(Image Credit: Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images)

Actress Sofia Vergara used her hosting debut on "Saturday Night Live" last Saturday to poke fun at herself, kicking off the show with a monologue about her Colombian roots, coming to the United States, and her voluptuous body.

"When I showed up here, everyone was so nice," Vergara said in mock innocence, with a beaming smile. "Men bought me drinks and offered me a place to sleep. This country welcomed me with open arms and pulled down pants."

All the while, the 39-year-old actress was wearing in a skin-tight, strapless, black leather zip-up top, black leather pencil skirt, and hot pink pumps.

It might be hard to believe now, but Vergara told "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden in a November interview that her childhood nickname was "palillo" - Spanish for "toothpick."

"In my culture, a skinny girl has nothing going on," Vergara said at the time. "So I was very 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."

Now Vergara plays the beautiful, loud-mouth Gloria Delgado-Prichett on the hit ABC comedy "Modern Family" - a character loosely based on her life.

"Growing up in Colombia, it was every girl's dream to grow up and marry Al Bundy," Vergara told the "SNL" crowd Saturday night, referring to actor Ed O'Neill, who plays Gloria's husband Jay Prichett on the show.

She added that her thick Colombian accent could make any English word sound "sexy," as she rolled her "r's" to say "gonorrhea," "Rick Santorum" and "New Jersey."

"So tonight, forgive me if you cannot understand what I say and I will forgive you for staring at my chest the whole night," Vergara said to thunderous applause.

At another point during her monologue, Vergara took a moment to get a bit sentimental and gave a shout out to her adult son, Manolo who was sitting in the audience. He replied with a wave and, "Hi, Mom."

"I know what you're all thinking. How can she have a son who is that old? But he's only five," Vergara told the crowd.

Vergara told McFadden in November she got married at age 18 and had Manolo, her only child, the following year. She said having her son is what has kept her grounded.

"I was always more concerned about being a good mother and working to make money, not just, you know, to be famous and crazy," she said.