WANT EL CHAPO FREED

FREE EL CHAPO

So that's it. He's a narco, he's an icon, he's very popular.

But, at the end of the day, he's a narco.

At age 15, he realized he could do his father's business.

And... That's his life.

He looked for opportunities that he could take advantage of.

He started off by smuggling drugs to Mexicali.

And as far as I know,

from what I've heard from people like Miguel Félix Gallardo

and drug lords at the time, people El Chapo worked for,

he then had the idea of using the tunnels to smuggle drugs.

He turned Mexicali from an insignificant city

into an important one for drug smuggling.

Why did you run?

I wasn't on the run.

So why did you go from Guadalajara to Chiapas?

-Sorry, what's that? - Why were you in Chiapas?

-What for...? - Why Chiapas?

I was in Guatemala.

El Chapo was the most wanted man,

he was the most powerful man.

I don't know the names of many narcos,

but if I had to name one, I'd say "El Chapo."

$5 MILLION REWARD FOR INFORMATION

There are thirty-something cartels in Mexico.

And yet the cartel that has most of the know-how and experience

is still the Sinaloa Cartel.

El Chapo Guzmán has been one of the most productive drug dealers

in the history of drug dealing.

The Colombian narcos were active for no more than five or ten years

before they were extradited or killed.

El Chapo has been around for 20.

El Chapo Guzmán became the most wanted drug lord

due to the volume of business coming from the Sinaloa Cartel.

He spends it on his women, his houses and his families,

as part of a life of fleeing, which he chose.

All in secrecy.

"I don't believe in any institution or law

dedicated to terrorizing me and taking my money."

Mexico is known for its music, right?

For its history, for its art...

It is not known for Televisa.

Only you can choose if you want to be with me or not.

In the mountains of Sinaloa, I bet you could only watch Channel 2.

I'm sure of it.

I mean, we've all grown up watching soap operas on Televisa.

I think someone like El Chapo would be very used to it.

And not just used to it.

I bet he also feels a certain admiration for Televisa soap opera personalities.

Let go of me!

The real emotional education of Mexicans is the soap opera.

I'm finally Juan's girlfriend, and we'll go everywhere.

Televisa is not just a communications network.

Televisa is an entity of the Mexican system,

not only in terms of political and social control,

but also in terms of social aspirations.

And, in many ways,

it shows a reality that Mexicans would like to live in.

Could it be that all women were born to suffer?

If we are educated, they choose us to humiliate us.

If we are cultured, they choose to make us feel small.

And if we are pretty, to make us look ugly.

Oh, ma'am!

Televisa has been our Ministry of Public Education.

That's how myths and forms of behavior have been widely spread.

You cannot understand Mexico without Televisa and the Televisa culture.

Televisa was the only network in the early 80's

and even in the early 90's,

where an actress who wanted to build a successful career...

had to go through there.

It had full control over the production of soap operas.

When we were a bit older,

I decided to pursue a career, and attended an acting school in Mexico.

And during that time, I auditioned for a soap opera, and I got the part.

That was Muchachitas, my first soap opera.

Muchachitas made me famous.

I'm glad you told her that.

Now I'll tell her to stop meddling in my life once and for all.

While working there, I got to know what went on at Televisa.

Televisa was never a company that wanted actresses to be unique.

They wanted them to conform.

They didn't educate actresses, they created stereotypes.

Kate's spontaneity set her aside from the cliché

of being an actor or actress on Televisa.

She never really wanted to have surgery, change who she was, transform herself

or be who they wanted her to be.

And she was always a rebel.

I will not stay here for another day. Let go of me!

At the same time, the network would strongly sexualize you.

Perhaps I didn't understand it at the time, but it bothered me.

Yes, at the time that this horrible thing was happening

women were seen as objects.

They were objectified both on screen and every day at work.

There are countless stories about that...

Those publicist dinners were basically... You were special...

Getting invited to one of those was like "wow!"

The purpose of those dinners was literally to offer the actresses to the publicists.

And they are the people who bring the money to Televisa.

They are the ones who pay for airtime.

Yes, just like the famous call girls in Colombia.

