Sofia Vergara portrays a woman of power and substance — literally — in the new Netflix miniseries “Griselda.” #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos has the scoop.
It was inspired by real events telling the real-life story of Griselda Blanco, a single mother of four, a cartel leader, and cocaine queen. She was known as the “Black Widow.”
Vergara underwent a transformation where she changed the way that she walked, talked, and even looked to portray the “Godmother of Cocaine.”
“Griselda Blanco was a larger-than-life character whose ruthless but ingenious tactics allowed her to rule a billion-dollar empire years, and this was before many of the most notorious male kingpins we know so much about,” Vergara said.
“We have found the perfect partners in Eric, Andrés and Netflix to help us bring this story of her life to the screen. We are thrilled,” Vergara exclaimed.
Not only does she star in it, but she serves as an executive producer of this six-episode Netflix series. This marks her first scripted series since “Modern Family.”
“It was just a fascinating character,” she said. “As a woman, I was fascinated. How did she become more ruthless and horrific than any man?”
While Vergara grew up in Colombia in that era, she had never heard about a woman who was the head of a cartel. “I was blown away by that,” she said.
“My whole focus was that people were not going to see Gloria Pritchett,” she revealed referring to her “Modern Family” character. “That’s what I wanted people not to see.”
Overall, it was a transformative performance, and it should have Emmy written all over it, in a future ceremony. Vergara’s performance (and the whole cast as an ensemble) is too good to be ignored. Everybody brings something unique to the table, and they all stand out in their own right.
Actor Martin Rodriguez, who plays one of the villains, Rivi, also opened up about this experience. “The experience was incredible, not only did I meet a very talented team, with fantastic actors but also a director who really did let all of the actors fly,” Rodriguez said.
“Working with Sofia was also such a gift because she is an actress with overwhelming talent and power,” Rodriguez added.
“I would tell people to enjoy the story, which is extremely well told, to enjoy every performance, the photography, the music and of course, Sofia in one of the most amazing performances of her life,” Rodriguez concluded.
