Sofía Vergara is opening up about the way her accent has “limited” her acting opportunities in Hollywood.
As fans will know, Sofía, now 51, was born and raised in Colombia. After her brother was fatally shot in 1998, she and her family moved to the US, where she pursued a successful acting career.
Sofia is perhaps best known for playing the iconic Gloria Pritchett on Modern Family — a role that bagged her four Emmy nominations. Of course, Gloria’s strong accent became one of the character’s most defining traits — and it’s something that Sofía has proudly defended over the years.
Back in 2018, for example, Ellen DeGeneres infamously told Sofía that her accent had gotten “worse and worse” over time during a segment on her self-titled talk show.
“You’ve been on the show for 10 years, and your accent has gotten worse. How is that possible?” Ellen asked Sofía, who was also joined by other members of the Modern Family cast. Ellen later added, “It’s gotten worse and worse over the years. I can barely understand you.”
In response, Sofía laughed and said, “It’s a talent. I made a commitment with myself that I am going to be Gloria — very thick Latin-spoken woman.”
Needless to say, there have been numerous other times when Sofía’s accent has been a topic of discussion — and mockery — in interviews over the years, most recently being just earlier this month during an appearance on Spanish talk show El Hormiguero.
Sofía called out host Pablo Motos for seemingly ridiculing her English during the interview after he questioned her pronunciation of “Modern Family.” This led to many people fiercely defending Sofía online.
And it turns out that just weeks before this clash with Pablo took place, Sofía had actually opened up about the way her accent has affected her career during an interview with the Los Angeles Times, which was published this week.
Speaking about the way she’s been “limited” in Hollywood because of her accent, Sofía playfully said, “I’m always looking for characters because there’s not much that I can play with this stupid accent.”
“I can’t play a scientist or be in Schindler’s List. My acting jobs are kind of limited,” she continued.
Sofía went on to discuss how she compares herself with other Latina actors who don’t have strong accents, noting that she sometimes beats herself up over her inability to lose hers.
“Eva Longoria doesn’t have an accent. Jennifer Lopez doesn’t have an accent. Jessica Alba doesn’t have an accent. Is it frustrating? Of course. In the beginning, more than now,” she said. “And the frustration was towards me. How come I can’t [...] get this right? I’ve been here for 30 years. How dumb can I be? I have to fight in English [...] act in English. It’s exhausting.”
This isn’t the first time Sofía has voiced frustration over her accent. Back in 2015, the actor revealed that at the beginning of her career, she “spent a lot of money” working to remove her accent.
“I don’t understand how Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz can’t fix their accents. I’m gonna do it,” she said at PaleyFest in LA. “I hired someone and I worked for months, and I spent a lot of money because it’s very expensive.”
Sofía found that despite taking three separate hourlong lessons per week, she was unable to lose her Colombian accent. And so she eventually decided to start embracing it, thus leading to her casting in Modern Family.
