America Ferrera

Biography

America Georgina Ferrera (/fəˈrɛərə/; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress, director and television producer. She has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. In 2007 and 2024, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world and in 2023, she was named in BBC's 100 Women list. Ferrera developed an interest in acting at a young age, performing in several stage productions at her school. She made her feature film debut in 2002 with the comedy-drama Real Women Have Curves, earning praise for her performance. She achieved modest success early in her career with roles in films such as the comedy-dramas Gotta Kick It Up! (2002) and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (2005). She garnered further critical acclaim and recognition for her starring role as Betty Suarez in the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty (2006–2010). For her performance, she won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, the first for a Latina woman in the category. Ferrera's other film roles include the drama The Dry Land (2010), the romantic comedy Our Family Wedding (2010), the crime drama End of Watch (2012), and the fantasy comedy Barbie (2023), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also voiced Astrid Hofferson in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise (2010–2019) and co-produced and starred in the NBC workplace comedy series Superstore (2015–2021).