Update 9/13/23: Netflix Latinoamérica released 4 new images of Sofia Vergara as the infamous drug lord Griselda Blanco. The images ranged from Vergara in a silver top and statement necklace looking to someone off-screen while she holds something in her hand; sitting in what looks like a head office with Chinese guardian lions behind her; standing with a bat at the ready behind a car, and leaning against a car in what looks like a bus station.
Griselda Blanco was one of the most infamous drug lords in Colombia. Her criminal career and downfall captivated people’s imagination both in Colombia and around the world. And Netflix is soon releasing their telling of the life of La Madrina starring Sofia Vergara.
Netflix released a first-look photo of Vergara as the infamous drug cartel leader to promote the upcoming show. There still isn’t a set release date for the show but one look at Vergara and already we want to see what she brings to the table and how she’s going to conquer the role.
The Godmother, as she was also known, spent decades creating a major cocaine business in the U.S. She and her second husband moved to New York in the ‘70s and started their drug business before having to flee to Colombia to avoid being arrested.
Shortly after leaving, Blanco moved back to the U.S. in the ‘70s and settled in Miami, where your drug empire flourished. Her drug empire at one point employed 1,500 dealers and moved hundreds of kilos in the U.S., according to Maxim.
In the ‘80s, Blanco’s luck ran out and she was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). She was imprisoned and sentenced to more than a decade in 1985 and continued to run her drug cartel from prison with the help of her son, Michael Blanco.
Blanco was deported back to Colombia in the early 2000s. She was then murdered on Sept. 3, 2012 after being back in Colombia for almost a decade. She was shot twice by a motorcyclist in Medellín as she left a butcher’s shop. All of this makes for tragic, messy, and interesting storytelling that Netflix is taking on in the true-crime limited series.
And with Sofia Vergara playing the lead, we’ve got high hopes. And for those that don’t, we hope she changes your mind.