After rocketing to fame with her role in Modern Family, Sofía Vergara bets on the small screen once again, this time for a six-episode drama series portraying the life of one of Miami’s most feared drug traffickers: Griselda Blanco. The series called Griselda, brought to you by the creators of Narcos (2015), has already been involved in many controversies even before it premiered. Here at MFC, we bring you everything you need to know to fully grasp the details in Griselda.  

What is Griselda about?

Griselda, starring Sofía Vergara, takes place in Miami during the 80’s, the peak decade of luxury and excess of the 20th century USA. Griselda Blanco, a Colombian mother of four who managed to escape from an abusive husband, is willing to do whatever it takes to survive and take care of her family in this new land of opportunities.

Back in Colombia, Griselda’s husband was involved in drug trafficking, that’s why she already had experience in that world. Griselda capitalized that knowledge and managed to create an empire and quickly make her way to the top.

This is the story of the rise and fall of one of the most powerful cartel queens of Miami, also known as “The Black Widow”. This six-episode miniseries follows her career in the drug trafficking world and the power she held over Miami, as well as her trial and imprisonment. Each episode lasts 50 minutes and features stars like Christian Tappan and Karol G, in her actoral debut.

Who was Griselda Blanco?

Griselda Blanco, better known as “The Black Widow” or “The Cocaine Godmother”, was one of the most prolific drug traffickers in Miami. Despite being a woman in a world ruled by men, she managed to build an empire thanks to her charm and intelligence to carry out operations.

Blanco managed to make over 80 million dollars per month with her “business”, thus becoming one of the richest people in the city, if not the country. According to investigators, Griselda was the one who introduced the very same Pablo Escobar into the drug trafficking world, since she offered him her wisdom and expertise.

Griselda Blanco, mother of four, was charged with three counts of murder in 1992. By 1998 she was found guilty and imprisoned. However, she was released and deported to Medellin in 2004, where she was murdered by an unknown motorcyclist in 2012.

Sofía Vergara’s preps for Griselda

Sofía Vergara, the 51 year-old Colombian actress best known for playing Gloria in Modern Family, took the risk of leaving comedy aside to bring Griselda Blanco to life in a dramatic series that is far from making people laugh.

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To do so, the actress had to tone down her characteristic comedic tone into a more obscure and intimidating one. Vergara stated that, in order to portray Griselda Blanco, she had to spend endless hours in the makeup room applying prosthetics and fake teeth given the lack of natural resemblance. 

Vergara confessed that she had never smoked or done drugs in her life, so it meant that she also had to learn how to hold and smoke a cigarette, as well as snorting substances up her nose. This was quite a challenge for the actress, since she had to do it like a natural if she wanted to look convincing for the audience. She said that all this couldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Andrés Baiz, the director, who guided and taught her everything she needed to know to portray Griselda Blanco.

Griselda Blanco’s family filed a lawsuit against Sofía Vergara and Netflix

Although this series has caused much hype and anticipation, not everybody is happy with its premiere. Griselda’s son, Michael Corleone Blanco (yes, that is his real name) is one of the plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit in a Miami-Dade County Court against Netflix and Vergara stating that the family did not authorize the use of their images nor were properly compensated and wanted to prevent the series from airing.

According to Michael Corleone, he had given the rights to his mother’s story to another production company, so his lawsuit aimed to paralyze the premiere of the series, but despite his efforts, the series premiered anyway and is now available on streaming platforms.

Finally, Griselda’s son commented that, despite the fact that Sofía Vergara is a powerful Colombian woman, the actress never contacted him or his family to find out more about her character.

At the moment, Vergara did not give statements about these accusations.

Before Vergara, there was Zeta-Jones

Before Sofía Vergara played Griselda Blanco in this new series, award-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones brought the drug trafficker to life in a film called Cocaine Godmother. So if you feel that the series is not enough and you want to be an expert on this woman’s life, we recommend that you watch her movie as well.

So, MyFamilier, are you going to binge watch Griselda this weekend? Let us know in the comments your thoughts about Sofia Vergara’s dramatic performance.