Catherine Zeta-Jones will play the role of notorious Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in the upcoming Lifetime movie, Cocaine Godmother: The Griselda Blanco Story.

Zeta-Jones first learned about Blanco while watching the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys. “They kept mentioning this woman,” Zeta-Jones said.

“Griselda, Griselda Blanco. And these men who were very dangerous and very powerful in that dark, dark, world were speaking of this woman like they revered her and still, after all these years, feared her.”

Zeta-Jones was surprised that she wasn’t more familiar with Blanco’s story. “We know about Escobar, we know about El Chapo now, we know about these key figures in this world,” she said, “but we never hear about this woman. Who is this woman?”

The actress has been working on developing a Griselda Blanco project for years, and was excited to finally bring it to life on Lifetime.

“It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life as an actor,” Zeta-Jones said of portraying the famous cocaine queenpin.

“It instilled in me why I wanted to be in this business; it was never for the red carpet or sunglasses. For me, it was being a character, and to find those women and find those characters that I could really be under the skin of.”

Zeta-Jones, who is Welsh, has faced criticism for playing a Latina character in Cocaine Godmother.

She addressed this issue in an interview, saying, “This is just the way I see it, and people can take what they want from it: I am a Welsh actress, who doesn’t happen to look like what you think someone from Wales would look like. I have my own language; I speak Welsh.”

“And so, for me to wait for a role that is fit for the way I look physically, that is not a Welsh role, where I don’t use my accent—I never use my accent. Have you ever heard me use my accent that I’m speaking with right now?”

Zeta-Jones went on to explain that she has played Latinx characters in the past, including in the lead role of Zorro and in Traffic.

“I have to take [the roles] I believe I can embody,” she said.

“I can’t be the person to fight against a very big issue, and I won’t take on that role. There have been so many actors who have played ‘against type.’ That’s sort of what we do.”