"Griselda" Starring Sofía Vergara Just Dropped A Bunch Of New Info, And This Is Going To Be My New Crime Show Obsession
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In recent years, Netflix has become known for delivering some of the most talked about crime shows to date.
From Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story to Inventing Anna, Netflix has seemingly cornered the TV market in how to make an engaging crime series people can't stop watching.
This brings us to one of their upcoming shows that will surely fit into that genre of jaw-dropping series.
Griselda is an upcoming limited series that is inspired by the savvy and ambitious Colombian businesswoman, Griselda Blanco. Griselda is a devoted mother who created one of the most profitable cartels in history.
According to Netflix, "Blanco's lethal blend of unsuspected savagery and charm helped her expertly navigate between business and family, leading her to become widely known as 'the Godmother.'"
The series stars and is produced by Sofía Vergara, marking her first starring role on a TV show since Modern Family ended in 2020.
In real life, known as "Black Widow," "The Godmother," and "Godmother of Cocaine," Blanco was a Colombian cocaine trafficker, who created a huge empire in Miami during the '70s and '80s. She is known for allegedly ordering numerous murders and contributing to the violence that erupted in Miami during that time.
According to reports, Blanco reportedly smuggled more than three tons of cocaine into the United States annually, which equaled close to $80 million per month. In 1975, she was arrested and received a maximum 15-year sentence in prison, but reportedly continued to run her drug empire from jail.
In 1994, Jorge Ayala, one of her trusted hit men, testified against her and she was charged with three murders. She eventually pled guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence and was later released and deported to Colombia in 2004. In 2012, she was shot and killed in Medellín, Colombia.
Blanco was previously portrayed by Catherine Zeta-Jones in a Lifetime movie titled Cocaine Godmother, and in 2020 there were reported plans for Jennifer Lopez to star in and produce a movie called The Godmother.
Alongside Sofía, Griselda is executive produced by Luis Balaguer, who has been developing the show alongside Sofía for eight years before it made its way to Netflix.
Speaking about Sofía's behind-the-scenes work on the show, Eric Newman, who is an executive producer and creator on Griselda, told EW in a recent interview, "She had collected tons of images and stories and people who knew [Griselda Blanco]. And she had really gone deep on someone who felt the pressure that she felt. I think that she really understood what it was like. She's got a son and she came to this country as a young mother with not much of a plan."
And Griselda director Andrés Baiz spoke to Sofía shifting from comedy to drama with this show, saying, "This was a chance to reinvent herself and step out of her comfort zone, which was very brave of her. She knew she had to dive in completely into this role and feel insecure and afraid, but she knew that all she had was her work, that she had to push herself to the limit."
Previously, Baiz directed episodes of both Narcos and Narcos: Mexico.
He added, "She wanted a Griselda that didn't feel like Sofía Vergara," speaking to Sofía learning to smoke for the role because she'd never smoked in her life.
Alongside Newman, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard, who created and produced Netflix's Narcos and Narcos: Mexico with Newman, are writers and executive producers on the series. Meanwhile, Ingrid Escajeda serves as showrunner, and she was previously a writer and EP on Justified and Silo.
