Many of Sofia Vergara’s fans are used to seeing the actress in comedy mode as one of the lead stars of Modern Family, the hugely popular sitcom that helped the Columbian actress become the highest-paid female star in Hollywood in 2020. With the series coming to an end in April 2020, Vergara is now seemingly turning her attention to other projects, and one of those is the true-crime drama Griselda, in which she plays the title role of a drug trafficker who goes by many names. Coming from the team behind Narcos, Vergara will also be executive producer on the six-part series, which is expected to arrive on Netflix later this year, and Entertainment Weekly shared a first look at an almost unrecognizable Vergara in character.

Once known for being the cover girl of many men’s magazines such as FHM, Maxim and others, Sofia Vergara has more than proved her acting capabilities in the decades since, and while she has not managed to get that big movie break, her small screen appearances, which also includes a judging stint on America’s Got Talent, have seen her commanding the highest salary of any actress on U.S. television for a number of years. Now, with Modern Family having ended after 250 episodes, Vergara seems to be looking to get something a little more serious under her belt with her new role, one which has been a passion project of hers for almost eight years.

Griselda tells the story of the ruthless and violent drug trafficker who became one of the world’s wealthiest criminals, Griselda Blanco, also known by the pseudonyms of La Madrina, Black Widow, the Cocaine Godmother and Queen of Narco-Trafficking. In the image, Vergara is seen sitting at a table, smoking a cigarette at an office desk which is unlikely to be getting used for above-board day to day business transactions.

Sofia Vergara Follows In Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Footsteps in The Role of Griselda.

The story of Griselda Blanco may not be well known to many, but Sofia Vergara’s appearance in the role is not the first time the drug baroness’ story has been told on screen. Blanco’s tale as one of the most notorious U.S. drug traffickers of the 1970s and 1980s was detailed in the documentaries Cocaine Cowboys and Cocaine Cowboys II, and in 2014 it was announced that her story would be dramatized in the Lifetime movie, Cocaine Godmother, which starred Catherine Zeta-Jones as Blanco. Even almost a decade ago, the casting caused some backlash at a Welsh actress being cast in a role as a Columbian, especially when there were very few roles being made available to Hispanic stars at the time.

This time around, there are no such issues to be called out, and there is no doubt that Vergara will bring all of her talent to the role. It is not known whether the series will focus on just one part of Blanco’s life or will see her entire story play out, including her many years spent in prison and the drive-by assassination that killed her. Either way, more will become known soon enough as Netflix are clearly ready to start promoting the series, which means it will not be too long before we get to see the finished result on-screen.