Sofía Vergara hid her bombshell looks to transform into the cartel leader Griselda Blanco.
In an interview with Variety, published on Wednesday, Aug. 14, the actress, 52, opened up about the physical transformation she underwent to portray the title character in Netflix’s miniseries Griselda, which is based on the life of the Colombian drug lord.
The Modern Family alum noted that Blanco looked different than her in real life. “She was maybe not a Barbie doll, but the real Griselda Blanco had something — she had some kind of sex appeal that I needed to show,” Vergara said, adding that she wanted to disguise her curves and didn’t want to “jiggle.”
“I didn’t want the bouncing that is natural for Latin women to show. I would have to wrap myself so that my butt wouldn’t jiggle. I had to wear a really bad bra,” Vergara said, before noting that she also covered another part of her body.
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Netflix
The America’s Got Talent judge continued, “I had to cover my arms, because I have very skinny arms, and you don’t look threatening when you have this stupid little arm.”
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According to the outlet, Vergara spent over four hours a day in hair and makeup to transform into Blanco, which included prosthetics, facial and body makeup, and a vigorous wig application.
Vergara also picked up a few new skills for the role, including smoking – which she was taught how to do by director Andrés Baiz.
“I had never smoked in my life. Andy would come to my house the month before we started. We would talk about the script, and he would teach me how to smoke and do cocaine and crack,” she said.
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In the same interview, Vergara spoke about the potential future of Modern Family. She has an ongoing joke with her former onscreen husband Ed O’Neill about how he can’t die before they film a sequel, she told Variety.
“I always joke with him, ‘Ed, don’t die. Because if we do the sequel, it will take some time, and you’re the oldest of us. You can’t be dead!’ ” Vergara said.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in 2023, Vergara spoke about how her transformation into La Jefa was more than just physical. “I had to change the way I walked [and] I talked. I didn’t want it to look like Gloria Pritchett with a fake nose,” she said, referring to her Modern Family character. “I wanted the people to forget about Gloria — that was the main thing.”
Ahead of the release of the series, Netflix shared a behind the scenes look that spotlighted Vergara’s appearance, with Baiz noting that Vergara’s physical transformation “was one of the toughest aspects of the whole show.”
But the actress said her hard work paid off, telling PEOPLE in a separate interview, “The people that have watched it now have been so responsive and they’ve been telling me how much they love it. It’s really exciting to see how the people are reacting to it.”
Griselda, which earned Vergara her fifth Primetime Emmy nomination, is now streaming on Netflix.
