Sofia Vergara wanted to “disappear” in new Netflix role after Modern Family

Griselda star Sofia Vergara has revealed she wanted to “disappear” in her new role, following her 11-year stint on Modern Family.

The actress, who is best known for playing Gloria Pritchett on the hit ABC sitcom, portrays Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in the upcoming Netflix drama.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other press ahead of the show’s launch, Vergara admitted that it was “hard, but super fun” becoming the notorious criminal.

“I had never really done a job that was as complicated and as different as I really am. So it was a lot of work, a lot of thinking, a lot of help from [director Andrés Baiz], a lot of help from hair and make-up,” she said.

“We did a lot of tests to find her. We knew from the beginning that we didn’t want me to look exactly like Griselda Blanco because we didn’t have time. We were doing a TV show, we didn’t have eight hours to do make-up every day.

“But the most important thing for me was to disappear, for Sofia to disappear, Gloria Pritchett from Modern Family to disappear. I didn’t want people to think, ‘oh that’s Gloria with a fake nose’. That was my main, main, main worry.”

The actress then detailed the extreme lengths she went to in order to capture Blanco’s distinctive features.

“It took us a lot of tests to see different wigs, different noses, different eyebrows,” she explained. “I was nervous about it because I sometimes watch movies and it distracts me a lot to see the wig or something, so I wanted her to look human.

“I wanted also to be able to act with all those things that I had on. Because I had fake teeth, I had plastic for my eyebrows. My nose was fake. I would put on the colour of my skin, I would put make-up all over it to feel different.”

Alongside Vergara, the cast includes NCIS: New Orleans’ Vanessa Ferlito, Narcos actors Alberto Ammann and Christian Tappan, Narcos: Mexico’s Alberto Guerra and Breaking Bad’s Diego Trujillo.

The show also features appearances from Mission: Impossible III and Twilight’s José Zúñiga, Avengers: Endgame’s Maximiliano Hernández, Juliana Aidén Martinez, Julieth Restrepo, Paulina Davila, Gabriel Sloyer and Martin Robriguez.