America Ferrera: Latina Icon

The 2023 recipient of the SeeHer Critics’ Choice award, America Ferrera, has been making huge waves in the acting community after her powerful role in the film “Barbie”. But how has she come to be this strong Latina icon that she is today? Well, to answer that question, we need to look all the way back to the start. 

America Ferrera was born on April 18, 1984 to Hondoran immigrants in Los Angeles, California. Ferrera has always shown interest in acting, performing in many small productions put on in her school, starting at just age seven. Ferrera didn’t appear in any major productions as a child, but she still had a love for the craft, attending the University of Southern California and majoring in theatre and international relations. 

Then in 2002, she starred in her television film debut, Gotta Kick It Up! on Disney Channel and in the same year made her feature film debut in “Real Women Have Curves”. This film was the first time that audiences saw the raw talent that Ferrera possesses, especially in films where she portrays a character that she can relate to. “Real Women Have Curves” depicts the life of a young, first-generation Mexican-American girl who wants to go to college while her parents want her to live a ‘traditional’ life, staying at home and providing for her family. And while this role isn’t credited as the role that launched her career, I believe it to still be one of her most powerful and influential ones, especially for other young latinas. 

After “Real Women Have Curves”, Ferrera continued to star in smaller roles in both television and film but it wasn’t until 2005 when Ferrera starred in the adaptation of the novel, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” that Ferrera gained more attention. In the film, Ferrera once again stars as a young latina who is struggling when visiting her father for the first time since her parent’s divorce. This was personally my first time watching Ferrera and was also my first time seeing a main character in a movie who looked like me, which was hard to find as a Latina living in the United States in the early 2000s. Not only was this role powerful and influential in the lives of others as well as Ferrera, it was also one that caught the eye of casting directors in ABC, who gave her the leading role in the adaptation of a Colombian telenovela, “Ugly Betty”. 

“Ugly Betty” tells the story of a girl named Betty Suarez who is found extremely unattractive by her peers, hence the title. This role catapulted Ferrera’s career, winning her multiple different awards during the show’s four year run (2006-2010), including the ‘triple crown’ for acting in television; the Golden Globe for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Ferrera was also the first Latina woman to win the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Actress. Then in 2007, Ferrera was included in “Times” magazine in their list of 100 most influential people in the world.

But while you may just know America Ferrera for the characters she portrays on screen, there is another equally as important side of her. This is the side of activism, the side of pushing for change, using her voice for good and uplifting female voices in places that wish to push them down, especially those of Latinas. She has been very active with the organization “Voto Latino” which uses news programs to help teach Latinos how to vote, and she has been very outspoken in politics. She and Eva Longoria co-host the digital community “She Se Puede” that encourages voting within the Latina community. 

Ferrera, alongside her husband, Ryan Piers William, and actor Wilmer Valderrama, founded the non-profit organization “Harness” aimed at building community amongst activists, artists and leaders. 

In 2017, Ferrera was a keynote speaker at the Women’s March in Washington D.C. She used her voice to help not only give her own testimony of her struggles as a woman but also to help others realize that they’re not alone. She has been a very vocal member of the #MeToo movement, even sharing publicly about her own sexual abuse. In 2020, Ferrera also co-founded “Poderistas”, another non-profit that serves as a digital community created  by and for Latinas. 

2020 was also the year that Ferrera’s executive producer debut aired the Netflix show, “Gentefied”. The show follows a Mexican-American family in California struggling to save their grandfather’s taco truck. Ferrera spoke about the show saying that shows like it, by Latinos and for Latinos, were miracles. Saying that from the outside looking in, it’s hard for Latinos to get their foot in the door, let alone have their voices be heard.

Ferrera isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon either. After her powerful portrayal ofGloria in the “Barbie” movie, for which she is currently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Ferrera is set to make her directorial debut in the adaptation of the novel “I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” by Erika L. Sanchez.

America Ferrera has been a trailblazer for Latinos for over 20 years now. She has not only proved our worth and our talent by pushing her way in but also has made spaces for us to do the same. I have always felt a strong connection to Ferrera because of how safe and heard she made me feel watching her in films like “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and “Real Women Have Curves”. Her monologue in “Barbie” made me sob, and her acceptance speech for the SeeHer Critics’ Choice Award made me so happy that she is finally receiving her flowers. I just know that there are millions of Latinas out there who look up to her and hope to one day be like her — I know at least that’s what I do.

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