Kate Del Castillo Praises La Reina Del Sur Over Its Diversity In Spoken Languages
"Queen of the South" was a big hit with home audiences (via Rotten Tomatoes), but the series the show is based on, "La Reina del Sur," is still going strong, releasing its third season in October 2022. The Spanish-language telenovela will be shaking things up by expanding its global reach in more ways than one.
While most shows put out anywhere from a dozen to 20 episodes, "La Reina del Sur" goes big with 60 episodes for each of its first two seasons. Armed with a stacked catalog of entries, the show has earned an impressive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and won the International Emmy Award for Best Non-English Language U.S. Primetime Program in 2020. While there are arguably many reasons to attribute to the show's success, a lot of credit arguably must go to its star, Kate del Castillo.
Certain fans may think of the gifted Alice Braga as Teresa Mendoza, but the first actress to play the role of the woman from Mexico who ascends the drug-trafficking ranks to become a drug cartel empress was none other than Kate del Castillo. The talented actress has made a name for herself with a villainous turn as Isabel in "Bad Boys For Life" to making headlines with her run-in with real-life drug kingpin El Chapo (via Rolling Stone). But her biggest claim to fame is the crime drama, and the actress is very proud of what the third season of "La Reina del Sur" has accomplished.
Kate del Castillo is thrilled about the progress of the series
Kate del Castillo revealed to Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show (via YouTube) that the third chapter of "La Reina del Sur" was the most ambitious season yet, with much of it being filmed throughout Latin America. In their attempts to up the stakes in the third run, Kate del Castillo told Forbes how proud she was of the show's commitment to authenticity when it came to the languages spoken on the show and the diversity showcased throughout each entry. "In this third one, we speak every single language. It's so inclusive. We speak Italian, Russian, and even the dialects of Bolivia, Amaya, and Quechua, and of Columbia, Arawakan. We didn't fake anything. All the actors are from the local country, so we are very attached to reality—and proud of it."
It makes sense Kate del Castillo would feel that sense of pride for their achievements, given her extracurricular activities in activism. While she has played anti-heroes and villains on the big and small screen, the actress behind it all has been a hero of sorts for human rights in real life. Of her many triumphs, Kate del Castillo was named the Mexican Commission on Human Rights Ambassador in 2009. Then to continue her noble crusade in 2010, she was a key factor in the launch of The Blue Heart Campaign, an initiative to raise awareness regarding human trafficking in Latin America and, of course, fight the heinous act itself (via LA CityView35 on YouTube).
There is no denying that "La Reina del Sur" and Kate del Castillo are doing big things that will most assuredly make fans just as proud.