Sean Penn scoop
The actor interviewed “El Chapo” in October.
Drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman, the billionaire fugitive captured in a shootout Friday in Mexico, met with actor Sean Penn for a secret interview for Rolling Stone magazine in the months before his capture.
The article, written by Penn and published Saturday night, reveals that the actor traveled to Mexico to interview Guzman, widely known as El Chapo, in October, while the drug lord was on the run from Mexican authorities after escaping prison.
The interview is considered to be the first Guzman has conducted in decades. The actor, accompanied by Mexican soap drama actress Kate del Castillo, who helped broker the meeting, met with Guzman at an undisclosed jungle location in Mexico, surrounded by dozens of cartel guards.
Guzman told Penn that he resorted to the drug trade because of lack of job opportunities in his native state of Sinaloa. “Where I grew up there was no other way and there still isn’t a way to survive, no way to work in our economy to be able to make a living,” he said.
Guzman said that despite his reputation as a murderous drug kingpin, he does not consider himself a violent man.
“Look, all I do is defend myself, nothing more,” he said. “But do I start trouble? Never.”
The article’s publication follows news that Guzman had been in talks to produce a movie about his life and authorities were able to zero in on his whereabouts through his contacts with his lawyers and producers.
Penn writes that after Guzman’s most recent escape from prison, the drug lord’s attorneys were overwhelmed by overtures from Hollywood studios to produce a movie based on his life. Guzman, however, decided to produce his own, insisting that Del Castillo, who had previously expressed support on Twitter, be involved. Penn learned of Del Castillo’s involvement and suggested an interview.
Penn spent seven hours with Guzman, and conducted follow-up interviews over the phone and by video.
In one question, Penn mentions the violent death of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Penn asked: “How do you see your final days with respect to this business?”
“I know one day I will die,” Guzman said. “I hope it’s of natural causes.”