Sofia Vergara spent "so much money" on speech lessons when she started out in the film industry.

Sofia Vergara

Sofia Vergara

The 'Modern Family' star says she wasted a ton of money trying to change her accent.

She said: "I spent so much money when I decided I was going to act. I'm like, 'I'm moving to Los Angeles, I'm gonna hire the best speech coach - I can't understand why Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz can't learn how to speak perfectly - I'm gonna do it!'"

And the 44-year-old actress says her son Manolo, now 24, grew increasingly frustrated with her as she kept pronouncing words wrong.

Speaking to Harry Connick Jr. on his new talk show 'Harry', she added: "He would run lines with me ... and he'd say, 'Mum, I just corrected you, like, two seconds ago and you said the word again wrong.'"

Meanwhile, Sofia - who is married to Joe Manganiello - previously revealed she is glad to have had her son when she was young.

She said: "I think it helps when he grows up and you are like friends, as well as mother and son. It's fantastic to have your kids young, because you have so much energy.

"I think my family's really funny. Colombian people need that because we come from times that were tough, and sometimes the only way to survive that was to make fun of ourselves and those situations."