Sofia Vergara Almost Took A Surprising Career Path (As A Dentist)
Modern Family's Sofia Vergara may look and act like a buxom airhead (and she has no problem playing into that trope), but most people don't know that Vergara actually wanted to be a doctor long before she considered acting as a suitable career path.
In fact, if fate didn't have other plans for her, the actress might have been Sofia Vergara, D.D.S.
Sofia Vergara Studied For Two Years To Be A Dentist
In an interview with Harry Connick Jr. on his talk show, Sofia Vergara revealed that she initially wanted to be a doctor but felt the career path would consume years of her life.
“I wanted to be a doctor but 4 years ago in Colombia that wasn't an option because you were thinking about getting married, having kids, and being a doctor takes so much time and years of studying. It's difficult,” Vergara said.
So she decided to become a dentist instead.
“The next best thing at that time for me was to be a dentist. So I went to dentist school. But I didn't finish.”
Harry followed up by asking Vergara how long she studied dentistry. She said two years. And he then asked her if she ever worked with any real people during that time.
“No. Because the first year's like medical school. You have to learn about the whole human body, then you go into the mouth. But you do have to go to the [anatomy lab] where they have the cadavers,” Vergara said. “You go and study there.”
Vergara Was “Discovered” At A Beach When She Was 17
Sofia Vergara's introduction to the world of modeling and acting happened when she was 17.
She was relaxing at a beach in Colombia and was discovered by a casting agent who asked if she wanted to be in a Pepsi commercial. Vergara told CBS in an interview that her mom immediately agreed to the idea, but she was not so sure because she was terrified of her Catholic school teachers seeing her in the commercial in a bikini.
"I'm like, 'No, the nuns are gonna kill me, I can't be in a bathing suit on a commercial!' They're not gonna let me do it. They're gonna throw me out of school."
The commercial aired after Vergara graduated from high school.
But even then she never considered acting and modeling as a suitable career for her. She wanted to be a doctor. But since she had just married her childhood sweetheart at that time, her family and husband felt that being a dentist was the only good option for her.
“What I was really interested in was medical school, but my husband and everyone said, ‘You’re a woman trying to have a family. You can’t be a doctor on call.’ The next best thing was dental school,” Vergara said in a different interview.
She eventually enrolled in the National University of Colombia's dentistry program but left two semesters before she could complete her degree because she got the opportunity to be a TV host.
Her marriage had also come to an end by that time.
Sofia Vergara Moved To Miami With Her Son After She Dropped Out Of Dental School
In 1994, Sofia Vergara moved to Miami from Colombia with her young son Manolo to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.
Today she is one of Hollywood's highest-paid TV actresses and has a net worth of $180 million, attributed to her impressive salary as an actress, TV host, and her numerous endorsement deals. She is also a businesswoman and owns the lingerie brand EBY.
But even though she left dentistry behind, it turns out Vergara hasn't forgotten those years she spent at dental school.
In an interview with People, Sofia Vergara revealed that she's obsessed with her dental hygiene and that of her family.
“My son thinks I’m crazy because I make him do a cleaning every three months. I try to bribe the dentist to make him to do it sooner!”
Vergara's obsession is visible in her smile, which is just as much a part of her iconic appearance as her curvy figure.
But she doesn't like it when people think she succeeded just because of her looks.
"Being attractive has opened so many doors for me. But of course, if I was just a pretty face, I wouldn't have lasted so long," Vergara told Harper's Bazaar in an interview.
She also told Women's Health that when she moved to the U.S., she “worked like an animal”.
"I wanted to take advantage of my 15 minutes of fame because you never know.”
That's how Sofia Vergara became TV's highest-paid actress for seven years straight at one point in time. And she's still going strong.
As for “the haters” who criticized how her character Gloria was depicted in Modern Family, she doesn't agree with them.
“Gloria's character is inspired by my mom and my aunt,” Vergara told HOLA! USA.
“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.”
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