Mexican drug lord El Chapo – real name, Joaquín Guzmán Loera – had no idea who Sean Penn was when they first met.
The New York Times reports on messages from El Chapo’s phone, which show that he was far more interested in a Mexican soap star than in making a movie with Penn.
Penn went secretly to Mexico to interview El Chapo, who had escaped from prison last year, for Rolling Stone magazine.
But a series of private cellphone messages leaked in the Mexican news media on Wednesday show that it was the television star, Kate del Castillo, who truly attracted Mr. Guzmán’s attention, the Times says.
The messages, first reported by the newspaper Milenio, were obtained by Mexican authorities who were monitoring the actress and her contacts with Mr. Guzmán and his associate during the period after the cartel leader broke out of a supposedly escape-proof prison through a tunnel burrowed into his shower.
One of the messages says: ‘Who is your American film friend again?’
El Chapo was recaptured last week.
