It may be a” man’s man’s man’s world,” according to James Brown… But Kate del Castillo isn’t afraid to make her mark in it. Following her starring role as the most powerful drug trafficker in southern Spain in the popular telenovela “La Reina del Sur,” she’s now preparing for her most awe-inspiring role to date.

The 39-year-old Mexican actress will star as Mousey—a transsexual who controls one of the sections of a Los Angeles County men’s prison—in the dramatic film K-11.

Helmed by first-time director Jules Stewart—the mother of Twilight actress Kristen Stewart— del Castillo will play the physically fit character that likes showing a lot of skin.

The story centers on Raymond Saxx Jr. (Goran Visnjic), a straight record producer who, after a drug-induced blackout, wakes up locked up in K-11, the unit of the prison reserved for gay men and transsexuals who, for their safety, are segregated from the general population. It’s there that he comes across del Castillo’s character, who controls the area.

“I was like, ‘This is sci-fi, almost’” says Visnjic of his first reading of the script for the indie drama. “The character is put in such an extreme situation.”

del Castillo, who filmed the project last summer, has given her character a very distinctive personality. In the film, the telenovela star dons a part of platform heels made of slabs of meat. And, she wears a band on her left wrist that reads “Julio,” the name that reveals the male identity she left behind.

K-11 is set for release later this year.