Real-life Griselda characters who inspired Netflix show on Colombian drug lord
The hotly-anticipated series Griselda is finally on Netflix - and fans are ready to binge-watch Sofía Vergara embody Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco.
The show, made up of six hour-long episodes, is produced by Eric Newman and Andrés Baiz, the creators of the popular crime series Narcos and Narcos: Mexico. Protagonist Vergara, who is renowned for her roles in Modern Family and America's Got Talent, is also executive producer of the series.
Newman described Sofia as "a force of nature" and said she was perfect for the role as just like Griselda, she is "a single mother who came to America from Colombia with nothing and built an empire." Here, we take a look at the real people behind Griselda - and the actors playing them.
READ MORE: When does Griselda premiere on Netflix? Here's how to watch series starring Sofia Vergara
The cast of Griselda at the premiere in Miami this week (Michele Eve Sandberg/REX/Shutterstock)Griselda Blanco
Actress: Sofía Vergara
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Griselda was born in Santa Marta, Colombia, and was said to pickpocket from a young age as growing up in poverty forced her into a life of crime. It has been reported she even helped kidnap a boy when she was just 11 years old. It is believed she also went into prostitution to make money.
She then went on to marry a small-time criminal when she was still a teenager and was said to have ordered his murder following their split. She found love again with drug trafficker Alberto Bravo, who introduced her to the cocaine industry, which saw her become a major trafficker.
Griselda, who amassed a vast empire with a net worth of billions, was prominent in the cocaine drug trade and was a central figure in the Miami drug wars during the 1970s and 80s. She was branded "La Jefa" (The Boss) and the "Godmother of Cocaine".
She displayed a brazen ruthlessness with the aim of eliminating her competition - and this plunged Miami into a period of violence that became known as the Cocaine Cowboy Wars. She was accused of committing numerous murders, many carried out by gunmen on motorcycles, a practice she was said to have invented.
It has been claimed that she smuggled more than three tons of cocaine into the US annually, netting around $80million (£63million) per month. She enjoyed a lavish lifestyle including luxury homes and hedonistic parties.
In 1984, she moved to California but the following year she was arrested and taken to New York to face the 1975 drug charges. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison but she reportedly continued to run her empire while behind bars. She was released and deported to Colombia in 2004 but in 2012 she was killed by a gunman on a motorcycle as she left a butcher shop in Medellín.
Griselda had four children, but three of them - Osvaldo, Dixon and Uber – were murdered. In 2020, Griselda's only surviving son Michael Corleone Blanco spoke to the Sunday Mirror about his upbringing as the son of such a notorious crime boss.
Griselda with her youngest son Michael Corleone Blanco (VH1)
Michael Corleone Blanco said his mother was not a saint but he loved her (VH1)He said: "My mother was no saint. She had to survive to do her thing. But at the end of the day, she was my mother. I will forever honour and respect her. I love her." Michael now lives the life of a "suburban dad" in Miami with two teenage sons and a daughter. But from the day he was born, he was linked with crime.
Griselda gave him the middle name Corleone after the Mafia family in the Godfather movies. He said: "I never actually had a childhood." As a boy, he survived seven assassination attempts, including one when his drug trafficker father Darío Sepúlveda, Griselda's third husband, died in his arms after their car was ambushed. In a fractured life split between Medellin, Florida and California, he had armed guards night and day as his mother made ran her empire.
In the new series, Sofía Vergara plays Griselda Blanco, looking practically unrecognisable thanks to the wigs and make-up she wore during filming. She recently revealed that to play the role, she had to be taught how to inhale fake cocaine and smoke a cigarette.
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"The cocaine that I did was fake. But I had to pretend. The cigarettes are also fake. Everything was, it's fake," she said during an interview with Jimmy Fallon.
