'WHY NOT GO FOR THINGS!' SOFIA VERGARA THE MODERN FAMILY STAR ON SINGLE LIFE, HER BOLD NEW ROLE AND THE STORY BEHIND HER SON'S NAME

The new year is bringing a fresh start for Sofia Vergara. Perhaps even a new love! 

- ASHLEY JUDE COLLIE

Time will tell, but the glamorous star, 51 – who announced her split from her husband of seven years, actor Joe Manganiello, last summer – is ready to ponder her future. “I don’t know what I want now…a bullfighter?” she joked in a recent Spanish TV interview. More seriously, she added, “He has to be [in his 50s] like me, he has to have children and he has to be handsome. But he doesn’t have to be a divine thing.”

While romance (if not divinity) is in her sights, the truth is, the mom of one has her hands full with work – from her beauty brand, Toty (her childhood nickname), to her new Netflix project, Griselda. Premiering on Jan. 25, the miniseries casts her in the titular role of real-life drug-cartel boss Griselda Blanco.

The dramatic part is so far removed from her beloved comedic persona on the TV sitcom Modern Family, which ran for 11 seasons and made her a household name, that the actress was a little afraid to take it on – until she gained a little perspective. “It’s not like we’re doing brain surgery in our business,” she reasons with trademark candour. “Why not go for things!”

Here, the America’s Got Talent judge reflects on the allure of her latest part and her journey to fame – from Colombia all the way to the glittering lights of Tinseltown.