We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how actors aren’t really smoking cigarettes during on-screen smoking scenes. Instead, they’re puffing on “prop cigarettes” ― herbal, nicotine-free versions of ciggies.
But what about when actors have to pretend to indulge in something a little harder?
Well, recently Sofia Vergara ― who stars in Netflix’s Griselda, a drama about a Columbian drug lord ― shared with AP Entertainment how actors fake taking a little booger sugar.
What do actors snort in cocaine scenes?
“Pretend cocaine? I learned how to snort it with Andrés Baiz, the director [of Griselda],” Sofia revealed.
“He was very helpful for me because I didn’t know how to smoke either. So he would come to my house and, you know, I wanted to make it real,” she added.
“I wanted to be not thinking about it while I was acting so I also wanted to do it before I would get to the set.”
But to avoid going overboard from “method” to “illegal,” they didn’t use the real thing. Instead, they opted for ― wait for it ― powdered milk.
What? That sounds disgusting
You know what? I think so too ― and it doesn’t seem like Sofia enjoyed it, either.
“Actually, it doesn’t feel good,” she said of the substance.
In fact, she put a lot of effort into perfecting the scene so she wouldn’t have to face ― or at least nose ― the dried dairy more than she needed to.
“It’s not fun to do. I wanted to do it only one time, I wanted to do this scene really good so I didn’t have to do it 100 times,” she said.
As a lactose intolerant girl, this has taught me to just say no to coke-based acting roles...