Kate del Castillo said she's relieved she wasn't called to testify in the New York trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

But she doesn't regret arranging a 2015 meeting between Guzman and Sean Penn, although the fallout kept her from visiting and working in Mexico for more than three years, the actress said.

She filmed the upcoming Telemundo sequel to her 2011 telenovela "La Reina del Sur" outside of the country, with a double shooting her scenes in Mexico, she said Tuesday.

The actress said was finally able to return last Christmas but had an unsettling experience upon arrival, when use of her Mexican passport triggered an alert. Del Castillo, an American citizen, said she could have presented her U.S. passport for entry but insisted on using the document from her native country.

"It shocked me," she said, when she was detained for about 20 minutes as officials scurried around. She recalled thinking, " 'Oh my God, they're going to arrest me right now or I'm going to be sent back to the United States.' "

In 2017, del Castillo filed a human rights complaint alleging she was unable to travel to Mexico to work because her communications with Guzman were under investigation.

Guzman is on trial on drug and murder conspiracy charges that his lawyers say are fabricated.

Del Castillo said work has prevented her from following the proceedings closely and she is "happy" not to be involved