Kate del Castillo: La Reina del Sur is the most ambitious Spanish-speaking TV series

Actress Kate del Castillo, who plays the leading role in La Reina del Sur, talked about how the series’ production values have evolved as part of a TCA media tour conducted by NBCUniversal. The third season will be released on Telemundo in October.

Castillo referred to the improvement of the series’ soundtrack. “We have the Miami Symphony Orchestra and Carlos Rafael Rivera, winner of an Emmy and a Grammy. They’re making real sheet music for us for La Reina del Sur. Even the theme song has been changing. In the second season, they made a new song and now you will be the changes performed for the third season. Everything is changing” she said.

She pointed out that La Reina del Sur is unlike any other telenovela. “I love telenovelas. I grew up making telenovela. I haven’t acted on one for 15 years. Due to its budget, its thematic situation, and its 60 episodes, La Reina del Sur is the most ambitious Spanish-speaking TV series. We are the biggest. And I thank God for our budget because now we can have our own sheet music, and our songs, and everything”.

Asked about Telemundo and how it is making high-level productions for the US Hispanic market, the actress said: “I have always said that Telemundo is bold, always making its own content and daring to do something different. Univisión and Televisa, and all of them, go beyond their own content, which is telenovelas, and remake them. I am not criticizing that. It works for them, that’s fine. But Telemundo is always doing new things and new content. And sometimes it will work, and sometimes don’t, but if you don’t take the risk, you’ll never know. I am very grateful to them because they devote all their effort to it, and have always been straightforward with me”, she said.

For Del Castillo her role now has more projection, however, she confessed that she would like Americans to listen to the series in its original language and use the subtitles. “When I watch American movies and do not change the language because, of course, I speak English. But I watch not only American movies, but Chinese or Russian movies, and I listen to them in their original audio and read the subtitles, because, as an actress, I want to listen to the original actor. However, I am glad that we can watch anything we want from any part of the world in our own language. For me, the only negative thing is that the budget changes depending if it’s spoken in English or in Spanish, which is really stupid in these times, but I hope that changes soon” she concluded.