Kate del Castillo Returns For Season 2 of La Reina Del Sur

Eight years after the Season 1 finale, La Reina Del Sur returns for a second series on Telemundo. Kate del Castillo reprises action heroine Teresa Mendoza, who is forced back into drug trafficking in order to rescue her kidnapped daughter from drug lord Don Epifanio (Humberto Zurita), a candidate for the presidency of Mexico!

La Reina Del Sur (translated to The Queen of the South) is a Spanish-language telenovela, closed-captioned in English, with a $10 million budget, the most expensive telenovela ever produced by Telemundo. Soap Hub spoke to Castillo about what drew her back to Teresa and what viewers can look forward to seeing!

What drew you to this project?
We’d always walked about doing a second part. But I wasn’t sure because there wasn’t a second novel. I thought, ‘Let’s leave it like it was.’ Still, my heart always wanted to [do] Teresa again. So, we met with executives, and we were pitched the whole story. I was so elated. I said let’s do it!

Did you have input into the story?
I’m very grateful to Telemundo because they listen to me. I said we need to keep the ‘Mexicanity’ of the series, which I felt was a great part of the show’s success. Now, Teresa is a mom. What we saw her do in the first series for her friends, she’s now going to do for her daughter, the love of her life. She’ll do everything to get her back.

Did you do your own stunts?
They don’t let me do much! You can see me on a motorcycle, but it could halt the whole production [if I were injured]. I try to do as much as I can. They’ll tell me, ‘You can do this, but not that.’ If it was too risky, I wouldn’t do it, [laughs] but I did run in heels!

You shot in eight different countries! Did you get to do any sight-seeing?
Each country we went to has to do with the story. Teresa goes to Russia to see her tutor for some help. It was work, work, work. I wasn’t able to go anywhere to play tourist, unfortunately. But I did see such great locations while we were working. It was all worth it. Such beautiful places.

Have you seen the series yet?
No! I have seen the first and third episodes. I’m as excited as everyone else to see the final product. I’m going to sit down and enjoy it along with the fans!

Could there be a third installment?
[Laughs] If there is, I can tell you it won’t be 60 episodes! We shot them in about 8 to 9 months. Each one runs for an hour [including commercials]. It was exhausting. When it was over, I just wanted to be home, be with my dogs and eat! That was my treat!

La Reina Del Sur, Season 2, debuts on Telemundo tonight, Monday, April 22 at 10 p.m. ET.