Sofía Vergara thanked her loved ones for their support in the wake of her split from Joe Manganiello.
Sofía Vergara thanked her loved ones for their support in the wake of her split from Joe Manganiello
The 51-year-old ‘Modern Family’ actress – whose former partner, 47, filed for divorce from her in July 2023 after seven years of marriage – paid tribute to her nearest and dearest at the first public showing of her new Netflix miniseries ‘Griselda’ on Tuesday (23.01.24) night.
She told the audience at the Fillmore Theatre as she stood alongside ‘Griselda’ producer Eric Newman, 53: “Everybody that is in Miami that matters to me is here. This has been a great night for me.”
Sofia then joked she had something “super important” to add, before declaring ‘Griselda’ is a “lot better” than ‘Narcos’, which Eric also produced.
She then thanked everyone who “supported” her and “believed that Gloria Pritchett (her character in ‘Modern Family’) was able to play Griselda Blanco”.
Director of ‘Griselda’ Andrés Baiz, 49, told Page Six at the event he had been able to help Sofia tap into her emotions to play the character of Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in the show.
He added: “During the process of pre-production, I used to go to her house and we went over the scenes, over the character and asked ourselves questions and also talked about ourselves.
“Sofia told me many stories about her upbringing – harsh stories, tragic stories about her life – and I said, ‘Sofia, use that. Use that in certain moments of the process, of the shooting, when you have to do a very dramatic scene, something that is hurting. Don’t shy away from that. Connect with those memories.’”
He also confirmed one of the darkest memories from Vergara’s past that helped her connect with her character was the death of her brother, Rafael Vergara, who was killed in an attempted kidnapping in 1998.
He said: “I think it’s very important for an actor to not shy away from those emotions from their past, and that’s what makes a great performance.”
Sofia didn’t bring a date to the ‘Griselda’ showing, but was joined by her long-time friend Chi Bui and her niece Claudia Vergara.
The actress recently confirmed during her ‘Griselda’ press tour she and Joe’s relationship broke down as he wanted to have kids and she didn’t want to be an “old mom” – as she already has 32-year-old son Manolo with her high school sweetheart, Joe Gonzalez.
Joe has been dating actress Caitlin O’Connor, who is 13 years his junior, since last year, while Sofia has been spotted on dates with orthopaedic surgeon Justin Saliman.
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