Sofia Vergara
Sofía Vergara with actors Woody Harrelson (L) and Gerard Butler (R) Reuters

Sofía Vergara is at the top of her Hollywood career. She even took the top spot on Forbes' list of Highest-Paid TV Actresses of 2013, for the second year in a row. Her earnings reached $30 million, thanks to her 17-time Emmy-winning ABC sitcom, "Modern Family," and a bilingual portfolio of endorsement deals. Not only is she recognized world wide for the show, but she also has many other business ventures including a price-conscious line that goes from fashion, to home goods to shapewear and more.

Retailers love her because she appeals to the ever-growing Hispanic demographic in the U.S., which has made very lucrative profits to stores like Kmart, where she mostly promotes her line. Not only that, but her endorsement deals also speak to the same set of consumers. She's signed contracts this year with Diet Pepsi, Covergirl, Rooms To Go and thyroid medicine Synthroid, in addition to Spanish-language commercials for a laundry detergent, Comcast and State Farm insurance. Those deals have helped establish the star as one of the most in-demand spokespeople, as marketers hope to capture her high-wattage crossover appeal.

Nevertheless, this actress and business woman has faced criticism for her character Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, a sexy, passionate and sometimes (well, most of the time) scandalous Colombian woman married to an American man old enough to be her father. Some have said that she depicts the typical Latina stereotype, which has infuriated many who believe Hollywood needs to break away from the old stereotypes and give Latinos a different protagonism in the big and small screen. Sofía defended the popular character against those who slam her as a stereotype.

"Whoever said that all Latin women are the same? It's impossible to caricature millions of women from 20 countries. There are many kinds of Latinas, just like there are many types and styles of women all over the world," the actress told Efe in an interview. She admitted that there is an existing stereotype, but she added that it "goes more toward seeing us as all about our families, hard working, standing up for ourselves, ultraprotective of our kids, and that we do ourselves up more than others, because a lot of us wear perfume even to take the kids to school in the morning," she laughed.

She went on saying that she sees those characteristics as virtues and as of her character in particular, Gloria is a fusion of women that she knows, loves and respects. "Gloria has a lot of my mom and my aunts in her, especially the funniest and most temperamental of them. I love my character, it makes me proud to play her as a symbol of many Latin women, but not all of them," she said. "However, I have a lot of friends and fans who are white, Jews, African-Americans, Europeans, Australians and of all ages and colors whose relatives tell them they are identical to Gloria."

Do you think Sofía Vergara's character is a stereotype?

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