In other words, television became the catalogue.

You would choose from the screen.

And, well, there were many actresses who would do anything for a role.

The first time I was invited, I was doing Muchachitas.

Ari Telch was my boyfriend at the time.

So when I called to confirm, I said, "Oh, thank you. Ari and I will be there."

And they told me, "No, you're the only one invited."

I said, "You know what? I'm not interested in attending.

Thanks, but no."

I hung up, and they called back saying, "What do you mean you're not going?"

It was almost compulsory.

To me, what they were offering

was for me to go and entertain a bunch of guys I didn't know.

I thought that was very low. And I never accepted.

There came a time when I had done ten soap operas in twelve years,

and I got tired of playing the same character over and over again.

I wanted to play other characters that were more challenging

and take more risks as an actress.

I wasn't getting that opportunity in Mexico, at least not with Televisa.

So I decided to leave for new horizons.

After that, I came to the United States.

You normally leave when you have nothing to lose.

And I had everything to lose when I came here.

There have been many times when I knew I had to take a risk,

dissociate the name "Kate del Castillo" from the soap opera actress.

I used to idealize the United States. Of course I did.

And, as an actress, I always wanted to watch the Hollywood movies

and see the great Hollywood actors.

I thought, this is my chance to prove my worth,

and not just to the whole world

At that time, I wanted to prove to everyone that I really was an actress,

and prove it to myself.

I remember thinking, I don't think she's going to last here.

Here,

30 or 40 girls will be shortlisted for a film,

all of them gorgeous and very talented.

So you never really know.

There is no formula that says who will work, who won't, and who gets the part.

When I met her, she was quite used to soap operas.

Little by little, she had to re-educate herself

to rediscover what it means to be an actress.

Kate had a really hard time in the first few years

until she managed to get her first movie roles,

and do things that were different from what she was used to doing at Televisa.

Listen to me.

I want a new life, you know?

Honestly, with some of the roles I've landed, I had to get them myself.

I go and get them. I fight for them.

If I don't get them, that's fine. But I'd rather fight for them than do nothing.

And it makes sense. You're in a foreign country and you're a Latin woman.

Everything is a lot harder to get.

I think Hollywood doesn't know

how to cast and how to market Hispanics.

It has changed a lot.

But we are still cast as the prostitutes, the maids, the nannies...

That hasn't changed.

And even though I live and sometimes work in Hollywood,

I don't get paid like a Hollywood actress.

Thankfully, I don't have any dependents, but that worries me.

The Chapo issue came to Kate at a time

when she, as an actress, was starting to age.

She was no longer the little girl

or the woman who's an object of desire.

So she started to look for other opportunities.

Her identity is clear. She's a woman who wants to tell great stories.

I think what we have here is a man who is driven

by his romantic and sexual instincts,

and a woman driven by her search for fame.

I'm not popular in the United States and I think there's great opportunity,

both in Mexico and in the United States.

The opportunity was twice as big in the United States

because I was a Latin actress who was struggling,

and I got this Hollywood movie.

When Kate del Castillo met Fernando Sulichín,

it was at Oliver Stone's house.

I was with her.

I was there, about to be introduced to Oliver Stone,

and someone said, "It's the wonderful Kate del Castillo!"

I turned around and saw Sulichín, whom I didn't know.

Then he invited me to lunch and asked me if I had been contacted by El Chapo,

because he had read my tweet.

"If he ever contacts you, please let me know,

because Oliver is dying to do something with him.

Not just to meet him, but to do a documentary, a film or whatever."

And I said, "Yeah, sure."

FEBRUARY 2014

Two years after Kate posted her infamous tweet,

El Chapo is recaptured by the Mexican government

and sent to a maximum security prison.

Seven months later...

El Chapo's lawyers contact Kate for the first time.

I was in Miami shooting another series, Dueños del Paraíso.

I received the first email.

It was someone saying that they wanted me for a Hollywood movie.

I sent her an email saying

that we wanted to make a movie with her.

And she didn't quite understand.

She wanted to go over the details and know what it was about.

I replied, "Come whenever you want. I only take Sundays off."

