'Happy Feet 2' Star Sofia Vergara Talks Losing Her Colombian Accent

Let's face it: Dancing penguins with exotic accents are a lot more fun.

But Sofia Vergara didn't always have that mentality. In fact, she tried to "fix" her trademark Colombian accent when she first dove into the acting world. "At the beginning I thought I could fix my accent to make it sound like something else, so I spent a lot of money and time to change it," Vergara told BANG! Showbiz (via New Zealand Herald). "But I was going to auditions and I was putting all my concentration on changing the next word to a different accent so my acting completely disappeared. I was just thinking about the pronunciation. I was getting no response from directors or anything because it was terrible."

Luckily, the "Happy Feet 2" star, who voices the seductive penguin Carmen, had a change of heart. "I think my accent was getting worse and worse with time, so I decided to just try for things where I can use my own accent."

In addition to stealing the show during the Golden Globe nomination announcements with her priceless look of horror when she tried to pronounce "The Artist" and "Hugo" directors' names (Michel Hazanavicius and Martin Scorsese -- hey, they were tough ones!), "Modern Family" would be nothing without the volatile Gloria using the phrase "in my country" at least once an episode.

Nothing beats being true to yourself. Keep making your country proud, Gloria!

Comments

[Corinne Bowers]

01:09 PM on 01/20/2012

If Sofia's accent was just a little less overpowering, she would be hitting a hundred. It's just too heavy and many people suspect she lays it on thicker than it truly is - just for the effect. Please, Sofia, lighten it up!

[LMPE]

09:12 PM on 01/07/2012

I like hearing different accents. It would be a sad world if everyone talked like news anchors.

[Albert Estrada]

06:09 AM on 01/07/2012

I don't understand why some people think she's faking her accent, I completely understand how hard it is to speak in another language having a thick accent, I learn English by myself watching tv shows without subtitles and music videos learning the lyrics and then translating the song to know the meaning of each word my accent now is ok, my grammar on the other hand needs a lot of work, but trying to speak with an American accent is so exhausting sometimes at the end of the day my jaw and tongue still hurts and when I don't fake my accent i literally sound like her but not that loud thou, but it feels so good and relaxing when i don't fake my accent, English its a hard language to learn but to me is worth it i love this language

[bbertaud]

03:27 PM on 01/07/2012

Do you think English is difficult?...ask an Anglophone about learning Spanish...or try to learn my fourth language: Dutch

[mrscrutty]

04:03 PM on 01/06/2012

I love her! She is funny and sexy and just being herself. And the "box of baby Cheese It's" was extremely funny on Modern Family. She is the perfect foil to Al Bundy. My favorite line of her's on the show, "I'm from Colombia. you don't think I can see a fake crime scene!" I read an interview with her. She is a blond, but likes her hair dark. The interviewer asked her which ones have more fun, the blonds or the brunettes...her response..."The one with the bigger boobs." I bet she is a lot of fun to hang out with. And I'm a straight female. Nothing but love for her.

[piul05]

10:31 AM on 01/07/2012

Yes, that was a good line, when Jay was trying to cover having accidentally killed Manny's turtle.

:-)

[bbertaud]

03:49 PM on 01/06/2012

She´s hot...accent or not

[piul05]

02:19 PM on 01/06/2012

Well, being Brazilian, I love Sofia in "Modern Family" - little things like calling her kid by their proper name (MANUEL ROBERTO!!!) when she wants to tell him off; the different hand gestures which accompany a dialogue and which, to the knowledgeable eye, add depth to the role, even though it is supposed to be exaggerated and stereotyped.

Besides, she's gorgeous (and I'm a straight woman); she comes from the same town (Barranquilla) as Shakira...it must be something in the water...

[piul05]

02:21 PM on 01/06/2012

typo: `city, not town*

[ontariogirl]

05:08 PM on 01/06/2012

I have lots of latin friends and I just howl at this show. It is so funny. I know many Gloria`s out there and I love them all.

[DixieMelody]

01:49 PM on 01/06/2012

Who is more irritating to listen to:

Sofia or Fran Drescher?

Being forced to listen to them (try to) have a conversation with each other would rank right up there with Chinese Water Torture.

[LMPE]

09:13 PM on 01/07/2012

When it comes to irritating voices, Sarah Palin has everyone beat hands down.

[SilverlakeStevo]

12:01 PM on 01/06/2012

SHUT HER UP !! she is SO annoying !!

[american-dolt]

09:32 AM on 01/06/2012

Couple of extra pounds and she goes from Hot to Miss Piggy.

[bbertaud]

03:50 PM on 01/06/2012

I detect a whiff of sheer and pristine envy....LOL

[Yankeebrown]

08:52 AM on 01/06/2012

I thought Americans wanted people to integrate and speak English fluently, but when this woman gets a gig she's stereotyped.

[EmilyRose2010]

08:46 AM on 01/06/2012

She is too loud and to make her even more offensive that she has become, you have a photo of her with her tongue out, gross

[piul05]

02:44 PM on 01/06/2012

You've missed the point of the show entirely, haven't you?

"Brothers and Sisters" (yawn) is probably more up your ally.

[piul05]

10:31 AM on 01/07/2012

typo: *alley*

[BVictor1]

08:31 AM on 01/06/2012

Sofia, you are 'fine' as you are.

[Ollie Bee]

03:25 AM on 01/06/2012

She could read the dictionary to me in her accent and I'd be pleased.

[kabeersnole]

11:11 PM on 01/05/2012

'Happy Feet 2' Star Sofia Vergara Talks Losing Her Colombian Accent View Full Video at - http://tinyurl.com/3gpy7j8

[Halsey]

10:25 PM on 01/05/2012

First and obvious complaint. What sick person chose that funky, bad angle shot for the headline? It looks like she's wearing Monica's fatsuit on her neck. (those are the photos that make me happy I'm NOT famous...my gawd..that's insulting..period.). Sofia is a fabulous looking woman with real curves and fun (okay..only from the interviews I've seen) person. I, as a devotee of Castillian Spanish love her accent. It is a bit strong. Actually, in Bogota (I don't know if she grew up there), the speak a very pure Spanish and are proud of it. She does NOT sound like Charo(?). When I speak Spanish, I truly try to use el accento castillano! As an actress, she can speak "american(yawn) if she needs to. Okay..now I'm laughing at myself. This is so unimportant in any scheme of things. We might attack Iran tomorrow or in a week. Guess this was a little escape.(still am miffed at the stupid photo).

[colombianita]

12:48 PM on 01/06/2012

para que sepas, shes not bogotana, shes from baranquilla, so shes costena and yes the difference in accents is huge!! im from colombia, santander department and even i have a hard time understanding costenos. they speak fast, they dont pronounce the whole word (like the cut the s off the end of the word) and they use crazy vocab that nobody else uses, and sometimes they have terrible grammar. probably not sofia because she is very educated though. i'm not criticizing you, i just thought i'd tell you this because you said you were interested in spanish!! i love sofia, es un orgullo de la tierrita (colombia)