Sofía Vergarahas spent a long time preparing for what might possibly be her biggest and most different role yet and she nailed it.
The 51-year-old Modern Family alum has been gearing up to portray notorious Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco for eight years for the upcoming bilingual crime series Griselda, which she is executive-producing alongside Luis Balaguer and Andrés Baiz. The crime series reunites the team behind Narcos, and is due to land on Netflix in January 2024.
Blanco, a cocaine trafficker who created a huge empire in Miami during the ’70s and ’80s and allegedly ordered numerous murders, has been referred to as the ‘Black Widow,’ ‘The Godmother,’ and ‘Godmother of Cocaine.’ And from the newly-released promo pictures alone, it’s clear to see that Vergara’s transformation into Blanco is remarkable!
The America’s Got Talent judge, who is used to looking ultra-glamorous in figure-hugging dresses, sky-high heels, and sporting flawless hair and makeup, looked a million miles away from her usual self in the first pictures released from the six-episode limited series. In some of the newly-released production stills, the Hot Pursuit star can be seen sporting a shorter and curlier hairdo to the one we are used to seeing, and can even be seen with some cuts on her face. Gloria Pritchett has officially left the building!
One fan took to Twitter to say that Sofía looked “unrecognizable” as Blanco, while another simply said “wow” to her transformation. “Sofía Vergara is bringing some sizzle to the cartel world!” exclaimed another fan, as another added, “Can’t wait to see this,” followed by the red heart and fire emojis.
Director Andrés Baiz said looking and acting so differently was actually quite challenging for Vergara, who recently split with husband of seven years, Joe Manganiello; but he admitted that he admired how she stepped out of her comfort zone to portray the role she had been researching for almost a decade!
“This was a chance to reinvent herself and step out of her comfort zone, which was very brave of her,” Baiz told Entertainment Weekly. “She knew she had to dive in completely into this role and feel insecure and afraid, but she knew that all she had was her work, that she had to push herself to the limit.”
“She wanted a Griselda that didn’t feel like Sofía Vergara,” Baiz added. “So for example, she had to learn how to smoke. Sofía had never smoked in her life… We came up with a bunch of questions. What are Griselda’s dreams? What does she think about at night? What drives her? What car does she drive? What cigarettes does she smoke? What is her favorite food? Where does she want to go on vacation again? How does she move? Does she like to dance or not?”
