Sofia Vergara reveals fears at playing drug boss Griselda Blanco after remarkable transformation
Sofia Vergara transforms herself into drug lord Griselda Blanco in the new Netflix series Griselda, released on the streaming giant this month — but she says adjusting to a gritty drama wasn’t easy.
In a frank Sunrise interview, the Modern Family star, 51, revealed her fears over transforming into the cartel queen for the dark series, admitting moving away from comedy was a difficult transition.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Sofia Vergara speaks about her fears over playing Griselda Blanco in new Netflix series.
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“That was one of my fears, not being about to convince people (viewers) that it wasn’t me,” Sofia said during the interview.
According to Netflix, the series, inspired by real events, follows Griselda Blanco’s journey from Medellín to becoming one of Miami’s biggest cocaine dealers in the 1970s and “‘the Godmother’ of Miami’s drug empire”.
During filming, Sofia would spend hours in the make-up chair getting a prosthetic nose and forehead for the role. She was also fitted with a number of different wigs.
Sofia said she had her doubts about the role.
“At the beginning, I wasn’t really sure I would be able to pull it off,” Sofia said.
“I thought people would say ‘that’s Gloria (Delgado-Pritchett, her Modern Family character) with a rubber nose and a wig,’ and I had many fears,” she added.
“I’m inexperienced — I have never really done a drama — so I knew I had to be surrounded by really good dramatic actors (while filming the series).”
Sofia said despite the role, her friends and family hadn’t seen her in a different light afterwards.
“They have always been scared of me — always,” Sofia joked.
It comes just weeks after Sofia spoke about her divorce last year from ex-husband Joe Manganiello, after seven years of marriage.
Earlier this month, the actress shared that she had accepted the attention of her divorce, calling it a “part of being a celebrity”.
“You’re out there (in the public eye) and people know that’s part of being a celebrity,” Vergara told CBS Sunday Morning.
“I knew it was gonna happen. You can’t hide those things.”
Asked how she “overcame” the attention, she called the media interest “very respectful and very nice”.
“I thought that they were gonna invent more things, and you know how it usually is.
“I was surprised and, you know, they, they kind of just said what it was and, and that was it.”
The couple tied the knot in 2015 in front of 400 attendees, including Vegara’s Modern Family co-stars Ariel Winter, Ed O’Neill, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julie Bowen, Sarah Hyland and Ty Burrell, and actors Reese Witherspoon and Channing Tatum.
