Why Everyone's Falling in Love with "Narcos: Mexico" Star Teresa Ruiz

From Oprah Magazine

• Narcos: Mexico returned to Netflix on February 13.

• The show stars Diego Luna as Guadalajara cartel kingpin Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Scoot McNairy as DEA Agent Walt Breslin, and Teresa Ruiz as Isabella “The Queen” Bautista.

• Read on to learn everything we know about the empowered woman behind the cartel queen.

In season 2 of Narcos: Mexico, Teresa Ruiz is one of the only women seen onscreen next to the fictional members of the Guadalajara drug cartel. Her character, Isabella "The Queen" Bautista, is the girlfriend of drug lord Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, and though fictional, she’s inspired by a few real-life female drug leaders, including Sandra Ávila Beltrán, who according to Entertainment Tonight is still alive today.

The sophomore run of the show dives head-first into the gritty drug wars of the Guadalajara Cartel in 1980s Mexico—narrowing its focus in on marijuana kingpin Gallardo and the DEA agents hellbent on taking him down. It’s not until Isabella struts onto the scene that a harder, more powdery substance is introduced to the operation.

Though the series is bleak and grim, the cast and crew keep things lighthearted behind the scenes—even throwing salsa parties and hanging out together while on location. The downtime comes as a respite for Ruiz, who at times struggles with finding the humanity in her character. “We can’t forget that this character is not a hero. She is a criminal. So to talk about an empowered female who is a criminal, I just had to explore a lot of the ambition,” she said to ET. Below, we’re exploring the woman behind the cartel queen-pin. And trust us, you’ll be hooked.

A Mexico native, she moved to Texas when she was 12.

Now 31 years old, she was born in Santiago Matatlan, Mexico, a town and municipality in Oaxaca. According to Hola! magazine, she moved with her family to El Paso, Texas, when she was 12, and then to California to live with her aunt when she was 14. Homesick and on the cusp of high school, she took comfort in acting. A member of the Actors Studio, she notes Al Pacino as one of her early mentors.

Since her debut on Narcos: Mexico, everyone wants to marry her. For real, though.

In an interview with ET Live, Ruiz was asked about the best reaction she’s gotten since joining the series. “There’s just too many people who want to marry me now,” she joked, adding that the marriage proposals just keep coming. The quip, of course, opened the door to questions about Ruiz’s personal life. “Are you single,” she was asked. Like a pro, she dodged the question with “I’m just focusing on working right now.”

Ruiz is a big-time actress in Mexico. She was even nominated for the Mexican equivalent of an Oscar.

Though she’s best known for Gael Garcia Bernal’s political thriller series Aqui en la Tierra, Ruiz was nominated for the Ariel for Viaje Redondo. The Ariel Awards, similar to the Academy Awards, celebrate and honor the best in Mexican cinema, and Ruiz was recognized for her Best Actress work in the 2009 road-trip drama.

She’ll star opposite Liam Neeson in The Minuteman.

Last year in September, Deadline reported that Ruiz was joining the cast of The Minuteman, an action thriller starring Liam Neeson (Taken, Cold Pursuit) about a rancher who ditches his herd to look after a boy fleeing the Mexican cartel. She plays a woman named Rose, but further details about her character are scarce at the moment—as are specifics about the film’s release.

Though the Oaxacan actress has acted in films this side of the border, including the 2007 crime drama Bordertown starring Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas, The Minuteman will mark Ruiz’s first big-time Hollywood film.

Her Narcos: Mexico character, Isabella Bautista, fostered her love of couture. Especially shoes.

Now, don’t get us wrong. The actress makes sure to point out the complex dichotomy of playing an embroiled and battered female criminal from the ’80s while living her real life as an empowered and feminist millennial, but she can’t deny Isabella’s superior taste for the finer things—like haute couture, and shoes.

“Before I used to wear more of a hipster, young look because I never thought of this high couture would fit me well. Then, working with [costume designer] Maria Estela I was like, ‘Oh man, I actually like this.’ … And the shoes, OMG. That was a thing. What shoes is she going to wear now? I have all these shoes, and they’re all vintage. I went to Paris recently and was shopping for vintage shoes. It’s like an obsession now. It’s bad,” she said to Hola!

She wants to start a cooking show with her “great” friend Luis Guzmán.

Luis Guzmán, who plays José Rodríguez Gacha on the show but you may also know from Traffic, Boogie Nights, and Shameless, is a good friend of Ruiz’s, and when asked on ET Live about a dream guest star she’d love to work with, she just said, “Luis Guzmán is a great friend of mine, so I’m like, ‘Why don’t you write a scene between Isabella and Gacha?’” The actress went on to reveal how the two friends always relish the thought of launching a cooking show together.

She has a mild spoiler for fans of Narcos: Mexico and future seasons.

In an interview with Forbes conducted way back in November 2018, Ruiz revealed a mild spoiler as to what fans can expect from Isabella in future seasons of Narcos: Mexico. “All I will say is, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," she said.

Let the games begin.

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