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Home / Entertainment

The soap star, the Oscar-winner and the drug lord: How weakeness for actress was ultimately El Chapo's undoing

Daily Mail
10 Jan, 2016 07:50 PM7 mins to read

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Unlikely trio: El Chapo Guzmán, Kate del Castillo and Sean Penn. Photos / AP

Unlikely trio: El Chapo Guzmán, Kate del Castillo and Sean Penn. Photos / AP

• Soap actress struck up friendship with drug lord
• El Chapo sent her flowers after tweets
• She brokered deal for Sean Penn interview
• SCROLL DOWN: Eight bizarre moments in El Chapo interview
• READ MORE: Penn interview led to El Chapo's capture

Since the capturing of the world's most wanted man, there are many questions surrounding his latest arrest and how he allowed the beautiful Mexican actress Kate del Castillo into his inner circle.

The Rolling Stone piece in which famed actor Sean Penn documents his daring journey to Mexico to meet up with El Chapo Guzmán, ultimately led to the kingpin's recapture, six months after his elaborate prison break.

But the meeting between the double Oscar-winning actor and the famed drugs lord only seems to come about with del Castillo's help.

"He was interested in seeing the story of his life told on film, but would entrust its telling only to Kate," Penn wrote in the magazine about El Chapo's desire to have a movie made about him.

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Del Castillo first started her acting career in 1979 when she appeared in a film titled The Last Escape.

From there, her fame only grew and so did her voice to speak out about different issues plaguing the world and her country. In 2009 she was appointed Ambassador for the Mexican Commission on Human Rights and also posed in a PETA campaign in 2012.

The relationship between El Chapo and the 43-year-old beauty seems to have started at the beginning of 2012, when she first mentioned him in a tweet.

The Mexican film and television star, who is the daughter of soap opera actor Eric del Castillo, stated that she would trust El Chapo if it was a question between him or the seemingly corrupt Mexican government.

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"Mr. Chapo, wouldn't it be cool that you started trafficking with love?" she tweeted. "With cures for diseases, with food for the homeless children, with alcohol for the retirement homes that don't let the elderly spend the rest of the days doing whatever the f*** they want. Imagine trafficking with corrupt politicians instead of women and children who end up as slaves.

View this post on Instagram

Ya casi podemos brindar juntos con HONOR! Solo 24 horas para la PREVENTA de Tequila Honor Del Castillo!!! Para todos los detalles visita www.TequilaHonor.com y Síguenos @tequilahonor #tequilahonor #quierotequilahonor #viveconhonor #tuy50mas It's definitely almost time to toast together with Honor. Only 24 hours till Tequila Honor Del Castillo PRESALE!! Visit www.tequilahonor.com for details and follow us @tequilahonor

A post shared by Kate del Castillo (@katedelcastillo) on Nov 19, 2015 at 9:50am PST

"Why don't you burn all those whorehouses where women are worth less than a pack of cigarettes. Without offer, there's no demand. Come on, Don! You would be the hero of heroes. Let's traffic with love. You know how to. Life is a business and the only thing that changes is the merchandise. Don't you agree?"

Soon after her initial tweet, the popular soap opera actress who famously played a drug lordess on television, was contacted by one of El Chapo's lawyers.

According to Penn, the El Señor wanted to send her flowers in gratitude of her support and she replied with her address.

Whether or not del Castillo truly meant her sentiments in the tweet she sent about El Chapo is still out for debate.

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Once he was recaptured in 2014, the relationship between the two reportedly grew tremendously, as they exchanged several letters while he was incarcerated.

While imprisoned, he reportedly reached out to the well-known actress for her help to make a movie about his more than captivating life, even though his lawyers were being flooded with requests from Hollywood studios.

During a visit to Los Angeles, del Castillo met Penn through mutual friends and discussed El Chapo's idea for a film.

However, Penn and the Jane the Virgin star reportedly decided that it would be too difficult to make a movie, and instead pursued another idea: a magazine story.

Through Penn fostering a relationship with del Castillo, who had the trust of El Chapo, only did he agree to be interviewed by the legendary actor.

El Chapo reportedly wanted to meet the actress who not only had tweeted her support for him publicly, but who he too had also developed a relationship with while being imprisoned.

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Today's cover: El Jerko! Sean Penn secretly met with fugitive drug lord El Chapo https://t.co/jKtudUxAvk pic.twitter.com/Rg43lFpXgT

— New York Post (@nypost) January 10, 2016

Del Castillo brokered the deal for Penn to be able to meet with the criminal, and now it has been revealed that Penn is the one who led authorities to his secret location in Mexico.

Ultimately, it seems as though through del Castillo's femme fatale and linchpin that the drug lord was brought down again and arrested, thanks to his desire to meet the beautiful and talented woman.

Del Castillo has not spoken out about her thoughts concerning El Chapo's recent arrest, or if she feels that her life is in danger since she appears to be responsible for Penn coming.

This is not the first instance in which the 55-year-old actor has seemingly interfered with politics.

Penn initially denied rumors that he was friends with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez after it was reported in 2007.

Del Castillo with Penn. She reached out to him to discuss making a movie about El Chapo. Photo / Instagram
Del Castillo with Penn. She reached out to him to discuss making a movie about El Chapo. Photo / Instagram

However, he admitted to having a friendship with the man who had been accused of running his country as a dictator while speaking to Bill Maher in an interview.

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When Chávez died from cancer in 2013, Penn called the president a "friend" in a statement. "Today the United States lost a friend it never knew it had," he stated.

Eight bizarre moments in Penn's El Chapo interview

1. Sean Penn admits he has never learned how to use a laptop computer. "At 55 years old, I've never learned to use a laptop. Do they still make laptops?"

2. Penn thought his penis might get chopped off. "D**k in hand, I do consider it among my body parts vulnerable to the knives of irrational narco types, and take a fond last look, before tucking it back into my pants."

3. Penn has a drunken day dream about a drone. "I look to the sky and wonder how funny it would be if there were a weaponized drone above us. We are in a clearing, sitting right out in the open. I down the tequila, and the drone goes away."

4. El Chapo still isn't keen on Donald Trump. "I mention Trump. El Chapo smiles, ironically saying, 'Ah! Mi amigo!'"

5. For some reason, Penn doesn't want to smile in a photograph with El Chapo. "I explain that, for authentication purposes, it would be best if we are shaking hands, looking into the camera, but not smiling."

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6. Penn compares El Chapo to a superhero for putting on body armour and picking up a gun. "Following this Clark Kent-into-Superman extravaganza."

7. Penn offers to snuggle up to an associate of El Chapo. "Listen, man. You don't have to sleep on that couch. The bed's big. We can talk and cuddle."

8. Penn's flatulence in front of El Chapo. "At this moment, I expel a minor traveler's flatulence (sorry), and with it, I experience the same chivalry he'd offered when putting Kate to bed, as he pretends not to notice."

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

- Daily Mail

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