'Cocaine Godmother' Griselda Blanco in police custody (Orange County Sherriff)
Darío Sepúlveda was Griselda's third husband (Michael Corleone Blanco/Facebook)Darío Sepúlveda
Actor: Alberto Guerra
Darío Sepúlveda was Griselda's third husband and father of her youngest son, Michael Corleone Sepulveda. The couple met when drug trafficker and assassin Sepúlveda was sent to Miami to kill Griselda - but they fell in love and got together instead. They reportedly married in 1978 and had their son the same year.
Their marriage was far from perfect as Blanco was constantly suffering from drug-induced paranoia. She was also reportedly very jealous, to the point that she once ordered the killing of eight strippers as she thought they might have had sex with her husband.
In 1983, Sepúlveda took their son and returned to Colombia. He was later killed by men dressed as police officers in Medellín with his son next to him. Cuban actor Alberto Guerra, 42, known for his appearances in Spanish-language melodramas and crime series, plays Sepúlveda.
Alberto Guerra stars as Darío Sepúlveda (Michele Eve Sandberg/REX/Shutterstock)
Christian Tappan, who plays Arturo Mesa, pictured at the Griselda Miami Premiere (Filmmagic)Arturo Mesa
Actor: Christian Tappan
Arturo Mesa was Griselda and her second husband Alberto's accountant in Medellín. According to the show's notes, he convinced her to bring her business to fruition and even travelled to Miami to help the drug trafficker source product and make "important connections with key players".
Christian Tappan, known for appearing in Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord and telenovelas La fiscal de hierro and La Reina del Sur, stars in the series as Mesa. He also appeared in US crime drama Snowfall.
Jorge ‘Rivi’ Ayala
Actor: Martín Rodríguez
When he first met Griselda, Rivi Ayala was the lieutenant for one of her rivals but decided to start working for her as he became impressed by her tactics, eventually becoming her right-hand man. Martín Rodríguez, known forUruguayan-Argentine drama Zanahoria (Detrás de la verdad) and Uruguayan film El cuarto de Leo, plays Ayala in Griselda.
Jorge ‘Rivi’ Ayala became Griselda's right-hand man (Wikimedia Commons)June Hawkins
Actress: Juliana Aidén Martinez
June Hawkins, played by Juliana Aidén Martinez, was a Miami police department analyst, who, thanks to her Spanish language skills, investigated Griselda. According to reports, the real-life police officer served as a consultant on the Netflix series.
Juliana Aidén Martinez plays police analyst June Hawkins (Chelsea Lauren/REX/Shutterstock)
Vanessa Ferlito plays Carmen Gutiérrez in Griselda (GC Images)Carmen Gutiérrez
Actress: Vanessa Ferlito
Carmen Gutiérrez, played by Spider-Man 2 and Graceland actress Vanessa Ferlito, worked with Griselda and her husband's New York operation. She runs her own travel agent and, despite letting Griselda stay with her when she arrives in Miami, she appears reluctant to be close to her friend as she finds out she is still involved in the drug trade.
Chucho Castro
Actor: Fredy Yate
Chucho Castro, played by Colombian actor Fredy Yate, initially picked up a one-time job for Griselda, but eventually ended up working for her for years. An incident depicted in the series is the killing of his two-year-old son Johnny who was shot twice in the head as he rode in a car with his father. Griselda had sent Ayala to killed Chucho - and details of the shooting were revealed by the hitman who later testified against the drug lord.
Ayala said Blanco wanted Castro killed because he kicked her son in the buttocks. He told police: "At first she was real mad ‘cause we missed the father. But when she heard we had gotten the son by accident, she said she was glad, that they were even."
Fredy Yate stars as Chucho Castro (JLN Photography/REX/Shutterstock)
Karol G is Griselda's friend Carla in the show (JLN Photography/REX/Shutterstock)Carla
Actress: Carolina Giraldo Navarro, known as Karol G
Another character you will come across in Griselda is Carla, one of the drug trafficker's friends and confidants. The Colombian woman, from Medellín, used to travel to Miami with other sex workers to transport product.
She was close to Griselda in Colombia and remained close with her in Florida. Colombian singer, songwriter and actress Carolina Giraldo Navarro, known as Karol G, plays Carla in the series.
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