"I really had no interest in being an actress, but I wanted to see what happened. I got the part and I liked it and said, 'Maybe I can do this. I'll stay here six months, one year, see what happens.' Twelve years later, I haven't left." (Dress by Amelia Toro.)

"I wanted to be a household name to be able to do all these other things, and I have totally achieved it. I've been working for 22 years in the Latin market mainly, but with "Modern Family" I was able to really do everything."

"I was worried, because I thought nobody was going to like a hot-looking Latin woman married to the older-guy... But after we shot the pilot, I realized that I had chemistry with Ed. I think everybody completely believed that Gloria and Jay belonged together."

On her character Gloria being considered a stereotype: "It might be a stereotype, but I think that character is fantastic. She's colorful, she's honest, she's out there, she cares about people. She's loud, but I am loud. She's crazy, but I am crazy. It's not a problem.

On her first Golden Globe nomination: "It didn't even occur to me that I was going to be nominated for anything. The day my publicist called me and said, 'You've been nominated for a Golden Globe,' I was like, 'What are you talking about?'"

"I don't know what I'm doing, definitely. I knew I could be funny, because I was always making my friends laugh. But I didn't think I was going to be in a super-successful sitcom and being funny."

"... the character has a lot of similarities with my real life. I am an immigrant in this country, I have an accent, I'm Colombian, I have a child from a previous marriage. So it was created around me."

"My brain, it's always thinking of how I could make a business out of it... I want to make money off my image and do what I can do because I have a son, I have a family, and I want to have money. I love the business part of my career."

On competing against co-star Julie Bowen: "What I care is that the show keeps going on and is successful no matter who wins... I think she is going to win again."

"I try to be myself, because there's a lot of people that are watching. Whatever my ideas and opinions are, I try not to do that."