Actor Sean Penn Secures Pre-Arrest Interview With Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo For Rolling Stone
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The New York Times and Rolling Stone are reporting that Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn secured a pre-arrest interview with wanted drug lord El Chapo.
The one-time fugitive, born Joaquin Guzman Loera, was captured and returned to prison Friday.
Loera was reportedly captured after reaching out to Penn and producers who were looking to make a movie about his life. Mexican officials said the interview led directly to their finding El Chapo and placing him back in custody.
Variety said Rolling Stone was set to publish their interview today.
Penn and El Chapo reportedly met up in October while Loera was on the run from both US and Mexican authorities.
In the article, Penn said he conducted the interview with the help of Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, star of the soap "La Reina del Sur." or "Queen of the South." She is also listed as a producer in a video except of the interview.
If Penn went ahead and did the biopic, Loera said he wanted to be portrayed accurately reportedly telling the actor, "I don't want to be portrayed as a nun."
Rolling Stone also published a two-minute video excerpt of the interview.
The interview reportedly took place in an undisclosed location, deep in the jungle. El Chapo is seen standing in front of a chain link fence with many roosters making noise in the background.
Loera starts out by saying in Spanish, "I want to make clear that this interview [is] for the exclusive use of Miss Kate del Castillo and Mister Sean Penn. " He said he turned to drug dealing to make a living.
Loera escaped a Mexican jail last July.
Loera has denied for years having any involvement in the drug trade but confessed to Penn that he was in his mind the world's biggest supplier of heroin, meth, cocaine and marijuana.
There were unconfirmed reports late Saturday that Penn and del Castillo were both under investigation for meeting with the fugitive.
The Hollywood Reporter said in November that Universal was developing "The Hunt For El Chapo" but it was unclear if Penn was connected to that movie, to be directed by Peter Berg and written by "Dallas Buyers Club" scribe Craig Borten.