America Ferrera

America Ferrera
America Ferrera, 2006
Born	America Georgine Ferrera April 18, 1984 (1984-04-18) (age 25) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2001 – present

America Georgine Ferrera (born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. She plays the lead role in the television series Ugly Betty. She also starred in the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its sequel Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

Early life

Ferrera, the youngest of six children, was born in Los Angeles, California, to parents who immigrated to the United States from Honduras in the mid-1970s. Her mother worked as a housecleaning staff director for a Hilton hotel.^[1] Her mother divorced her father and raised six children – five girls, one boy – while stressing the importance of higher education.^[2] Five have graduated from college and America is working on earning her degree.^[3]

She was raised in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles. She started acting at age eight in school plays and community theater. She attended George Ellery Hale Middle School and El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills.^[4] From the time she was seven years old, when she landed a small role in a school production of Hamlet and then at age 10 a much bigger role as the Artful Dodger in Oliver!, Ferrera knew that she wanted to be a performer. She acted in school plays and community theater in Los Angeles throughout her youth, but with little help from her mother, who insisted that she pursue other interests because she was concerned whether or not her daughter would get a fair shake. Ferrera was forced to take the bus to auditions, though eventually her mother saw her daughter’s dedication and began to drive her.^[2]

In interviews Ferrera has observed the contrast between the image of the “typical Latina” experience and her own childhood, noting that growing up in a mostly Jewish, non-Latino neighborhood, she attended 52 bar mitzvahs and not a single quinceañera.^[5]

Career

In July 2002, Ferrera made her first TV movie, Gotta Kick It Up! for The Disney Channel. That same year, she made her feature film debut in the indie sleeper hit Real Women Have Curves. Ferrera followed this with roles in both television (Touched by an Angel) and film (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Lords of Dogtown). Ferrera received a 2005 Movieline Breakthrough Award. In December 2005, she appeared in the off-Broadway play Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, directed by Trip Cullman.

She landed the lead role in Ugly Betty in 2006. Ugly Betty is an adaptation of the Colombian hit telenovela Betty La Fea, in which she portrays a girl whom her peers find extremely unattractive, thus the series title. As Betty Suarez, Ferrera wears braces, has bushy eyebrows and a disheveled wig, and make-up and clothing intended to downplay her own looks, in contrast to most of the "glammed up" characters; Ferrera herself coined the term “Bettification” to describe the process of creating her onscreen persona.^[6]

For her role in Ugly Betty, Ferrera won the 2007 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical, beating out fellow nominees Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Mary-Louise Parker. As a result of the award, she was congratulated by the U.S. House of Representatives as being a role model for young Hispanics.^[7] On 28 January, 2007, Ferrera won the prestigious Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series. She also starred in and was the executive producer for the poignant short film Muertas. Her co-star, Eric Mabius, has regularly said of her, "She's only 24 and will take over the planet in a few years time!"

In 2007, Time Magazine chose Ferrera as one of the top artists and entertainers in their “Time 100: The Most Influential People In The World” issue.^[8] In July 2007, America Ferrera also won Imagen Foundation’s Creative Achievement Award.^[9]

On September 16, 2007, Ferrera won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series for her role of Betty Suarez on ABC’s Ugly Betty. In the summer of 2007, she wrapped filming on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, the sequel to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as Carmen. She also is the voice of one of the nature fairies in Tinkerbell (2008). As of May 2009, she is filming a movie in Albuquerque, New Mexico and west Texas called American Tragic or The Dry Land.

Personal life

Ferrera's long-term boyfriend since college is Ryan Piers Williams. Williams is from Texas and is an aspiring film director. In 2007, he was an assistant to director Steven Soderbergh. They first met while working on his student film at USC. Ferrera has repeatedly denied rumors that they are engaged.^[10] Rumors that they had split up in January 2008 were not denied, but Ferrera and Williams attended the NAACP Awards together in February 2008. The two have been seen together throughout Spring 2008 in California.^[11] In April 2008, they purchased a home together.^[12]

Ferrera attends the University of Southern California, where she is majoring in International Relations; as of January 2007, she lacked only one semester’s coursework to earn her degree.^[5] She spent the autumn of 2004 studying in the American University Washington Semester Program^[13] and also attended New York University as a part of its Spring in New York program in the spring of 2006 while she was performing in Dog Sees God.

In January 2008, Ferrera announced her endorsement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's run for president and joined the senator and her daughter Chelsea Clinton during several campaign events in Nevada and Pennsylvania.^[14] She has been quoted as saying that the United States should take responsibility for illegal immigration and provide more help to immigrants.^[15]

At the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards, Ferrera joked that the United States will be "the land of the free" in 2008, which was interpreted as criticism of George W. Bush.^[16]

Ferrera’s smile is insured by Aquafresh^[17] with Lloyd's of London for US$10 million/GB£5million^[18] to generate sales/donations for their Smile For Success campaign. The campaign is a program that plans to cover part of the cost for dental care for women trying to get off welfare. Aquafresh states it will donate $1 to Smiles for Success for each box of Aquafresh White Trays purchased through August 31, 2007.

Filmography

Films

Television

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• America Ferrera at the Internet Movie Database
• Broadband video interview with America Ferrera, discussing Ugly Betty.
• America Ferrera Online.