They replied, "No, we cannot go to the US."

"Why don't you send me the script, so I can have a look?

That way I won't waste my time, and you won't waste yours."

And they replied, "No, we cannot go...

because we are Joaquín Guzmán Loera's lawyers."

I told her we wanted to meet up with her.

Mr. Guzmán read that tweet. He saw it.

And that's why he wanted to get in touch with Ms. Kate del Castillo.

They told me he was very grateful for the tweet I had written.

This is the answer to the question everyone's been asking for years.

Whether he contacted me or not. That was the contact. In the end, he did.

The first thing that came to mind was obviously Sulichín.

Kate did her research and verified that they were his legal lawyers.

"Everyone has that right,

and they are not under investigation, they are not criminals,

so I'll meet up with them."

So I told them, "I can go. I just have to rent a plane."

"Yes, that would be great."

So I went there.

I was literally shaking during the trip.

I thought maybe they would take me to see him.

I had no idea. I was just sweating.

When I was about to board,

I took a picture of the plane's tail and sent it to my friend.

She never told me who she was going to meet.

She said she would tell me later in person.

When she sent me the plane's tail number, I became worried.

It was as if she was telling me, "Make sure that I return."

On the plane, I was thinking, Jesus Christ! What am I doing?

Such courage...

Such audacity. Forget the courage. Such... insanity.

SEPTEMBER 2014

TOLUCA, MEXICO

We arrived in Toluca.

The first thing I said to the pilots was, "I'm going to a meeting. I'll be back.

Please don't leave."

I got there and saw two men in suits staring at me directly,

and I knew it was them.

They asked me where I wanted to eat.

Because their boss had told them to take me

to the best restaurant in Mexico City.

And I said, "No, no, no...

Tacos will do just fine. Take me to the first taco stand we see."

And they said, "No, no way, miss. Our boss would kill us."

I made a terrible joke and said, "Literally?"

But it was my way of breaking the ice because I was so nervous.

They started laughing like crazy and said, "You are very funny, miss."

The first thing I told them was,

"You want me to make a movie about Mr. Joaquín Guzmán Loera,

but we first need to ask him what kind of movie he wants,

because everybody knows who he is,

my name is at stake, and I won't make a romantic comedy about him.

And I won't lie either.

So first ask him what he wants to say with his movie."

His real life. That's what he wants to show.

He wants something serious, a job well done.

Not a movie based on news reports alone.

"That's exactly why the boss picked you.

Because he knows you are an honest, direct woman

who isn't afraid, and who dares to tell the truth.

And he wants to tell the truth."

During one of the times I was in Mexico...

I was meeting with Mr. Guzmán's lawyers because we were working on the rights.

On one occasion, I asked one of the lawyers if I could send him a note.

And he said, "Yes, of course. He'd appreciate it."

And it was literally a note on a small card that said,

"Mr. Guzmán, Thank you for entrusting me with the rights to your life. Kate."

I gave it to him. And then I went back to Los Angeles.

So on my next visit to Mexico, I met up with the lawyers again.

And they said, "Oh, by the way, the boss sent you this,"

and he gave me an envelope.

I realized it was a letter.

I pretended I wasn't that interested,

but I couldn't wait to leave and read what it said.

I went back to the hotel, locked myself in,

opened the envelope and pulled out this letter.

I couldn't believe it was written in his own handwriting.

I felt I was holding in my hands something that nobody else had.

"For Kate del Castillo.

With great satisfaction, love and care, I write this letter to you.

I hope it finds you and your family well...

I want to make it clear that you will be the one that makes all the decisions...

I hope I can meet you in person one day. Hopefully, soon."

And he signed it like this,

"Thank you very much. Your friend, Joaquín Guzmán L."

I never expected a letter from him,

least of all such a heartfelt letter.

Perhaps I had pictured him as a monster,

and then I realized

that there's...

good and bad inside us all.

All of this has changed my life.

JULY 11, 2015

El Chapo grants Kate del Castillo

the rights to make a movie about his life.

There were other people who offered him large sums of money

to make a movie.

But Mr. Guzmán wasn't interested.

