The actress with a painful history behind her career success: Who is Sofia Vergara?

Her full name is Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara, she was born on July 10, 1972 in Atlantico, Barranquilla. She was born into a Roman Catholic family, the son of her mother, housewife Margarita Vergara de Vergara, and father, a cattle farmer for the meat industry, Julio Enrique Vergara Robayo. Vergara's five siblings and many cousins nicknamed her "La Toti".

Initially studying dentistry for three years at Colombian National University, Vergara dropped out two semesters before completing her degree to pursue opportunities in modeling and show business. Vergara, who was kidnapped by her older brother Rafael in 1998, was caught during the incident and her brother was killed. Not wanting to be caught in the mayhem that resulted in the murder, Vergara settled in Miami, Florida.

Discovered by a photographer while walking on a beach in Colombia, Vergara soon received modeling and television job offers. She first appeared at age 17 in a Pepsi carbonated soft drink commercial in Latin America. Later, she started studying at the Creative Workshops Acting School, she.

In 2002, she appeared in the black comedy film "Big Trouble" based on a novel. The movie was a box office bomb and garnered mixed reviews. The next year, she starred in the comedy "Chasing Papi" directed by Linda Mendoza, with Roselyn Sánchez, Jaci Velasquez and Eduardo Verástegui.

The following year, she appeared as a supporting actor in the comedy film "Soul Plane" directed by Jessy Terrero. Later, she starred as Sofi in the action movie "Four Brothers" directed by John Singleton. Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed more than triple its production budget at the box office. In 2005, she starred as Lola Hernandez in the sitcom "Hot Properties" and the series was generally unpopular.

In 2006, she appeared as Loridonna in the black comedy film "Grilled" directed by Jason Ensler and as herself in the comedy "National Lampoon's Pledge This!". In the following years, she took on the role of Cheryl Barranquilla in the romantic comedy-drama film "Meet the Browns" (2008), published by Lionsgate and written and directed by Tyler Perry. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the film was a healthy success at the box office.

The following year, she appeared in the comedy-drama film "Madea Goes to Jail," written and directed by Tyler Perry, alongside Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Ion Overman, Tyler Perry and Vanessa Ferlito. The film, which was successful at the box office, garnered negative reviews from critics. Later that year, she appeared in "Amas de Casa Desesperadas", the Latin adaptation of the television comedy-drama series. Later that year, she appeared in the sitcom "The Knights of Prosperity" as one of the lead roles as Esperanza Villalobos.

In 2009, she appeared as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, a major cast member, in the ABC sitcom television series "Modern Family" created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. The series, which started broadcasting in 2009, continued for 11 seasons until 2020. The series, which has become popular since the day it was broadcast, received many awards and nominations in various categories. She received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series from 2010 to 2013 for her performance.

In 2011, she voiced himself in "The Smurfs," a 3D fantasy adventure comedy movie based on the comic book of the same name and directed by Raja Gosnell. The film, which was released on July 29, 2011, despite receiving negative reviews, became the ninth highest-grossing film of 2011 with its box office gross.

That same year, she appeared as part of a major cast in the romantic comedy movie "New Year's Eve" directed by Garry Marshall. Upon its release, the film garnered generally negative reviews from critics and was a successful financial gain at the box office. She then took on the voiceover role in "Happy Feet Two," a computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film directed by George Miller. The film received mixed reviews with critics and was a box office bomb, grossing nearly match the production budget at the box office.

In July 2011, she landed her first lead role in a major movie, "The Three Stooges," a playful comedy directed by the Farrelly brothers. The film, which received mixed reviews, was also moderately successful at the box office. According to a list published by Forbes.com in July 2012, Vergara has become the highest-paid woman in US television for the money she has earned in the past 12 months. Vergara was included in the list of "50 most beautiful people" by People magazine. She has also been recognized as one of Hollywood's "most influential Latino women" by The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard.

In 2013, she was cast in the voice cast of "Escape from Planet Earth," the computer-animated comedy-adventure science fiction film directed by Cal Brunker. The film, which received mixed to negative reviews from critics, was able to earn a healthy income at the box office. In the same year, she acted as Selima in the comedy film "Fading Gigolo" directed by John Turturro. Later in the year, she starred in the action exploit movie "Machete Kills," directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film received poor reviews and failed to meet the production budget at the box office.

The following year, she took the lead role with Jon Favreau in the road comedy-drama "Chef" directed by Jon Favreau. The critically acclaimed film grossed nearly four times its production budget at the box office. In 2015, she starred alongside Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Dominik Garcia-Lorido and Anne Heche in the action thriller "Wild Card" directed by Simon West. The film was described as both negative reviews and a box office bomb.

Later that year, she co-starred with Reese Witherspoon in the action comedy "Hot Pursuit" directed by Anne Fletcher. The film, which received negative reviews from critics, achieved an average gross at the box office. Vergara was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 7, 2015. As of September 2016, Forbes magazine announced that Vergara was the highest-paid actress on television, making $43 million last year.

In 2017, she co-starred with Whitney Cummings, Toby Kebbell, James Marsden, Deon Cole, Lucy Punch, Beanie Feldstein and Cecily Strong in the comedy film "The Female Brain" directed by Whitney Cummings. Released on February 9, 2018, the film resulted in mixed or average reviews. That same year, she voiced himself in the computer-animated science fiction comedy film "The Emoji Movie" directed by Tony Leondis. The film, which was universally criticized, was a commercial success, grossing its production budget. It is also ranked as the worst movie of 2017 and one of the worst animated movies ever made.

In 2018, she starred in the crime thriller "Bent" directed and written by Robert Moresco and one of the lead roles in the heist comedy film "The Con Is On" directed by James Oakley. The following year, she starred in the drama film "Bottom of the 9" directed by Raymond De Felitta, with Joe Manganiello, Michael Rispoli and Denis O'Hare. In February 2020, it was reported that Vergara will be a judge on the talent show "America's Got Talent" starting from its fifteenth season. The competition returned in 2021 for its second season, in 2022 for its third season, and in 2023 for its fourth season.

In 2023, she appeared in the comedy film "Strays" directed by Josh Greenbaum, and the film is scheduled for a theatrical release on August 18, 2023. In the same year, she will star in and produce as Griselda Blanco in the crime drama mini-series "Griselda" directed by Andrés Baiz. The series is scheduled to premiere on Netflix in the fall of 2023.

Personal life

At the age of 18, Vergara married her high school sweetheart, Joe Gonzalez. The couple has a son named Manolo, born in September 1991. The couple divorced in 1993. In 2010, Vergara began working with actor and businessman Nick Loeb. The couple got engaged two years later, but the engagement was called off on May 23, 2014. That same year, Vergara fell in love with actor Joe Manganiello. The couple got engaged in 2014 and married in Florida on November 21, 2015.

Vergara, who has naturally blonde hair, is sometimes asked to dye her hair dark brown or black for movies and television. Vergara, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2000, had her thyroid removed, received radioiodine treatment and recovered completely. In December 2014, Vergara said she was a citizen of the United States.

In 2011, it was announced that Vergara was designing a clothing line aimed at soccer moms for retail company Kmart. In 2011, Vergara was chosen as the face of the CoverGirl cosmetics brand, and her first commercials were released in January 2012. Vergara launched a furniture line in 2013 with a furniture store chain called Rooms To Go. Vergara's first fragrance, "Sofia by Sofia Vergara", was released in 2014 and four more fragrances have been on sale since then.