50 Fun Facts About Queen of the South

Which Brazilian actress, Will Smith's co-star in I Am Legend, plays Teresa Mendoza in Queen of the South?

Alice Braga was taking her first lead role on American television, and she later became an executive producer of the drama. Her aunt is the film star Sônia Braga.

Steven Bauer, El Santo in Queen of the South, played Tony Montana's friend Manny in which gangster film?

Scarface earned Bauer a Golden Globe nomination, and its producers prized his authentic Cuban background. Decades later he returned to the drug trade on screen as a cocaine producer who leads a narco-cult.

After fleeing Mexico in the pilot of Queen of the South, Teresa Mendoza ends up in which Texas city?

Dallas is where Camila Vargas runs her side of the cartel, and her sicarios hold Teresa captive there after rescuing her. Teresa has to prove her worth with a smuggling run.

How does Teresa Mendoza finally escape the drug trade in the series finale of Queen of the South?

She fakes her own death, staging evidence so that her enemies believe the Queen is gone. The closing scenes reveal her alive on a quiet beach with James, far from the business.

Jamie Hector, who plays Devon Finch in Queen of the South, was drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield in which HBO drama?

The Wire cast him as the ruthless young head of a Baltimore drug organization from 2004 to 2008. In the cartel drama his distributor is not what he seems, a twist that pulls James away from Teresa.

In La Reina del Sur, the telenovela behind Queen of the South, Teresa builds her empire in which European country?

Spain is where the original Teresa becomes the most powerful trafficker in the country's southern reaches. The American remake kept her in North America instead, sending her across the Texas border.

What job is Teresa Mendoza doing in Sinaloa when she falls for drug dealer Güero in Queen of the South?

Money changer is her trade on the street, and the quick arithmetic it taught her later impresses Camila and James. She puts those skills to work on an early drug operation.

Which political office does cartel boss Don Epifanio Vargas campaign for in the first season of Queen of the South?

Governor of Sinaloa is the prize, and the scrutiny of the election gives his estranged wife Camila her opening to seize his empire. By season 3 she holds the office herself.

Teresa Mendoza moves her growing empire to which Louisiana city in season 4 of Queen of the South?

New Orleans brings her new rivals, including a corrupt judge who insists the city is his. Teresa runs a bar there and courts a Cuban smuggler who can widen her distribution.

The title Queen of the South echoes a New Testament name for the ruler of which kingdom, who visited Solomon?

Sheba's ruler is called the queen of the South in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, where she comes from the ends of the earth to hear a king's wisdom. Historians place her realm in what is now Yemen.

Which cable channel, also home to Suits and Mr. Robot, aired Queen of the South?

USA Network aired all 62 episodes from 2016 to 2021, and in its second summer the drama was Thursday night's top cable series among adults aged 18 to 49.

Queen of the South adapts La Reina del Sur, a 2011 telenovela made by which Spanish-language broadcaster?

Telemundo gave the telenovela a budget of 10 million dollars, among the largest it had spent on a drama. The broadcaster is a corporate sibling of the remake's American home.

Which Mexican actress played Teresa Mendoza in La Reina del Sur before Queen of the South remade the story?

Kate del Castillo earned worldwide recognition in the role from 2011. Mexican authorities later found DVDs of the telenovela in a safe house used by the fugitive drug lord El Chapo.

Narco-cult leader El Santo, a cocaine supplier in Queen of the South, runs his sect in which South American country?

Bolivia is where Teresa, James and Güero go looking for a new supplier in season 2. Captured by the cult, Teresa has visions about the men in her life that blur reality and illusion.

In season 4 of Queen of the South, what kills Brenda's teenage son Tony Parra outside Teresa's bar?

A car bomb explodes in front of the bar, killing Tony and leaving Teresa unconscious. Her closest allies clash over what to do without her, and she later hunts those responsible.

At the start of season 3 of Queen of the South, Teresa Mendoza is hiding on which Mediterranean island?

Malta is where she hides from Camila and starts building a European drug business of her own. She cuts her ties there after risking her life to free a group of enslaved women.

After fleeing Europe in season 3 of Queen of the South, Teresa Mendoza starts over in which Arizona city?

Phoenix has its own council of cartel bosses, La Comisión, plus a corrupt sheriff, and Teresa must deal with both. James's connections help her get set up there.

