Vergara teasingly blames her upbringing in Colombia for her keen aesthetics when it comes to her appearance. “I mean, even now in Latin America, girls, they want to be voluptuous,” she says. Raised by her housewife mom and businessman father, Vergara graduated from high school and attended dental school for two years before dropping out to pursue jobs in modeling and television. She cohosted a Spanish travel series and relocated to L.A., where she won smaller parts in TV and films before her breakthrough role on Modern Family in 2009. “It was great to move to L.A. at thirtysomething and start a new career,” she says. “I never thought that I could be doing any acting, so that was a surprise.”

A teeny 4-month-old Chihuahua wearing an even tinier diamond necklace looks up from the warm lap of one of the actress’s entourage. “Where is my love?” The puppy is quickly brought to Vergara, and the two immediately begin nuzzling before the next round of photos for this year’s cover shoot. “Look, she’s posing!” someone exclaims of the dog over audible “awws” in the room. “Just like her mama.”

Vergara has all the love she needs these days. After winning over hearts for nearly 11 years in Gloria Delgado-Pritchett’s stiletto heels on Modern Family and serving as a judge on America’s Got Talent since 2020, the actress, 51, has found a new cadence to life.

Single after her seven-year marriage to actor Joe Manganiello ended last July, she plays it coy when asked if she’s dating anyone. “Maybe,” she says with a sly smile (though she has posted about rumored beau Justin Saliman). But what really excites her is the thought of her son Manolo, 32, whom she shares with her high school sweetheart ex-husband, making her “Abuela” someday: “I think I’ll be a fun grandmother.”

She’s also ready to take more risks professionally, having just portrayed a Miami drug lord in the Netflix drama series Griselda, which she executive-produced. Vergara was almost unrecognizable underneath wigs, a prosthetic nose and false teeth that were bucked and yellowed, but the transformation was pivotal to her amazing performance—even if it was a bit outside her physical comfort zone. “I did Griselda for six months. It was a horrific [look],” she says, laughing. “It was torture.”

Vergara teasingly blames her upbringing in Colombia for her keen aesthetics when it comes to her appearance. “I mean, even now in Latin America, girls, they want to be voluptuous,” she says. Raised by her housewife mom and businessman father, Vergara graduated from high school and attended dental school for two years before dropping out to pursue jobs in modeling and television. She cohosted a Spanish travel series and relocated to L.A., where she won smaller parts in TV and films before her breakthrough role on Modern Family in 2009. “It was great to move to L.A. at thirtysomething and start a new career,” she says. “I never thought that I could be doing any acting, so that was a surprise.”