The Transformation Of Sofia Vergara From 15 To 48
These days, Sofia Vergara is a household name, but it wasn't always that way. The "Modern Family" star, beloved for her good looks and excellent comedic timing, had a long and winding road to the top. "I look how I look, I would be ungrateful to complain about what God has given me," Vergara told Harpers Bazaar Arabia in 2016. "I have taken advantage of it, I have had a great life."
Don't start thinking Vergara has coasted on her good looks, though, because thats not true. Vergara is an incredibly hard worker who has had to overcome some serious challenges in her life. That's a bit of a surprise if all you know about Vergara is that she's pretty, a wealthy actor, and has a super hot husband, but trust us when we say there's more to her than meets the eye. Read on below as we break down all the changes in Vergara's long, fascinating career.
Sofia Vergara was insecure about her body
If you've ever read anything about a model, you know that they were probably teased for being too tall in school. The same goes for Sofia Vergara. The former model took a little time to come into her own, and her classmates weren't exactly nice about it.
Vergara, whose hourglass figure is almost as recognizable as her accent, spent most of her childhood feeling self-conscious about her thin frame. When speaking to Nightline in 2011, the "Modern Family" star shared that she spent much of her childhood hoping to look like the Barbie dolls she played with at home. It definitely didn't help that she was called "toothpick" by her classmates.
"In my culture, a skinny girl has nothing going on," she said, "So I was very scared, always concerned that I was never gonna ... fill up, you know, all those fabulous outfits that my mother had ... I would never even wear skirts or anything because I thought I was too skinny."
Vergara's figure eventually filled out, and that skinny little girl grew into the gorgeous woman we all know and love today.
Sofia Vergara became famous by accident
Sofia Vergara might have been worried she'd never outgrow her skinny frame, but evidently, she had nothing to worry about. By the time Vergara was a teenager, she was getting noticed left and right by her classmates and agencies.
The way Vergara broke into the industry sounds like it was ripped straight from a Hollywood daydream. Apparently, Vergara was hanging around the beach during her senior year at her strict Catholic high school when a modeling scout spotted her. "I was with my family, like, at the beach and some casting agent saw me and said, 'We're doing this commercial, do you want to do it?'" Vergara explained when speaking to CBS in 2017. "And my mom is like, 'Yes, yes, she wants to do it.' And I'm like, 'No, the nuns are gonna kill me, I can't be in a bathing suit on a commercial!'"
Vergara ended up doing the commercial, but luckily for her (and the nuns?), it didn't air until after she graduated. Shortly after, she headed to Miami, and her star power only continued to grow.
Sofia Vergara became a single mother
Landing her first acting/modeling gig wasn't the only memorable part of Sofia Vergara's senior year. Shortly after graduating, Vergara married her high school sweetheart, Joe Gonzalez, when she was 18. The pair divorced when she was 21, but at just 20, Vergara welcomed her son, Manolo. Raising her son alone wasn't easy, especially at such a young age, but Vergara was a very dedicated mother, per People. "I was really young when I divorced his father," Vergara explained to the outlet. "I raised him trying to set the best example and give him the best that I could."
It wasn't a walk in the park, but all that dedication paid off. These days Manolo is all grown and still very close with his mom. More importantly, by all accounts, Manolo turned out to be a pretty cool guy. "When people compliment me on him, on how well mannered, how charming, funny, and well-behaved he is, it makes all the sacrifices worthwhile," said Vergara.
Sofia Vergara received a scary diagnosis
Things became even more difficult for Sofia Vergara when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 28. Vergara bravely underwent surgery to remove her thyroid, but the health problems didn't stop there.
After the surgery, Vergara was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a condition she's had to manage ever since. Vergara opened up about the struggle when speaking to reporters at a promotional event in 2013, per HuffPost. "At the beginning when I had the cancer, I thought, 'I'm going to eat everything organic, everything healthy,'" she explained. "I did become a little crazy, but after three months I realized this is so exhausting!" she said. "It was insane, like having shots of spinach, I mean crazy! So I tried to do healthy things, but not [get] crazy."
Soon enough, Vergara realized the best way to manage her condition was by sticking to a strict regimen of doctor appointments and medication. Even though she's doing much better these days, managing the condition has taken a lot of time and effort. "I had to make myself realize what was going on with my body, and I have to say in the past ten years, I never had a problem. I'm very, very straight with the way I try to do what the doctor says, and I go to my doctor religiously and get my blood tests."
Sofia Vergara got her big break
After years of taking on smaller roles and modeling jobs, Sofia Vergara finally got her big break in 2009 when she landed the role of Gloria on "Modern Family." It might have taken a minute for Vergara to make a splash in the industry, but she definitely worked for her fame.
"Often I haven't been the youngest or most intelligent girl in the room," she told Women's Health in 2017, "but I always, always am the hardest-working one. Dreams don't happen if you just sit down and accept things."
Hard work has always been of the utmost importance to Vergara, and that didn't change when she became a household name. The actor went on to explain that she spent her first six years on the show working overtime and weekends. "I worked like an animal. I wanted to take advantage of my 15 minutes of fame because you never know."
"Modern Family" might have ended, but it doesn't look like Vergara's fame is going anywhere anytime soon.
Sofia Vergara found love
Working so hard, raising a child on her own, and handling a dangerous medical condition didn't leave Sofia Vergara a lot of time to date. After years of putting herself first, she met her one and only, Joe Manganiello, in 2014.
Manganiello reportedly first laid eyes on and fell in love with Vergara when he spotted her the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The only problem? Vergara was engaged to another man, Nick Loeb. When Vergara and Loeb split a few weeks later, Manganiello made his move. Within six months, they were engaged, and by November 2015, they were married, per Entertainment Tonight.
It's been smooth sailing ever since. "He is so funny and ever since we met, that has been really important," Vergara told Hola! USA. "We even talk to each other all the time in this little voice that we made up, like a couple of dorks. Whoever heard us, would say, 'What's their problem?'"
The best part? They are endlessly supportive of each other. "He loves that I love to work, that I love to be creative, that I'm always planning my ventures, that I'm always excited about work and about business," she told Entertainment Tonight. He always, actually, tells me, he's like, 'You know, one of the things that draws me so much to you is that you were, like, the first woman [who] I went out with that is really, really, like, independent.'"
Vergara has come a long way, and we can only imagine what she'll accomplish next!