Which Riverdale star, once Mateo Santos on All My Children, played lawyer Teo Aljarafe in Queen of the South?

Mark Consuelos played the first lawyer Camila hires as she plots her independence from her husband. He later became a daytime talk-show host alongside his wife.

Which star of the One Day at a Time reboot plays Teresa's best friend Brenda Parra in Queen of the South?

Justina Machado plays the wife of a cartel transporter who flees with Teresa and starts dealing in Texas to survive. She was a regular for the first season only.

Devon Finch poses as a drug distributor in Queen of the South, but which U.S. agency does he secretly serve?

CIA contractor Finch has El Santo's compound destroyed in season 3, wiping out Teresa's cocaine source. He then forces James to work for him as the price of keeping the Agency away from her business.

The pilot of Queen of the South opens with a flash-forward to the wealthy future Teresa, who suffers what fate?

She is shot moments after her narration predicts she will be dead in thirty seconds. The writers said that bullet hung over the whole run, and the finale had to answer it.

In the last season of Queen of the South, Teresa brokers a Dominican-Russian truce over which city's cocaine trade?

New York is the prize in the episode Me Llevo Manhattan, where Teresa heads off a turf war by getting both sides to split the business. The agreement helps fund her move into legitimate business.

El Gordo, the Cuban smuggler Teresa partners with in Queen of the South, runs his operation from which Florida city?

Miami is home turf for El Gordo, who introduces Teresa to an Atlanta-based queenpin in the hope that the trio can grow rich together. The alliance sours, and Teresa later strikes at his operation.

In which Sinaloa city does Teresa Mendoza live when Queen of the South begins?

Culiacán is where Teresa lives in the barrio before a cartel hunts her out of Mexico. The writers framed the final season as a duel between the Queen and the girl from that city.

Which former war correspondent wrote the 2002 novel that Queen of the South and La Reina del Sur adapt?

Arturo Pérez-Reverte reported on wars for 21 years before turning to fiction. He has said Mexican narcocorridos, ballads about real drug lords, were a great inspiration for Teresa's story.

In season 1 of Queen of the South, what item of Güero's does Teresa recover in Mexico as leverage?

A notebook kept by Güero holds cartel secrets, plus coordinates that lead Teresa and Brenda to a shocking find. Teresa later uses its contents to broker a deal with an eccentric gun smuggler.

During Camila's risky heist in season 1 of Queen of the South, Teresa goes undercover in which job?

Hotel maid is her cover, and the job forces a choice that changes her. Wracked with guilt, she later disobeys Camila to help a real maid, Maria, escape a kill order.

Which actor, Mr. Delmar in Spider-Man: Homecoming, plays the loyal sicario Pote Galvez in Queen of the South?

Hemky Madera first auditioned for the role of the father, knowing he was too young for it, and was called back days later to read for Pote. He earlier played a cartel enforcer in Weeds.

Which British actor, later the pirate Shanks in the live-action One Piece, plays James Valdez in Queen of the South?

Peter Gadiot won an Imagen Award for the role in 2017. Born in England to a Dutch father and a Mexican mother, he holds citizenship in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Mexico.

Which Mexican actress and former opera choreographer plays cartel boss Camila Vargas in Queen of the South?

Veronica Falcón left an established career in Mexico at 50 to try her luck in the United States. She played Camila for three seasons and later joined Ozark as another cartel figure with the same first name.

Which actor, a villain in Desperado and Fast Five, plays Don Epifanio Vargas in Queen of the South?

Joaquim de Almeida, born in Lisbon, has made a career of screen crime bosses, including a cartel leader in 24. His Epifanio heads the Vargas Cartel while chasing public office.

In season 3 of Queen of the South, what kind of property serves as Teresa's front for cocaine processing?

A winery gives her new operation its cover, but an old enemy lays siege to the place and the local cartel bosses refuse to help. Her crew has to defend it alone.

Which smuggler in Queen of the South, a pirate in a gold speedo, was created and played by writer Ryan O'Nan?

King George began as a pitch by O'Nan, who then won the part and put on weight to fit the description. The showrunner admits he gained some sympathy pounds alongside him.

Which rapper plays Lil T, the gang member Teresa hires to protect Camila in prison in Queen of the South?

