Narco stories have been very popular in the world of films and series for years. In the new Netflix miniseries “Griselda,” “Modern Family” star Sofía Vergara (51) takes on the role of the previously unknown drug lord Griselda Blanco (1943-2012). The real Blanco took over the cocaine business in the US coastal city of Miami in the late 1970s. According to the BBC, “El Patrón” Pablo Escobar (1949-1993) said of the ruthless criminal: “The only man I was ever afraid of was a woman named Griselda Blanco.”
All six episodes of the crime series will appear in one go on the streaming service Netflix on January 25th. Fans of the Netflix shows “Narcos” and “Narcos: Mexico” and of course all admirers of Sofía Vergara will get their money’s worth here.
After separating from her abusive husband, the now single mother of three sons Griselda Blanco (Vergara) leaves her home country of Colombia and wants to gain a foothold in the USA. The highly intelligent woman, who is already very familiar with the narco business, has a packet of cocaine the size of a brick in her luggage.
But in the underworld of the US metropolis of Miami, she initially finds it difficult to build relationships with other drug lords – especially since the cocaine business is dominated by less considerate macho men who initially don’t take Griselda seriously. But the assertive gangster lady doesn’t let that throw her off course. Step by step, she sets out to take over the cocaine trade in Miami and doesn’t shy away from brutal contract killings.
Behind the new Netflix series is the co-series creators Doug Miro (52), Eric Newman (53) and Carlo Bernard as well as the Colombian director Andrés Baiz (49) who were previously responsible for the successful series “Narcos”.
Superstar Sofía Vergara, however, is new to the team. The native Colombian is so far better known for comedic roles such as in the series “Modern Family” or the movie “Miss Bodyguard,” in which she played alongside Reese Witherspoon (47). Now Vergara embodies the ruthless, murderous Griselda Blanco, a chain-smoking gangster character who comes across as tough, intimidating, cold and only occasionally vulnerable.
According to NBC News, during the production of the Netflix series “Griselda”, Vergara, who also acts as a producer, spent around three hours in the mask on each day of filming in order to look like the title character using a prosthetic nose and taped eyebrows transform.
“I wanted to disappear,” Vergara revealed in an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning.” About the character she plays, a contradictory and complex drug lord, the actress says: “When I thought of Griselda, I wanted her to be like Tony Soprano. I wanted her to be a character that people didn’t hate, too if she’s a villain.”
Fans of past narco productions such as the series “Narcos” or “Queen of the South” will particularly enjoy the new, entertaining Netflix series. In just six episodes, sometimes breathlessly paced, the story of Blanco’s rise and inevitable fall is told in a captivating manner with a lot of contemporary color, with the well-known ingredients of the genre such as cold-blooded contract murders or lavish parties in the gangsters’ luxurious villas and estates coming into their own.
“Griselda” has many similarities to “Narcos”. Here too, the main criminal character is persistently hunted by a DEA agent. In this case, the antagonist is appropriately also a female character, although DEA agent June Hawkins, played by Juliana Aidén Martinez, also really existed like Blanco. In the Netflix series, she also has to assert herself within the male-dominated Miami police force against macho colleagues and the prejudices that were unfortunately omnipresent at the time. Over the course of the series, Hawkins develops into a formidable opponent for the main character.
“Griselda” is also reminiscent of the show “Narcos” in that equal parts German (or English in the original language) and Spanish are spoken in the series. For the latter scenes, in which Latin American characters talk to each other, no German dubbing can be set; viewers have to read fixed subtitles here. However, like “Narcos,” this gives the show a high degree of authenticity.
