Sofía Vergara

Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara is a Colombian-American actress, television personality, businesswoman, and brand ambassador. She achieved widespread recognition for playing Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family and starring as Griselda Blanco in the Netflix miniseries Griselda. Over her career, she has received five nominations each for the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, eventually becoming one of the highest-earning actresses in American television.

Born on July 10, 1972, in Barranquilla, Colombia, Vergara grew up in a Catholic household with a homemaker mother and a cattle rancher father. She spent three years studying dentistry at the National University of Colombia before leaving her studies to focus on show business and modeling. Following the tragic murder of her older brother during a kidnapping attempt in 1998, she moved to Miami, Florida, to escape the instability in her home country.

Vergara was discovered by a photographer on a Colombian beach, which quickly led to modeling and television work. At age 17, she made her screen debut in a Latin American Pepsi commercial. She studied acting at the Creative Workshops School of Acting and won Colombia's Look of the Year contest in 1992. Her early broadcasting career took off with the Univision network, where she modeled for variety programs and reported as a celebrity correspondent before moving into full-time acting.

In the 2000s, Vergara transitioned into English-language media, starring in the 2003 film Chasing Papi and securing roles in Four Brothers and comedies by Tyler Perry. She performed on Broadway in Chicago in 2009 shortly before landing her central role in Modern Family, which ran from 2009 to 2020. Her performance on the sitcom earned her four consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations, established her as the top-earning woman on U.S. television according to Forbes, and led to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.

Vergara's film credits include feature roles in The Three Stooges, Chef, and Hot Pursuit, alongside voice work in animated movies such as Happy Feet Two and Despicable Me 4. In 2020, she became a judge on the competition series America's Got Talent. Her starring role in Griselda in 2024 earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, making her the first native-born Latin American actress to achieve that distinction.

Beyond entertainment, Vergara has established herself as a prominent entrepreneur and spokesperson. She signed major corporate deals with brands like CoverGirl, Pepsi, and Head & Shoulders, and created clothing lines for Kmart and Walmart. She has launched a furniture collection with Rooms To Go, released several personal fragrances starting in 2014, founded the beauty brand Toty, and established Dios Mio! Coffee. She became a United States citizen in 2014.