Griselda viewers ‘irked’ by distracting Sofia Vergara detail in new Netflix series

Subscribers are all pointing out the same thing about new streaming hit

Netflix viewers are highlighting the same detail after watching the new series Griselda.

The six-part miniseries is based on the real-life story of Colombian drug trafficker Griselda Blanco, who ran a cocaine cartel in 1980s Miami. Modern Family actor Sofia Vergara stars in the titular role, while The Candidate’s Alberto Guerra also features.

Griselda, which was released on Netflix on 25 January, follows the journey of Blanco, who was one of the biggest drug dealers in Colombia in the Seventies and Eighties.

After watching the series, viewers have been left marvelling at the amount of cigarettes that Vergara’s character gets through in each episode.

One viewer joked on Twitter/X that she was “smoking 53 cigarettes a minute”, while another remarked: “The cigarette budget must have been astronomical.”

Some viewers remarked that the amount of smoking in the series might be excessive, with one writing that the incessant cigarette smoking was “irking” them.

“I just want to know how many packs of cigarettes they went through for series,” added another viewer.

Typically, actors use herbal prop cigarettes in films that don’t contain tobacco or nicotine – but still have the same look and smoke effect as a normal cigarette.

Viewers have been wondering about how many cigarettes were used in the making of ‘Griselda’ (ELIZABETH MORRIS/NETFLIX)

Ahead of the film’s release, Vergara said in an interview that the (fake) drug and cigarette use in the film was something she had to practice.

She told the host of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that the director of Griselda, Andrés Baiz, helped her prepare for the role and “taught me how to smoke, how to do cocaine”.

Vergara continued: “It was amazing because I was 51 and I didn’t even know how to light a cigarette. I had never done cocaine. So, it was amazing. It was a great experience.”

When the audience roared with laughter, she clarified: “Everything was fake, but the acting was real”.

Sofia Vergara as Griselda Blanco (COURTESY OF NETFLIX)

Griselda is made by the team behind Narcos – writer Doug Miro, producer Eric Newman and director Andrés Baiz – the hit 2015 series that told Pablo Escobar’s story.

At the beginning of Griselda, a quote from Pablo Escobar appears on screen: “The only man I was ever afraid of was a woman named Griselda Blanco.”

At the time of writing, Griselda is the highest rated film or TV show Vergara has ever appeared in, having earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88 per cent. Vergara’s previous successes include the culinary drama Chef, which has a rating of 87 per cent.

Griselda is available for streaming on Netflix.

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