Sofia Vergara is campaigning for an Emmy, which explains why she’s on the cover of Variety. Did you know that she never won an Emmy for Modern Family? That’s not right. She was nominated four times and never won, and her nomination this year is for Netflix’s Griselda, where Sofia played the drug lord Griselda Blanco. This Variety piece is something we probably should have seen back in January, when the series first came out – Sofia explaining how she works, what she did to get into character and more. Some highlights:
Her brother Rafael was murdered by a Colombian cartel: “It destroyed my family. It destroyed my mom. It changed our lives completely. We didn’t know what was happening, why he had been killed.” After her brother’s murder, she moved her mother, sister and younger brother to the States to live with her. “It was hard, because I had to take responsibility for my whole family.”
She realized she needed to hire an acting coach when she got the role in ‘Griselda’: “I’m like, OK, who is a comedic actress that did good in a drama?” she remembers thinking. “Jennifer Aniston!” Vergara asked her team to set up a meeting with acting coach Nancy Banks, who has worked with the “Friends” star since 2013. Connecting with Banks was easy, but learning the skills to play Griselda proved to be more of a challenge. First, Vergara had never cried on-screen, and was unsure how to do it. “Nancy said, ‘If you want to cry, you just have to think of something.’ And I did have a lot of horrible things to think about.”
She had never method-acted before: “I was anxious. Nancy told me, ‘You’re killing, you’re screaming, crying — everything — during the day. You go home and your body doesn’t know that you weren’t doing those things for real, feeling those things.’ So I had to start taking a little bit of Xanax at night to calm down. I was not prepared for that. I didn’t know. That’s why actors go crazy! How do they do that for years?”
She’s negotiated many of her own deals: “I’ve never been afraid of doing that. The worst that can happen is that they say no to you.”
Learning lines: The day-to-day on “Modern Family” was a breeze for Vergara. She’d wake up at 4:30 a.m. and get into the makeup chair by 6. Sometimes she’d wrap by 9. But the days on “Griselda” were grueling — and she was 52, not 37, the age she was when “Modern Family” premiered. “Back then, my lines were easy. It wasn’t like monologues.” Gloria’s lines had come in quippy, shouty bursts, but on “Griselda,” Vergara had to memorize pages and pages of dialogue. “I’m going through pre-menopause; I can’t remember where my glasses are. And now I have to learn all these monologues?”
What needs to change for Latin people in Hollywood: “I feel the thing that would change the entertainment business for Latinos is to have Latin writers. If there were more Latin writers, then they would know how to incorporate us.”
Her mantra is “Don’t think too much.” “When you sit too much with your thoughts, that’s when people get depressed and people get paralyzed. I always keep active. What the f–k can we do? Nothing. We have to keep living.”
On Joe Manganiello saying that they didn’t get a divorce because he wanted a kid: “At the end of the day, you never even know if that’s what he said for real. I’ve read a lot of things that I’ve said that I’m like, Huh?’ What am I gonna do, call him? I don’t know if he even said that.”
She also said that she got a new “bionic knee” because she’s so “old.” I love her honest admission about not being able to memorize reams of dialogue, as well as her admission about not knowing WTF to do in a dramatic role. At least she hired an acting coach and did the work! She’s right about Hollywood needing more Latin writers, but I would also say… Latin-American producers too. More people behind the scenes, putting projects together overall. I’m sure there are Latin writers who have scripts with well-written Latin characters and no one is producing that stuff.
This week’s Variety cover story:
Sofía Vergara's Brother Was Killed by a Cartel. She Still Found Empathy in 'Psychopath' Drug Lord Griselda Blanco
https://t.co/YVy9dbSG9h pic.twitter.com/ZCzDRry9TF— Variety (@Variety) August 14, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – MARCH 02: Colombian and American actress and model Sofía Vergara arrives at NBC’s ‘Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love’ Birthday Special held at AVALON Hollywood and Bardot on March 2, 2023 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 759972954, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Sofía Vergara, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- Sofia Vergara during premiere of ‘Griselda’ new Netflix series in Madrid, January 9, 2023.,Image: 835714848, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: David Cruz Sanz / Alter Photos / Avalon
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- BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 10: Sofia Vergara attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.,Image: 856459914, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Sofia Vergara, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon
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- BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 10: Sofia Vergara attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.,Image: 856459927, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Sofia Vergara, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon
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- Sofia Vergara attends the photocall for Madrid premiere of Netflix miniseries ‘Griselda’ Featuring: Sofia Vergara Where: Madrid, Spain When: 09 Jan 2024 Credit: Cordon Press/INSTARimages **USA AND AUSTRALIA RIGHTS ONLY**
Hollywood needs more Latin, Black, indigenous and queer voices. And a whole lot of Women. Perimenopause and menopause don’t hold back. Naomi Watts is right about how it affects us and I love the Sofia is talking about it too. I like how she is talking about aging and how it has affected her.
Hollywood worships youth and it’s f*cking unhealthy.
I’ve been in peri for about a year now, and I’m “only” 47! I’m hoping this will be over by the time I’m 52!
