1. Kate del Castillo-Negrete Trillo (born October 23, 1972) is a Mexican born, American actress.
2. At the age of 18, del Castillo became known for her lead role in the telenovela Muchachitas, for Televisa in 1991.
3. She was named one of the 50 most beautiful people in 2007 by People en Espanol magazine.
4. She continued her career in film and television in Latin America. In 2011, del Castillo earned recognition in the United States for playing the lead role in La Reina del Sur. Subsequently, del Castillo has worked in several American TV series and supporting roles in Hollywood feature films.
5. She was married to football player Luis Garcia from 2001 to 2004 and to actor Aaron Diaz from 2009 to 2011.
6. She starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the 2006 film Bordertown.
7. In 1998, she was nominated for a TVyNovelas Award for Best Young Lead Actress for her role in La Mantira.
8. She is the daughter of Kate Trillo and Eric del Castillo, a legend of Mexican cinema and a soap opera actor himself.
9. She debuted in the 1980 film The Last Escape.
10. Del Castillo also has two other siblings; a sister, the journalist Verónica del Castillo, and a half-brother Ponciano, from her father’s side.
11. In 2002 and 2003, she embarked on an international tour alongside Argentine actor Saul Lisazo with the play Cartas de Amor (Love Letters).
12. Kate del Castillo, who once played the wife of a drug lord on a Mexican soap opera, attracted El Chapo’s attention in 2012 when she made a controversial post on social media about him and his cartel. “Today I believe more in El Chapo Guzman than in the governments that hide the truth from me even though it is painful,” she wrote. She also appealed to the drug lord directly:
“Mr. Chapo: Wouldn’t it be cool if you started to traffic in goodness? With cures for diseases, with food for children in the street, with alcohol for nursing homes. … trafficking with corrupt politicians instead of with women and children that end up as slaves? With burning all the pimps that treat a woman like she’s worth no more than a pack of cigarettes? With no supply there is no demand. Do it, sir, and you would be the hero of heroes. Let’s traffic with love. You know how.”
Penn wrote in his Rolling Stone article that Guzman reached out to del Castillo through his lawyer after seeing the post, sending her flowers in gratitude. It was that same lawyer who contacted del Castillo after El Chapo’s escape to tell her about Guzman’s interest in having a film made about her life, Penn said. “He was interested in seeing the story of his life told on film, but would entrust its telling only to Kate,” Penn wrote.
13. In November 2007, she was named one of the “Stars of the Year” and in 2011 one of the “25 most influential women” and “50 most beautiful” by People en Español magazine.
14. In 2009, del Castillo was appointed Ambassador for the Mexican Commission on Human Rights and the following year she helped launch the Blue Heart Campaign in order to raise awareness and fight human trafficking.
15. She starred in the film Colosio: El asesinato, which centers around the assassination of the Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio.
16. She has appeared in advertising campaigns for companies such as L’Oréal and Ford, and in the music video “Fuego de Noche, Nieve de Día” by Ricky Martin.
17. In November 20th 2015 she launched in association with the Vivanco Family a new brand of tequila named Tequila Honor del Castillo. She is the spokesperson representing the brand.
18. In 2012, she posed in a PETA ad campaign, encouraging pet owners to “fiercely protect” their dogs and cats by keeping them indoors.
19. During an interview with Cristina Saralegui on the Cristina Show, Kate revealed that her favorite band is the English new wave band Duran Duran.
20. She became a citizen of the United States in September 2015 and currently lives in Los Angeles.
21. L’Oréal Paris signed del Castillo to an exclusive U.S. contract as a spokesperson for the company and its beauty brands. The advertising was shot in Los Angeles and Paris and is currently appearing in the U.S. and Mexico. The California Ford dealers tapped her as its spokesperson to star in their television and radio ads. The History Channel named her Network Spokesperson for Hispanic Heritage Month in 2007.
22. Del Castillo appeared as a guest star in six episodes of the fifth season of the Showtime hit comedy series _Weeds_. She starred as ‘Pilar Zuazo,’ a powerful Mexican crime boss who threatened Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) and Esteban’s romance then hit with a mallet by Nancy’s son.
23. She is currently developing a project for television, which she hopes will showcase her love of extreme sports. She published in Mexico her first novel called “Tuya” based on her screenplay, and it’s now in its third printing.
24. Kate was the voice of Sally Carrera in the Spanish version of Pixar/Disney’s Cars (2006) and will soon appear in the animated Rio (2011)_ as a bird/wife to George Lopez. She made her crossover debut on television in the U.S. in the Golden Globe-nominated PBS series American Family (2002) alongside Edward James Olmos.
25. Kate has graced the covers of the top Spanish-language magazines, and was People en Español’s 2007 cover Actress of the Year, as well as one of their “Most Beautiful People.” On September 13, 2009, Kate served as Grand Marshall in Los Angeles’ Mexican Independence Day Parade.
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