Mr. Guzmán wanted her to do it.

He granted the rights

to Ms. Kate del Castillo,

so she could negotiate and have the movie made.

It's not easy for Mr. Guzmán to grant a Power of Attorney.

He doesn't simply sign any document.

Friday night was an evening of boxing organized by Oscar de la Hoya,

who was joined by his good friend Kate del Castillo.

I was at a boxing match with Oscar de la Hoya.

I remember someone called me. I don't remember who.

They told me, "He escaped."

EL CHAPO ESCAPES AGAIN

Through here, El Chapo abandoned his cell.

Penn met with El Chapo when he was hiding from special forces

after his notorious escape from a maximum security prison.

Under his cell, the tunnel was discovered,

which was 1.5 kilometers in length in his native state of Sinaloa.

I couldn't believe it. I ran back home and switched on the news.

I saw it was him, obviously.

I froze, because I thought, "Oh well, there goes the movie down the drain.

The project is dead."

Andrés Granados, El Chapo's lawyer: Have you heard the news?

Kate: Yes.

Andrés: Good. We're celebrating. Ha, ha.

Kate: I'm celebrating even more.

The truth is I wasn't celebrating.

I was in shock, the same as the whole of Mexico.

And not just that.

It was a laughable situation for all Mexicans.

He humiliated the Mexican government once more.

Evidently, El Chapo Guzmán couldn't have dug that tunnel without help.

But he didn't kill anyone to escape.

He didn't force open any doors.

We don't know who his accomplices were, but that kind of spectacular escape

doesn't happen thanks to good technical and strategic capabilities.

It is rather the result of a great deal of corruption and protection

from the authorities.

We were left with more questions than answers.

There is no doubt that the tunnel exists.

But there is no certainty that El Chapo actually escaped through that tunnel.

There are two options:

it is either a feat of engineering, or a monument to the government's stupidity.

I think it's a monument to the government's stupidity and corruption.

All of Peña Nieto's aspirations went down the drain

through the same hole El Chapo used to escape.

It puts Peña Nieto in the spotlight.

The president of the Mexican Republic

is seen as a complete idiot.

I called my partners and said, "You've seen the news. You know what's happening."

And I told them, "Our movie is gone."

And one of them says, "No, it just got better."

AUGUST 2015

The first time I had direct contact with Mr. Guzmán

was this one time in Guadalajara.

I met with the lawyers there.

They gave me a telephone,

and said, "It already has his PIN number.

You will only use this to speak with him directly, and that's it."

I never told her what she'd be doing.

I told her she'd be speaking with Mr. Joaquín Guzmán Loera.

So she learned and sweated a lot, and...

At times I even thought, I hope she doesn't faint.

I think that's when Mr. Guzmán told her

that they were going to organize a meeting in person.

ONE MONTH LATER...

Sean Penn

finds out that Kate del Castillo...

holds El Chapo's life story rights, and he's very interested...

Ostensibly, he wants to take part in the film.

That's how he came in contact with Kate.

"Yes, let's make the movie."

And Kate obviously thought that Sean Penn would make the movie viable in Hollywood.

Sulichín told me, "Sean is interested in the project.

He wants to come on board. He wants to meet you."

I said, "Perfect."

One renowned actor and two renowned producers. I was happy.

So we all met in a restaurant,

and Sean started telling me that he wanted to meet El Chapo.

I told him, "The invitation is there. He told me.

So let me see whether it can be done and when."

I was surprised when she told me that Sean Penn

was going to be involved in the movie project.

I told her, "Look, I don't really trust gringos,

especially if they want to meet Mr. Joaquín Guzmán Loera."

It took me two minutes to tell him, "Yes, we are going."

It took a week for Mr. Guzmán to make all the arrangements

for us to go see him.

I spoke with Sean and the other two, and said,

"OK, this is a done deal.

Let me know now whether we are moving forward or backing out,

so I can let El Chapo know we are not going.

But I don't want you to back out and then leave me alone in the plane."

They told me, "It's a done deal. We are doing this."

I said, "OK."

But then I asked myself, what am I doing?

Subtitle translation by Laura Cucurullo