The beautiful Sofia Vergara rib-tickled her way to superstardom! Perhaps it is the ‘exotic’ accent with a bucket-full of feistiness and the Latina attitude that had heads turning in the television industry and Hollywood alike. It helps that the former T.V. presenter and model is attractive and hilarious to the max.

Be that as it may, the Chef’s actress’s dazzling outer gleam has been a recurring topic of discussion across late-night shows, interviews, and red carpets, much to her occasional chagrin that she has put on display quite often, albeit sarcastically.

However, there’s a lot more to Vergara, 47, that goes beyond her accent and physical allure.

One glimpse into her life and it’s crystal clear that the highest-paid actress of 2019 has sailed across stormy seas and chaotic challenges, tragic upheavals, and many traumatic hindrances to reach where she is today. A rough personal life along with a hardship-laced professional life, Vergara never had it easy.

Thus, it’s all the more fitting for fans to know the complete picture of the Vergara story, hopefully painting a wholesome, holistic picture of the actress in their minds that goes beyond her Modern Family persona and inimitable accent.

Related: 20 Surprising Facts About Modern Family's Sofia Vergara

From A Body-Shamed Teen To Late Bloomer

It’s hard to grasp that the blonde bombshell was a skinny teenager in her days of yore. The pressure to have a certain body type was real back in the day, especially if you hailed from a continent that celebrates voluptuousness as a defining hallmark of feminine beauty.

As The List had reported, in a 2011 interview with Nightline’s Cynthia McFadden, Vergara told how she would be called a ‘palillo’, a Spanish word that translates to ‘toothpick.’

Related: 12 Things Sofia Vergara Does To Stay In Shape

“In my culture, a skinny girl has nothing going on,” said Vergara. “I was scared, always concerned that I was never gonna—fill up, you know, all those fabulous outfits that my mother had... I would never even wear skirts or anything because I thought I was too skinny.”

Early Marriage To Divorce To Single Motherhood

At the cusp of adulthood, Vergara, then 18, married her childhood sweetheart Joe Gonzalez in 1991 and gave birth to a son, Manolo when she was only 20. Life looked hunky-dory until divorce happened at 21, compelling her to move to Florida in 1994. The separation had left her tending to her son single-handedly—challenging to say the least.

“I was young when I divorced his (Manolo) father, so I raised him trying to set the best example and gave him the best that I could,” Vergara told People, as reported by The List. The sacrifices of single parenthood are well documented. However, looking back, Vergara refused to look at her parenting challenges as anything but rewarding.

“When people compliment me on him, on how well-mannered, how charming, funny and well-behaved he is, it makes all the sacrifices worthwhile,” she opined further.

The Murder Of A Loved One

At 17, Vergara had starred in her first-ever commercial for Pepsi after being spotted at the beach by a modeling scout. With the success of the commercial, Vergara’s dentistry goals relegated to the background and showbiz took to the forefront.

Soon after, Vergara landed in Fuera de Serie (Out of the Ordinary) with co-host Fernando Fiore, a travel show that scaled her career trajectory towards the ceiling.

Related: 16 Photos Of Vergara Before She Became Gloria Pritchett On Modern Family

But tragedy followed soon after when her elder brother Rafael Jose Vergara was killed in 1996—an unsolved murder mystery to date; that left Vergara, then 24, scarred forever. “We come from a successful family, and he knew he was a target for kidnapping,” she explained. “He always had bodyguards. Then, one day he went out alone and was shot dead. I was devastated,” Vergara had said, as reported by Fox News.

A Life-Altering Diagnosis

If that wasn’t all, thyroid cancer knocked at her door when the Barranquilla native, then 28, paid a visit to a doctor for Manolo.

Yet, she chose to fight back resolutely and refused to let her health crises turn her morose. “When you're confronted with something dramatic like the word ‘cancer’, you look at what is important to you,” she had later told Cosmopolitan.

“I was lucky because out of all the cancers, this was one you can remove and treat. It could have been a lot, lot worse. My son was very young so I did not mention the word ‘cancer’ to him, because I didn’t want to create any fear or drama. It’s amazing when you go through something like that—you appreciate what you have and try not to dwell on things you don’t have,” the effervescent actress added.

Family Crises, Frozen Embryos & More

Despite the onslaught of personal mishaps, one thing remained unstoppable—Vergara’s career moves. Not many know that the actress, in 1994, had co-founded a successful marketing and management firm Latin World Entertainment.

Much later, in 2017, she made an entry into the fashion world with her seamless-underwear venture EBY. While her simultaneous stints in television ran parallel to her entrepreneurial aspirations, the fates weren’t really by her side until later when her portrayal of Gloria Pritchett in Modern Family got people talking.

Except her problems weren’t leaving her shadow.

With 30 substance-related arrests and long-time addiction, Vergara’s brother Julio got deported to Colombia in 2011. If that wasn’t enough, Vergara was embroiled in a custody battle over her embryos with ex-fiancé Nick Loeb. Loeb had filed multiple lawsuits to get full custody of the frozen eggs that he intended to implant in someone else.

While the legal battle continues in the court, Sofia Vergara continues to live life unabashedly, inspiring women of color to never give up in the face of disruptive troubles. When the problems raged, it is Vergara's infectious positive outlook that keeps her going—a lesson for anyone going through trials and tribulations.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that there’s (certainly) more to Vergara than meets the eye. And hopefully, fans were able to paint a (somewhat?) wholesome picture of the stunner in their minds.

Next: Here Are 18 Photos Of A Young Sofia Vergara