Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara is heartbroken in her role as real-life Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco. The 52-year-old actress, who is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her performance in Griselda, will compete against fellow nominees Jodie Foster, Naomi Watts, Brie Larson and Juno Temple at Sunday night's 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Prior to the ceremony, Vergara Variety magazine interview In it, she described how her brother, Rafael, was killed in a kidnapping attempt by a Colombian drug cartel in 1996.
“My family was torn apart,” Vergara said.
Sofia Vergara spoke about playing drug lord Griselda Blanco after her brother was murdered by a drug cartel in 1996. (Getty Images | Netflix)
“It devastated my mother,” she continued. “It changed our lives completely. We had no idea what was going on or why they killed my father.”
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Vergara had previously spoken out about the untimely death of her brother, which remains unsolved in her hometown of Barraquilla, Colombia.
“We grew up in a wealthy family, and my father knew he would be a kidnapping target,” Vergara once said in an interview. “He always had bodyguards. One day he went out on his own and he was shot and killed. I was shocked and devastated.”
In an interview with Variety, Vergara recalled that she was living in the US when the tragedy occurred. A year earlier, the former “America's Got Talent” judge had moved from Colombia to Miami, where she was working as a host for Univision while raising her son Manolo, now 32.
Vergara was nominated for an Emmy for her performance. (Pablo Cuadra/FilmMagic)
After Rafael was murdered, Vergara convinced her mother, sister and brother Julio to move to Miami to live with her.
“My mom was like a zombie,” she told Parade magazine in 2011. “I wanted to be with my family, so I bought a big house and brought my whole family in. I'm so grateful to be in this country.”
“Our lives have changed completely. We had no idea what was going on or why he was killed.”
In an interview with Variety, Vergara admitted that it was a “difficult” time for her because she “had to take on the responsibility of the whole family.”
But Vergara explained that it was his tragic connection to the world of cartel violence that later inspired him to take on the role of Blanco: In 2006, Vergara became fascinated with Blanco after watching the documentary series Cocaine Cowboys: Kings of Miami, about Miami drug lords Willie Falcon and Sal Magruta.
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Vergara told Variety that it was difficult to imagine “this Colombian woman with four children as one of the most ruthless drug traffickers in history,” and that she was attracted to the role of Blanco, but that telling the story of “The Cocaine Godmother” while the drug lord was still alive was too risky.
Blanco was shot and killed aged 69 in 2012 as he left a butcher shop in Medellin.
The Modern Family actress had never appeared on a TV show before Griselda. (Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
In 2015, Vergara watched the premiere episode of “Narcos,” a Netflix series that follows the rise of notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. She then contacted “Narcos” showrunner Eric Newman, proposing to produce a project centered around Blanco.
After years of development, “Griselda” was greenlit by Netflix in 2021, with Vergara set to star and also serve as a producer.
The actress told Variety that while she's excited that her passion project is finally moving forward, she is nervous about taking on a role that she has never played before.
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Vergara rose to fame for her role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the ABC sitcom “Modern Family,” for which she received four Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nominations for her performance on the series, which aired from 2009 to 2020. She has also appeared in a number of films, including the 2011 ensemble romantic comedy “New Year's Eve,” the 2013 action thriller “Machete Kills,” and the 2015 action comedy “Hot Pursuit.”
However, she had never acted in a TV drama or had a lead role in a show prior to Griselda. In an interview with Variety, Vergara said she had never taken an acting class and felt she “needed help.”
“So I thought, who's a comedic actress who's done well in TV,” she recalled. “Jennifer Aniston!”
Vergara produced and starred in Griselda. (Netflix)
Although Vergara enlisted the help of Aniston's longtime acting coach, Nancy Banks, she still found it difficult to master the dramatic acting skills required for the role of Blanco.
The actress recalled that she had never done a crying scene before and didn't know how to shed tears in front of the camera.
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“Nancy said, 'If you want to cry, just think about something,'” Vergara recalled. “And I had a lot of scary things to think about.”
Although Vergara learned how to cry on screen, she said she continued to be plagued by negative thoughts after filming wrapped: She told Variety that not being able to sleep during the production's first three weeks of shooting led to anxiety.
“I was scared. Nancy told me, 'During the day you're killing each other, screaming, crying, doing all sorts of things, and when you come home, your body doesn't know that you weren't actually doing those things, that you weren't actually feeling those things,'” Vergara said.
She continued, “So I had to start taking a few Xanax at night to calm myself down. I wasn't prepared for that, I didn't know. That's why actors go crazy! How can they keep doing that for years?”
Vergara said it takes her three hours each day to complete her makeup application. (Netflix)
Another skill Vergara found difficult was memorizing all of her character's lines, including the long monologues.
“My lines were simple then,” she recalled of her time on Modern Family. “They weren't like monologues.”
“I'm going through menopause and I can't remember where my glasses are,” Vergara joked, “and now I have to remember all these monologues?”
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In addition to learning new acting skills, Vergara also had to work on the physical transformation of the character: achieving Blanco's look required prosthetics, a wig, and face and body make-up, which took three hours each day.
Vergara told Variety that while she had to hide her famous curves to realistically portray Blanco, she didn't want to make her any less sexy.
“She may not have been a Barbie doll, but The real Griselda Blanco “There was something about her. There was a certain sex appeal that I had to show,” Vergara said.
She continued, “I didn't want to show the sway that comes naturally to Latina women. I had to wrap myself up so my butt wouldn't jiggle. I had to wear really awful bras. I also had to hide my arms. My arms are really skinny, so even if they are skinny, they don't look intimidating.”
Vergara's performance was met with critical acclaim. (Netflix)
Additionally, Vergara said director Andres Bais helped her learn other skills she needed for the role.
“I had never smoked a cigarette in my life, and a month before filming began Andy came to my house to discuss the script and teach me how to smoke cigarettes and use cocaine and crack,” she recalled.
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In creating the character of Blanco, Vergara told Variety that he wanted to portray the drug lord as “a badass guy you root for.”
Despite the tragic loss of her brother at the hands of the cartel, Vergara said she wanted viewers to sympathize with Blanco, but she realized she was getting too emotionally invested in her character.
“I had to remind myself, 'Sofía, this woman killed hundreds of people, hundreds of children.' It was so hard not to glamorize her or make her seem like a hero,” Vergara said. “She had become a psychopath.”
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Vergara's dedication to the role paid off, as her performance received rave reviews from critics after Griselda premiered in January.
After receiving an Emmy nomination in July, the actress shared a heartfelt message on Instagram to her fans, expressing her gratitude and reflecting on the long journey it's taken to bring “Griselda” to the big screen.
“Wow. Griselda was my first dramatic role and it's taken me 15 years to bring her to life,” Vergara wrote. “I'm so grateful to everyone involved in this series. This work would never have been possible without director Andres Baix, my co-stars @el_guerra and @ericnewmanofficial and the entire creative team, my partners and producers @luisbalaguer1, @tedsarandos, @belabaj and their teams at @Netflix, and the entire incredible cast and crew.”
“I never dreamed I'd be a part of something as special as 'Griselda' after 'Modern Family,'” she added. “I'm honored to be recognized alongside the incredible women who've brought us such amazing television this year: Jodie, Brie, Juno and Naomi.”
“I'd like to thank the Television Academy for this incredible honor.”
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