Drug lord cared more for actress than movie

MEXICO CITY – Transcripts of over a month of text messages between drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo showed the capo was less interested in making a movie about his life than he was in flirting with the actress.

The transcripts published Wednesday by the newspaper Milenio – and confirmed as authentic by a federal official – showed that Guzman’s main concern was getting face-to-face get-togethers with Del Castillo, and that he didn’t even really know who Sean Penn was.

Penn has acknowledged that he tagged along for the Oct. 2 meeting at a mountain hideout originally set up by Del Castillo.

“What’s that actor’s name?” the account identified as Guzman’s writes in one message. He later asks his lawyers to tell him what movies Penn has appeared in. Even when Guzman dedicated a video statement as an “exclusive for” Del Castillo and Penn, the drug lord stumbles over Penn’s first name, pronouncing it “SAY-ahn.”

The federal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the dozens of texts were authentic. Many expressed admiration and a longing for the next meeting, more than concern about the purported movie project.

“I’ll tell you, I am more excited about you than the (movie) script,” Guzman wrote to Del Castillo.