10/03/2026
After making her feature film debut in 2002's Real Women Have Curves (the first Latina-directed film to be inducted into the National Film Registry), America Ferrera has continued to create a lasting legacy as an award-winning Latina actress, director, and producer, as well as an important advocate for women and migrants through her work with organizations like Time's Up and International Organization for Migration.
Born in Los Angeles to Honduran immigrant parents, Ferrera broke through Hollywood with her starring role in Ugly Betty. This performance earned her a history-making Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, making her one of the first Latinas to win in a lead actress category at all three of those ceremonies.
Throughout her career, Ferrera has been outspoken about the lack of Latina representation in front and behind the camera, pushing for more nuanced and authentic roles for Latina women. As an actress, producer, and director, she has worked consistently to ensure that the stories being told reflect the complexity of the Latina experience, not Hollywood’s flattened version of it.
"I realized how Latina I was," Ferrera has said, "and then also, at the same time, how not Latina enough I was, because I'm born and raised in Los Angeles. I speak Spanish, but I don't speak perfect Spanish, not like a native speaker."
Most recently, Ferrera lit up the screen with her performance in the blockbuster Barbie movie, where her moving monologue on womanhood became a viral sensation and helped earn her her first Oscar nomination. She continues to make strides for Latinas in the entertainment industry while supporting and sharing authentic stories that resonate with women across the country.
