Sofia Vergara came to be a U.S. household name through the long-term success of Modern Family. For the most part, she has stuck with her flair for being funny, but Vergara is now turning to the dramatic side to portray Griselda Blanco, otherwise known as the “Cocaine Godmother,” in Netflix’s Griselda. As you can see in the below screenshot (and this teaser), Vergara underwent quite a physical transformation for this role. Not only are the hair and clothing circa 1970s and 1980s, but Vergara is wearing prosthetics.
This, of course, was not an instantaneous process for each day of shooting. As pointed out by the Daily Mail, Vergara revealed that she spent at least two hours in the make-up chair on a daily basis. This actually sounds like less time than I expected, because dang, I would not have realized that this was Vergara at first glance. As well, her clothing in the series is frumpier than the usual va-va-voom style that we see from the leading lady.
All of this was worth the journey, and Griselda is an enlightening watch and quite a take on what a fight it was for Blanco to be taken seriously in the drug trade. This isn’t quite a parable of real-life feminist struggles, but it is definitely interesting to watch. Blanco was quite the recruiter and coordinator as well as being a dastardly murderess, and this paid off to the tune of 80 million per month in the cocaine trade. Eventually, yes, Blanco also had a hell of a downfall that parallels her real-life descent.
Griselda is also the “cousin” to the Narcos shows, in the words of Narcos: Mexico executive producer Eric Newman. Here, he works alongside Narcos co-creator Doug Miro with Vergara also calling many of the shots as executive producer. Here’s the series synopsis:
La Jefa is coming. Sofia Vergara transforms in this series, inspired by Griselda Blanco, a woman who rose from obscurity to become ‘the Godmother’ of the underworld. Witness her lethal blend of charm and ruthlessness in this captivating series.
Griselda streams on January 25, 2024.
