Sofia Vergara is spilling the tea on the pros and cons of having an accent in Hollywood. The ‘Modern Family‘ star has never shied away from Latin roots and has embraced her accent and everything that comes with it.
Though it adds to her charm and her sexiness, her accent also limits the kind of roles she gets offered in the industry. Here’s why Vergara thinks her accent stands between her and the potential roles she could’ve gotten.
Sofia Vergara’s Accent
Sofia Vergara has mostly played similar roles in all her films. It follows a pattern of her being an attractive Latina woman, most of all her character in the sitcom ‘Modern Family’ where she played Gloria Pritchett.
Many people complained about her character, calling it out as fueling the Latina stereotype. Speaking of which, Vergara said, “What’s wrong with being a stereotype? Gloria’s character is inspired by my mom and my aunt. They are both Latina women who grew up in Colombia, like me. They love color, prints and shoes. I’m like that too: a voluptuous, intense, happy woman, who wants to get involved in everything with her partner to help.”
Due to her accent, Sofia gets offered similar characters in every film and show and doesn’t get the exposure to explore genres or characters. Here’s what she said about her accent setting limits to what kind of roles she gets.
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The actress talked about how challenging it is for her to get serious roles due to her accent. She told Los Angeles Times, “I’m always looking for characters because there’s not much that I can play with this stupid accent. I can’t play a scientist or be in ‘Schindler’s List.’ My acting jobs are kind of limited.”
She then compared herself to other Latina actresses and said, “Eva Longoria doesn’t have an accent. Jennifer Lopez doesn’t have an accent. Jessica Alba doesn’t have an accent. Is it frustrating? Of course. In the beginning, more than now,” she said. “And the frustration was towards me. How come I can’t […] get this right? I’ve been here for 30 years. How dumb can I be? I have to fight in English […] act in English. It’s exhausting.”
in 2015 the actress also revealed that she was spending a lot of money to remove her accent – but turned out it proved to be impossible. Over time, however, Vergara has started to embrace her accent and her Columbian roots.
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