Vergara studied pre-dentistry at a university in Colombia for three years. Then, many opportunities arose to work in modeling and in show business, and Vergara decided to pursue these in Latin America, leaving two semesters shy of graduating from dental school. Soon she decided to move to Miami, Florida, to take advantage of opportunities and to move away from unrest in Colombia (her older brother had been murdered in 1998 during an attempt to kidnap him). She brought her son, mother and sister with her.
Her sister, Sandra, is now a minor movie and television actress in the United States.
Vergara was discovered by a photographer while walking on a Colombian beach. Soon she was presented with offers in modeling and television work, and she considered accepting them despite being raised both conservatively and religiously. According to an article in the January 2002 issue of Maxim, Vergara was "apprehensive about doing her first television commercial—until her Catholic schoolteachers gave her their personal permission to take the assignment." Vergara made her first appearance as a performer at the age of seventeen, in a Pepsi commercial that was widely broadcast in Latin America.
Her sister, Sandra, is now a minor movie and television actress in the United States.
Vergara was discovered by a photographer while walking on a Colombian beach. Soon she was presented with offers in modeling and television work, and she considered accepting them despite being raised both conservatively and religiously. According to an article in the January 2002 issue of Maxim, Vergara was "apprehensive about doing her first television commercial—until her Catholic schoolteachers gave her their personal permission to take the assignment." Vergara made her first appearance as a performer at the age of seventeen, in a Pepsi commercial that was widely broadcast in Latin America.
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