This Cocaine Godmother role is not to be sniffed at

Glamorous Sofia Vergara spent 10 years trying to get the story of a dangerous trafficking killer on to the screen.. and now she gets to play her

- HEATHER GREENAWAY

SOFIA Vergara's new role as a chainsmoking, gun-wielding cartel boss is worlds away from feisty, funny Gloria Pritchett the Modern Family character who made her a Hollywood star.

The 51-year-old Colombian actress had to spend hours in hair and make-up for her dramatic transformation into Griselda Blanco, the drug dealer, trafficker and killer known as the Cocaine Godmother.

But Sofia admits that although she looks nothing like gnarly Griselda, she has a personal understanding of the dark and murky world she came from as her brother was kidnapped and murdered by Colombian narco criminals.

The stunning actress, who had to hide her curves and then injured her back while trying to replicate Griselda's walk, says even though she would never condone the cartel boss's actions, she admires her strength at surviving so long in a man's world.

Sofia, whose six-part mini-series hits Netflix on January 25, said: "It was important to showcase Griselda's story to the world. She is a Colombian woman. I grew up there. I am a Colombian woman.

"Usually we're very loving and very protecting. We're all about family and sacrifice. I knew so well the business of the narco traffic because my brother was in that business.

"I grew up during that era but I couldn't understand how a Colombian woman could get to that point and be as good as those men. This was a real story and I wanted to tell it.

Sofia, who announced she was divorcing her actor husband Joe Manganiello last year, added: "There were a million things that I loved about the character because for an actress to be able to get into someone's soul so complex is fascinating.

"I liked that I didn't understand many things about her. A lot I did understand - I'm Colombian, I'm a woman, I'm a mother, I'm an immigrant.