Snow Tha Product, a Mexican-American rapper from San Jose, played Lil T across two seasons. The character rises into Teresa's inner circle until Teresa cuts ties to keep her out of the narco business.

Which real trafficker, dubbed the Queen of the Pacific, is often compared to Teresa Mendoza of Queen of the South?

Sandra Ávila Beltrán was arrested in 2007, five years after the novel appeared, and its author denies modelling Teresa on her. She walked free in 2015 after more than seven years behind bars.

Which former RBD singer and Sense8 actor plays the hired gun Javier in Queen of the South?

Alfonso Herrera rose to fame in the telenovela Rebelde, which launched the pop group. His Javier is a mercenary whose reckless killing in season 4 costs him his own life and his lover's.

In season 3 of Queen of the South, which member of Teresa's inner circle does James expose as a mole?

Kelly Anne is the mole, yet James secretly spares her and sends her on the run. Pote discovers that she is still alive the following season.

Season 3 episodes of Queen of the South, including El Diablo and Los Enamorados, are all named after what?

Tarot cards supplied every title that season, an idea credited to showrunner Natalie Chaidez. Writer Ryan O'Nan said each card represents its episode in some way.

Marcel Dumas, the Creole gang leader Teresa clashes with in Queen of the South, owns what kind of venue?

A jazz club is the base of Dumas, whose turf war with Teresa ends in a truce struck at a corrupt judge's expense. In the finale she leaves him her waterfront development.

In the final season of Queen of the South, the Russian mafia boss Kostya hides behind which official cover?

A diplomat posted in the United States is Kostya's disguise, and he is the cousin of Teresa's partner Oksana. Teresa and James are finally forced to hunt him as pawns in a larger conspiracy.

In season 4 of Queen of the South, Javier breaks Teresa's golden rule by killing which relative of a corrupt judge?

His nephew is the victim, and Javier spends the rest of the season digging himself deeper as he tries to hide the crime. The showrunner called the storyline one of his all-time favorites.

Cesar Guemes, Don Epifanio's right-hand man in Queen of the South, goes by which comic-book nickname?

Batman is the cartel name of Guemes, played by Apocalypto actor Gerardo Taracena. Early on he betrays Camila by revealing her operation to her husband.

Which former cartel leader, a cousin of Javier, declares war on Teresa in the final season of Queen of the South?

Boaz Jiménez had been running parts of Teresa's business before his betrayal, which proves to be one piece of a much larger conspiracy. Pote finally kills him in a knife fight.

Queen of the South is also a Scottish football club, jokingly called the only one in the Bible, from which town?

Dumfries took the nickname from a local poet, David Dunbar, who used it in an 1857 election address. The club formed there in 1919 and plays at Palmerston Park.

Which narcocorrido band recorded a ballad about Teresa Mendoza, heroine of the novel behind Queen of the South?

Los Tigres del Norte titled the song La Reina del Sur after the novel. The band had been singing about smugglers since Contrabando y Traición in 1974.

Rafael Amaya guest-stars in Queen of the South as drug lord Aurelio Casillas, his lead role in which narco drama?

El Señor de los Cielos is based on the life of the Juárez Cartel leader Amado Carrillo Fuentes. Amaya also played Güero, Teresa's pilot boyfriend, in the original telenovela of her story.

Jon-Michael Ecker, Güero in Queen of the South, played which Hollywood legend in the film Cantinflas?

Marlon Brando was his part in the biopic of Mexico's great film comedian. Ecker is the son of Guy Ecker, an American actor who became a household name in Latin America through telenovelas.

Which 2015 horror comedy did Queen of the South developers M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller write together?

The Final Girls premiered at South by Southwest in 2015, and the pair then wrote the cartel drama's pilot. Miller had been acting since the age of eight, in films such as Near Dark and River's Edge.

Dark Winds star Zahn McClarnon appears in season 3 of Queen of the South as which member of La Comisión?

Taza puts his trust in Teresa, and she strikes a deal with him in a bold move to take over drug distribution in the city. McClarnon was also Hanzee Dent in Fargo.

What rank does the corrupt army officer Alberto Cortez hold in Queen of the South?

Colonel Cortez persuades a cartel ally to slip heroin into Camila's cocaine shipments behind her back. Yancey Arias, who plays him, earlier starred as Miguel Cadena in the NBC series Kingpin.