Colombian and American actress Sofia Vergara has opened up about the initial pressure she felt to lose her iconic accent.
The 51-year-old was discovered as a teenager by a photographer while walking on a beach in Colombia, and offers of modeling and television work soon started coming in.
After gaining success on Spanish-language television, she decided to make the leap into English speaking territory and took lessons to try and lose her thick accent, which proved a disaster.
Appearing on the latest episode of The Graham Norton Show, she explained: "There was pressure on me to lose it and I thought it would not be that hard, that I could do some classes and have any role I wanted. That was not the case – I spent a lot of money and a lot of hours trying and it would get worse. I would go to auditions, and it was horrific.”
Vergara was on the BBC chat show to promote her latest role as a businesswoman turned drug boss in the Netflix series Griselda.
“It is from an idea I had about 15 years ago. It is a true story of a woman that no one ever suspected of being one of the biggest drug dealers that ever existed.
"She created an insane cartel, and I went crazy for the story. She was Colombian, an immigrant, and a very tough ruthless woman. She was a monster. It was the role for me!” she told host Norton.
“The hardest thing was that I had to wear a wig, fake teeth, fake nose, and have a plastic forehead. I also had to wear uncomfortable bras that pushed me down to make me look less Latin.
"It was a complicated character for me, but it was my first film in Spanish which was so liberating," the Modern Family star added.
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday 12th January 10.40pm. Also available on BBC iPlayer.
