Model Sofia Vergara’s move from Colombia made her a millionaire

So far so good for Colombian beauty Sofia Vergara.

Jon Favreau’s wife, Joya Tillem, is a beautiful and intelligent woman.

However, the self-deprecating actor, writer and director forgot to mention this when talking about casting the roles for his new comedy film, Chef.

With Jon playing the lead role, he had an idea who he wanted to cast as his ex-wife from the start but clearly felt it needed a leap of faith from the audience.

“I think you can get away with a certain amount because the guy’s a good chef and chef’s right now are kind of like rock stars,” Jon says sheepishly.

The “out-of-his-league” woman in question is Sofia Vergara and Mrs Favreau shouldn’t feel insulted.

Two weeks short of her 42nd birthday, the Colombian-born model is still topping polls of the world’s sexiest woman.

Sofia jumped at the chance to play the romantic interest alongside the Iron Man and Elf director who is making his first return to leading man duties since Swingers in 1996.

“I said yes before I even read the script because I wanted to work with Jon for a long time,” she says. “Finding out he was writing, directing and acting was very exciting.”

The Modern Family star, whose role as Gloria has made her the highest-paid actress on US television raking in a reported $175,000 (£106,000) an episode, felt an instant kinship with her character, Inez.

“She’s a mother and I am too so I totally understand where all her fear and all her worry comes from,” explains Sofia, who has a 21-year-old son, Manolo, from a short-lived marriage to her childhood sweetheart.

“Inez gives Carl the little push he needs to get out of the hole he was in. Their dynamic is pretty much about two adults who are trying to make everything better for their son.”

Sofia moved to America over two decades ago to appear on a show on Hispanic channel Univision.

She already had a career as a TV host in Colombia and the thought that she may one day call America her home and become the star of one of its most popular television series was a long way from her thoughts.

“When I moved to the States I wasn’t planning to be an actress,” recalls the four-time Golden Globe nominated star.

“When I started acting I was doing it for fun and if it didn’t work out I would have gone back to the Latin market. I never knew you could make money or get awards for being funny so for me it’s like an adventure every day.

“Now I’m trying to take advantage of my 15 minutes of fame because in America you never know when your TV show is going to end. You can be number one and suddenly you’re cancelled.

“I’ve been able to do other things, advertising campaigns and bringing out my own clothing line, which is something I really wanted to do.”

Chef tells the story of a once-celebrated cook who enters into an ill-advised war of words on Twitter with a restaurant critic (Oliver Platt) after a caustic review.

He’s relieved of his duties by interfering restaurant owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) and embarks on a cross-country culinary odyssey with his best friend and young son.

He rediscovers his love for cooking, selling local delicacies from the side of a food truck, re-engaging with his estranged family in the process.

Sofia took to the web last month to announce her split from her fiance, American food impresario Nick Loeb. The pair had enjoyed a combustible relationship with numerous public fall-outs but Sofia put the break-up down to work commitments.

Her looks are only part of her attraction as she’s famous for her distinctive South American accent, which is often played for laughs on Modern Family.

“It wasn’t really my choice to keep it,” she smiles. “I have a very bad ear for languages and it got worse and worse.

“My son was watching a film of me a few years ago, it was from a holiday I took in London with my ex-husband 20 years ago. I was talking to the camera and he said `What happened to your accent? It was so much better then.’

“It’s a bit of a mystery but I think you get lazier as you get older. Also, when I first started going to audition in the United States it was deemed funnier when I said things in a thicker accent. A lot of the comedy of my character in Modern Family comes from the accent.”

Chef is at cinemas now.