Sofía Vergara Revealed How 'America's Got Talent' Interfered With Her Acting Career

Sofía Vergara wants to do it all, but her overloaded plate last year with two Hollywood gigs might not have been the best idea. The 51-year-old actress moved to the judges’ table on America’s Got Talent after Modern Family wrapped in 2020. She’s happily been working on the show, but the Netflix limited series, Griselda, was also calling her name. 

Vergara admitted during a Netflix FYSEE event on Sunday, a part of the Primetime Emmys nomination process, that she bit off more than she could chew. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” she laughed, per The U.S. Sun. “The most absurd thing. But I mean that tells you… if I was a real actress, I would have said, ‘Absolutely not, I’m not doing this.'” She had to juggle “three crazy, intense months” of playing “Cocaine Godmother” Griselda Blanco and then switch herself back into America’s Got Talent mode. 

“I think I had four days off to become Sofía, do AGT, which is completely another move to do AGT, that energy. And then finish that for a month and immediately, two days later, start again [filming] Griselda,” she recalled. The hectic schedule turned out to be “unprofessional” because it set the Netflix production back when she returned to the set. She was being “Sofía” instead of Griselda. 

Vergara continued, “I went back to Griselda [and] the director [during] the first scene, I remember we were shooting outside an airport, and then [he] comes after the first two scenes like, ‘Sofia, I think, uh, during lunch I’m going to go into your trailer with my iPad and I’m going to show you the rhythm and the tone of voice that you were doing for Griselda because you’re sounding like AGT.‘”

It took her “some time” to step back into the crime lord’s shoes again, but she noted, “I shouldn’t have done that. I should have not stopped shooting Griselda to do AGT.” Vergara took the note from the director and got back on track, receiving some of the best reviews of her career — and possibly an Emmy nomination if things go her way in July. The dramatic transformation Vergara made for the role was a long time coming. She shared with her Instagram followers last November with the show’s teaser, “Can’t wait to share this project with you! For the last ten years, it has been my passion to bring this to you, and its almost here!” That dream certainly came true, even though America’s Got Talent threw her for a loop.

Before you go, click here to see all of Sofía Vergara’s best red carpet moments.