At this point, it’s impossible for anyone on the face of the earth not to have heard about Sofía Vergara’s highly publicized visit to Spain last week. The Colombian actress briefly stopped by Europe to promote her latest series, «Griselda,» in which she stars and co-produces. In this series, Vergara portrays Griselda Blanco, a Colombian drug trafficker and godmother of Pablo Escobar.
However, what truly made headlines worldwide was her viral interview on Spanish TV show El Hormiguero, where a banter exchange between the actress and Pablo Motos escalated into a dialectical battle of irony and retorts in response to some of Motos’ questions. Vergara responded with great character and composure to Motos’ provocations, something she has already accustomed us to in the United States.
Although the focal point of this lively conversation was not the series itself, both its production and Vergara’s strength reveal more about the artist’s origins than one might think. Sofía experienced firsthand the harshness of the worst period of Colombian drug trafficking, associated with some criminals in the country, and faced the dual challenge of being a migrant and Latina in Hollywood.
Sofia Vergara during the premiere of «Griselda», Netflix’s new miniseries, on January 9, 2023, in Madrid, Spain. Jose Oliva/Europa Press via Getty Images
Surviving Narcotráfico
Being related to the Bogotá elite—the Vergaras, one of the first Spanish families to arrive on the continent as conquistadors—did not exempt Sofía Vergara (Barranquilla, 1972) from experiencing the horror of drug trafficking in Colombia. The explosive increase in cocaine demand and the bloody war on drugs that began in the 1970s left a significant mark on her.
«Unfortunately, I grew up in Colombia during the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s when drug trafficking was at its peak. I know those people. I was surrounded by them. I know what they did. I know what that kind of business can do to a family, to a person, to a country,» the artist shared in an interview with CBS.
When Sofía says she knew people in that world, she means it seriously. Her older brother Rafael was murdered by drug traffickers in 1998 in Colombia during a kidnapping attempt. «He was part of that business, and they killed him. I had been in the United States for a year, and I had to bring my whole family to Miami,» revealed the actress last week on Motos’ show.
Vergara had been discovered by a talent scout a year earlier on a beach in Colombia, where she was offered to do an advertisement for a well-known soft drink brand. Soon after, she would be living in Florida, where she was forced to buy a larger house to accommodate her family and escape the situation in her home country. However, the family drama did not end there, as in 2011, her other brother Julio was deported from the United States for alcohol and cocaine consumption.
Hollywood, Success & Capos
«These huge boobs and this body opened all the doors for me; it was my passport to the world at 20 when I started as a model. But today, at 51, I’m still inside,» Sofía described her breakthrough into the show business elite this past weekend in Spanish newspaper El País.
The Barranquilla native started in the 1990s doing various commercials and as a co-host of different television programs for Univision. She began to gain recognition on the big screen with films like «Chasing Papi» (2003), «Four Brothers» (2005), and Tyler Perry’s comedies «Meet the Browns» (2008) and «Madea Goes to Jail» (2009), for which she started receiving nominations. But her real success undoubtedly came with «Modern Family» (2009-2020), where she played the role of Gloria Pritchett, a Colombian immigrant who marries the head of the family, Jay Pritchett. Despite the success, Vergara has repeatedly criticized the lack of opportunities for Latino actors in the United States.
Sofía Vergara in ‘Modern Family’. Eric McCandless via Getty Images
«I had tremendous success with Modern Family. From the first episode, I became famous worldwide, but I’m a Latina who doesn’t look so Latina, and I don’t have the same opportunities as American actors. I’m not complaining; I would be ungrateful. I’ve done much more than I dreamed, but it’s harder for me to find roles. I can’t play a scientist or a judge as I look. So, I decided to make my own way,» Vergara stated in the mentioned newspaper. «It’s because writers generally write about what they know. They are Americans and talk about their family… So what we need is more Latino writers who know how to write for us. We have fewer opportunities, and that’s why, for example, I had to produce ‘Griselda.’ I wanted a character like that, and no one was giving it to me.»
Even as a recognized actress in Hollywood, Vergara’s ties to the drug trade were not limited to Colombia. In the mid-2000s, Sofía was romantically linked to the capo Andrés López. Nicknamed «Florecita,» he was a criminal initiated in the laboratories of the Colombian Cauca Valley. He was part of the Cali Cartel—one of the organizations most pursued by the U.S. DEA—but halted his activities after Pablo Escobar’s death, surrendering to U.S. justice in 2001 and being sentenced to 11 years in prison, but released in 2006. In response to rumors of a relationship with Vergara, she stated that they were simply friends.
Although we only know a small part of the actress’s intense life, we are sure she could launch another series just by talking about herself, and we would watch it with the same dedication—and surprise—as «Griselda.»
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