People primarily know Sofia Vergara as the vivacious Latina mom Gloria Pritchett in the ABC hit show ‘Modern Family‘.
But what most don’t know is that the ever-youthful actress has built quite a different life in her home country of Colombia before successfully breaking into Hollywood.
Her Real Hair Color
You might be used to seeing the 46-year-old actress with brown hair but she’s actually born a blonde. According to Vergara, she decided to dye her hair darker after having trouble getting cast for acting jobs earlier in her Hollywood career.
Apparently, casting agents didn’t quite know which roles a blonde Latina can play saying that American audiences were used to seeing dark-haired Latin people in the media because of the geographical and cultural nearness of Mexico.
A Different Career
But what’s even more surprising is that Vergara didn’t really want to be an actress at first. She was actually aiming to become a dentist and even studied dentistry right out of high school.
However, she got scouted at age 17 while on a beach trip with her family and she was soon cast for a Colombian Pepsi commercial. In the end, the bubbly star says that she’s very happy with where she is now.
Teen Mom
Looking at the youthful Vergara, you would never think that she’s even old enough to have a fully grown child. But believe it or not, the actress has a 26-year-old son, Manolo.
She had him a year after marrying her first husband Jose Gonzales at age 18. Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t work out and Vergara had to raise her son as a single mother. Things turned out well though considering the close relationship between mother and son. In fact, Vergara often takes her son as a plus one for red carpet events.
Business Mogul
Before trying her luck in Los Angeles, the actress co-founded a Latino talent management company in 1994 with her manager, Luis Balaguer.
More than two decades later, the venture is still doing well and has since turned into a multi-million dollar company. Some of their clients include media giants like Disney, Pepsi and Paramount. Vergara is also currently one of the many talents that Latin World Entertainment (LWE) manages.
Surviving Cancer
If all those trivia weren’t enough yet to make you admire Vergara, then this next one surely will.
Back in 2000, when the actress was still struggling to break into the industry, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Determined not to let this obstacle stop her, she continued attending auditions and working while also getting treatment for the scary illness.
Fortunately, Vergara eventually triumphed over the disease and even opened up about it in 2011. For this, she considers herself a very lucky woman having caught the disease on its early stages and managed it before getting worse.