Sofia Vergara Breaks Out

Sofia Vergara has TV audiences laughing as the saucy Gloria on ABC’s Modern Family, recently earning her second Emmy nomination. Now, she’s making the jump to the big screen—starring in The Smurfs, in theaters Friday. She talks to Marlow Stern about her journey from Colombia to Hollywood, being typecast, and why the very mention of her relationship with Tom Cruise makes her burst into a fit of laughter.
Yes, I’m blonde. When I started as an actor, because of the accent and my body and my personality, it was not what the stereotype of the Latina woman in Hollywood is, so they didn’t know where to put me. The blond hair wasn’t matching. The moment I put my hair dark, it was better for my work. I think I changed it five or six years ago, but I got used to it. It toned me down a little bit. Before, I was the blonde with big boobs and a big mouth. [Laughs] It toned me down and I really like it.
I went to dental school, but I didn’t finish because I started getting opportunities for work. You have to decide every day, “Do I go to class or do I make money?” Your priorities start changing. I really wanted to go to medical school, but 20 years ago in Colombia, women were supposed to get married and have a family, and that’s what I wanted to do. I was already planning to get married, so medicine was something that’s very, very strict and you have to study a lot and be on call. So dentistry was the next best thing for me.