America Ferrera
 | This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. (August 2008) |
America Ferrera | |
|---|---|
 America Ferrera | |
| Born | America Georgine Ferrera |
| Occupation | actress |
| Years active | 2001 - Present |
America Georgine Ferrera (born April 18, 1984) is a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and Emmy Award-winning American actress. Ferrera is most known as the star of the ABC hit television show Ugly Betty and her role in films such as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Biography
Ferrera, the youngest of six siblings, was born in Los Angeles, California, to parents who emigrated to the United States from Honduras in the mid-1970s. Her mother is a hotel executive in charge of housecleaning staff. Later, her mom divorced her father and raised six kids – five girls, one boy – while stressing the importance of higher education.[1] Five have graduated from college and America is working on earning her degree.[2]
She was raised by her mother 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. From the time she was seven years old, when she landed a small role in a school production of Hamlet, 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 mom, 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 mom saw her daughter’s dedication and began to drive her.[3]
In interviews Ferrera has noted the contrast between the image of the “typical Latina” experience and her own childhood. Observing that growing up in a mostly Jewish, non-Latino neighborhood, she attended 52 bar mitzvahs and not a single quinceañera.[4] She was raised speaking English and is now learning to speak Spanish.
Ferrera’s famous smile is insured by Aquafresh[5] Toothpase through Lloyd's of London for US$10 million/GB£5million [6] to generate sales/donations for their Smile For Success campaign. The campaign is a program plans to cover part of the cost for dental care for women trying to get off welfare. Aquafresh claims they will donate $1 to Smiles for Success for each box of Aquafresh White Trays that was purchased thru August 31, 2007.
Personal
Ferrera is the youngest of six siblings which include one brother and four sisters. Her longterm 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.[7] Rumors that they had split up in January 2008 were not[citation needed] denied but Ferrera and Williams attended the NAACP Awards together in February 2008. The two have been seen together throughout Spring 2008 out and about in California.[8] In April 2008 they purchased a home together.[9] They have two dogs — Buddy the Golden Retriever and a lady Great Dane.
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.[4] She spent the autumn of 2004 studying in the American University Washington Semester Program[10] and also attended New York University as a part of their 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.[11] She has been quoted as saying that the United States should take responsibility for illegal immigration and provide more help to immigrants.[12]
At the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards, Ferrera said that America won't be free until 2008 when George W. Bush leaves office.[13] The Bush administration ends in 2009.
Career
In July 2002, she 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. It’s in contrast to the rest of the show, where everybody else is glammed up”, adding that it was Ferrera herself who coined the term “Bettification” to describe the process.[14]
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.[15] 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 executive produced the poignant short film Muertas.
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.[16] In July 2007, America Ferrera also won Imagen Foundation’s Creative Achievement Award.[17] 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 sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
Filmography
Film
- 2002: Real Women Have Curves as Ana Garcia
- 2002: Gotta Kick It Up! as Yolanda
- 2004: $5.15/Hr.
- 2004: Darkness Plus Twelve as Luiza
- 2004: Plainsong as Victoria Roubideaux
- 2005: How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer
- 2005: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as Carmen Lowell
- 2005: Lords of Dogtown as Thunder Monkey
- 2006: Steel City as Amy Barnes
- 2006: Planet H2O: “Water World” as the host[18]
- 2007: Muertas as Rebecca
- 2007: La Misma Luna as Marta
- 2007: Hacia la oscuridad as Luiza
- 2008: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2[19]
- 2008: Tinker Bell as Fawn (voice)
- 2010: How to Train Your Dragon as Astrid (voice)
Television
- 2002: Touched by an Angel: “The Word” as Charlee
- 2004: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as April Lopez
- 2006-present: Ugly Betty as Betty Suarez
Producer
- 2007: Hacia la oscuridad (post-production) executive producer as Luiza
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series | Won |
| 2008 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical | Nominated |
| 2007 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical | Won |
| 2007 | Satellite Awards | Best Actress in a Series - Comedy or Musical | Won |
| 2008 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2008 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2007 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Comedy Series | Won |
| 2007 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2007 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2008 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2007 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Won |
| 2007 | 1st Annual Wave Awards, Academy of Wireless Arts, Video and Entertainment | 2007 Favorite Clipped (from television) Comedy Artist | Won |
| 2008 | Image Awards | Favorite Actress in a Comedy Series | Won |
| 2007 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV: Breakout | Won |
| 2007 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress-Comedy | Nominated |
| 2008 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress-Comedy | TBA |
| 2007 | Imagen Foundation Awards | Best Television Actress | Won |
| 2007 | Imagen Foundation Awards | Outstanding Achievement Award | Won |
| 2007 | Time Magazine | 100 Most Influential People | Won |
References
- ^ http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1807809245/bio America Ferrara's family background
- ^ http://www.biggeststars.com/a/america-ferrera-biography.html
- ^ http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1807809245/bio America Ferrara's family background
- ^ a b Miller, Gerri. "America Ferrera: Why she's America's sweetheart!", Estylo magazine, February/March 2007, pp. 35-37
- ^ http://www.frivolouspeople.com/2007/05/america-ferraras-smile-now-worth-10m.html
- ^ http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/Features_from_Lloyds/Lloyds_insures_Ugly_Bettys_smile.htm
- ^ "Ugly Betty star slams marriage reports". The West Australian newspaper. 2007-02-18. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/03/21/america-ferrera-boyfriend-ryan-piers-williams/
- ^ http://realestalker.blogspot.com/2008/04/america-ferrera-bargain-betty.html
- ^ AU Alumni Newsletter Retrieved on 2007-06-19
- ^ Katharine Q. Seelye, The Caucus: Clamoring to Vote, The New York Times, March 23, 2008.
- ^ FOXNews.com - Pop Tarts: - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment
- ^ [1] Retrieved on 2008-06-06
- ^ It's a 'Bettification' project, USA Today, October 4, 2006
- ^ IMDB Press Release, January 19, 2007
- ^ White, Kate. "The Time 100: America Ferrera". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ America Ferrera wins an Imagen
- ^ "Planet H20 | Thirteen/WNET". Thirteen.org. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
- ^ "2nd 'Pants' for Ferrera, grudgingly". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
External links
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Broadband video interview with America Ferrera, discussing Ugly Betty.
- America Ferrera at the Maxim Hot 100