Meanwhile, I asked my docs (gyn and pcp) for HRT and was turned down. I love how dudes can just buy some Low T products on line, but if I want some estrogen then I’m treated like a drug-seeker hooked on oxy. I need to find a menopause specialist, just haven’t gotten around to it. It should be just as easy for women as it is for men, but that is just not the world we live in
I entered peri at 40. Started hormones, stopped, then should start them again. It is annoying. With them, you get normal periods. But, my cysts won’t burst unless i’m off sooooo…
So maybe that’s why they don’t want to give them? I don’t mind my periods stopping but I hate all these unexpected physical changes on top of the weird brain fog and depression. I just feel totally out of control. I’m so sorry you are dealing with cysts, and that you have to wait for them to burst! Omg…
I’m 44 and started last year. This year, I noticed the anxiety and irritability skyrocketing so my naturopath gave me a low dose patch and progesterone pills and they’ve helped a lot.
There’s no good reason for doctors deny you if you’re a good candidate for HRT! There’s women’s clinics online now that offer HRT and are super easy to work with. You have a virtual meeting with your practitioner and they call it into your local pharmacy. I’m doing that currently and have been super, super pleased with the ease and professionalism. I’m also prescribed an anti-depressant (per my request) and a cortisol management supplement to help control my symptoms. I highly recommend looking into it. Not sure if I’m allowed to mention a company or not, but I’m using MIDI. There are other companies out there though.
Honestly, the change can be dreadful and my brain has not been the same, which sucks. HRT helps with some things, like sleep, but I’m definitely not the same. Seems like it’s us Gen X ers normalizing discussions of it, which is a good thing.
I’d recommend trying By Winona, it’s an online health service provider that will assess your symptoms and give you estrogen cream, vitamins, to help with the hot flashes. I used them until I finally got my doctor to prescribe estrogen patches/HRT
It’s not always covered by insurance, but very reasonable
Depending on your symptoms, HRT might not be the best option and they might be refusing for that reason. I have significant memory and brain troubles since I started perimenopause but I also have bad, painful chest swelling and HRT makes this worse so on balance, it’s better for me to not go on HRT.
I am 42 and in surgically-induced menopause and I forget EVERYTHING. At first I thought I was going crazy. My (male) boss even brought up my forgetfulness at my annual performance review. The brain fog is no joke. I hope it goes away soon. I’m trying to learn Greek right now and it feels impossible with menopause brain!
Efharisto!! (I think that’s hello, probably not spelled correctly though….) (edited to add–nope that’s thanks! Is it like “yassos” or something like that? I went to greece as a teen in the 90s)
How are you trying to learn? I have heard really good things about some of those language learning apps, like dualingo? Just curious, I’ve been meaning to try one
Efharisto, Manda! I’m starting out slow and learning the alphabet with a workbook and using Duolingo. Eventually I will buy an actual textbook and start taking live classes on Preply. Soon I will start watching Greek movies and series with subtitles so I can get used to pronunciation and cadence. This worked well when I studied Dutch and Turkish in the past!
Surgical menopause here too! (Had my surgery at 42 and am 44 now.) The brain fog is so real, I went to microwave something last night at 7:16 PM – and found my morning coffee that I had been looking around the house for the entire day. It’s no joke.
My OB/Gyn Is actually OK with me being on hormones, so other side effects have not been as bad. For which I am grateful. But seriously, I have to write everything down. I even have a daily reminder set up to go pick up my children from school.
Reading these comments makes me sad. No wonder there are so many health and wellness charlatans on social media. It is so hard to get a deserved level of care; so as women we congregate on sites like this to share resources and information. I too am on HT and my sleep and anxiety are so much better.
Keep advocating for yourselves, and hopefully our daughters won’t have these issues.
It’s really bad, plain scary. I’ve got MRIs done already as I actually don’t have any memory of particular events plus I developed terrible migraine so a brain tumour was a consideration. It seems it’s hormonal after all but it also makes my work extremely difficult and of course, there’s zero consideration or tolerance for it here (Canada).
She was great in Griselda and I do hope she gets recognized for it with an Emmy nom. I’m in my 30s and keep seeing tiktok vids about menopause and I’m so afraid of what’s to come but at least more women are talking about it so I have an idea of what to expect.
Just want to point out that menopause does end. I hated it , too, but very happy to no longer have periods. Mentally, I am as normal as I ever was. Hang in there.
I’ve had these symptoms much longer than I could’ve ever imagined. Started before 50. It’s been a good decade. It’s time for this nightmare to stop, but the heatwave makes hot flashes and when the two meet, it’s debilitating.
She isn’t wrong about the memory thing. I did a play after menopause and remembering my lines was so difficult. I haven’t acted since!
The other day, I forgot mid- sentence what I was going to say. 😶
On one hand, we need hear and talk about menopause, perimenopause, and all that comes with it. It’s so important!
But I hate that this one insight she shared about what’ she’s going through is edited into a one liner for a headline — at her professional expense.
I started perimenopause early, around 36. I have lupus. But I also had hypothyroidism creep in at the same time. My TSH was fine which is usually all they check, it’s an indicator of T3/4, but the T3 & T4 (the actual thyroid hormones) were both low. Things don’t always work like they should. Have all three thyroid tests done!! And even if they’re borderline, they can still be low for you. Those graphs aren’t 100%.