America Ferrera facts for kids

Quick facts for kids America Ferrera
Ferrera in 2024
Born	America Georgina Ferrera (1984-04-18) April 18, 1984 (age 41) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Southern California (B.A.)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2002–present
Spouse(s)	Ryan Piers Williams ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	2
Awards	Full list

America Georgina Ferrera (born April 18, 1984) is an American actress, director, and television producer. She has won many awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She was also nominated for an Academy Award. In 2007 and 2024, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2023, she was on BBC's 100 Women list.

Ferrera became interested in acting when she was young. She performed in many school plays. Her first movie was the comedy-drama Real Women Have Curves in 2002. She was praised for her acting in it. She also had roles in films like Gotta Kick It Up! (2002) and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005).

She became very famous for her main role as Betty Suarez in the TV show Ugly Betty (2006–2010). For this role, she won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She was the first Latina woman to win the Emmy in that category.

Ferrera has also been in movies like The Dry Land (2010), Our Family Wedding (2010), End of Watch (2012), and Barbie (2023). Her role in Barbie earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. She also provided the voice for Astrid Hofferson in the How to Train Your Dragon movies (2010–2019). She co-produced and starred in the TV show Superstore (2015–2021).

Early Life and Education

America Ferrera was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the youngest of six children. Her parents, América Griselda Ayes and Carlos Gregorio Ferrera, came from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Ferrera has said that her family has Lenca ancestry. Her mother worked hard and always told her children that getting a good education was very important. When Ferrera was seven, her parents divorced. Her father moved back to Honduras and passed away in 2010.

Ferrera grew up in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. She went to Calabash Street Elementary School, George Ellery Hale Middle School, and El Camino Real High School. When she was seven, she had a small part in a school play of Hamlet. At age 10, she played the Artful Dodger in Oliver!.

While in high school, she took acting classes. She later went to the University of Southern California (USC) on a special scholarship. She studied both theater and international relations. She took a break from college to focus on her acting career. However, she finished her bachelor's degree in May 2013.

Career Highlights

Starting Out in Acting (2002–2005)

In July 2002, Ferrera was in her first TV movie, Gotta Kick It Up! for The Disney Channel. That same year, she made her first big movie, Real Women Have Curves. She also appeared in TV shows like Touched by an Angel.

She was in the movie Plainsong (2004). In this film, she played a pregnant teenager named Victoria Roubideaux. She is taken in by two kind brothers who live on a farm. In the 2005 movie How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, she played Bianca. Bianca is a 17-year-old who finds romance with a boy from a nearby town. In 2006, she was in the short film 3:52 and the movie Steel City.

Becoming a Star (2006–2010)

Ferrera at the 2010 Voice Awards

In 2006, Ferrera got the main role of Betty Suarez in ABC's new show Ugly Betty. This show was based on a popular Colombian TV show. In Ugly Betty, Ferrera played a girl who people thought was not very attractive. She wore braces, bushy eyebrows, and a messy wig to look like her character. Ferrera even made up the word "Bettification" to describe how she transformed into Betty.

In 2007, Ferrera won many awards for her role in Ugly Betty. She won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She was the first Latina woman to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

After her Golden Globe win, many people praised Ferrera. Time magazine put her on their 2007 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Ferrera also played Carmen in the 2005 movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She played Carmen again in the 2008 sequel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. She also voiced Astrid in the animated movie How to Train Your Dragon (2010).

After Ugly Betty and Superstore (2011–2022)

Ferrera performed on stage in London for the first time on November 7, 2011. She played Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago. In 2012, Ferrera was in a documentary called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. This series showed women and girls facing tough challenges and working to overcome them.

Ferrera in 2014

On March 16, 2015, Ferrera joined the cast of the NBC sitcom Superstore. She played Amy, a supervisor who had worked at a superstore called Cloud 9 for 10 years. Ferrera also helped produce the show. She left Superstore at the end of its fifth season to work on new projects and spend time with her family. She returned for the show's final episode in March 2021.

In February 2019, Ferrera became an executive producer and director for the Netflix show Gentefied. The show started in February 2020.

Recent Work and Barbie (2023–Present)

In February 2021, it was announced that Ferrera would direct her first full-length movie. It is called I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, based on a popular young adult book.

In 2023, Ferrera played Gloria in the movie Barbie. For this role, she received nominations for an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice Movie Awards.

In February 2024, it was announced that Ferrera would star in and produce a new Amazon Prime Video series. This series is about the artist Ana Mendieta. She is also appearing in the third season of Marvel Studios' What If...? as Ranger Morales, a new character.

Activism and Advocacy

America Ferrera has been very active in politics and social causes. During the 2008 presidential elections, she supported Hillary Clinton.

Ferrera attended the 2012 Democratic National Convention and the 2016 Democratic National Convention. At the 2016 convention, she gave a speech to the delegates.

Ferrera with Hillary Clinton in 2008

Ferrera has worked with the organization Voto Latino to encourage Latinos in the United States to vote. She also works with Eva Longoria to host She Se Puede. This is a digital platform that helps Latina women vote.

Ferrera was the first speaker at the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017. She also spoke at the Families Belong Together protest on June 30, 2018.

In October 2017, Ferrera joined the #MeToo campaign. She spoke about her own experiences to help others. In January 2018, Ferrera helped start the Time's Up legal defense fund. This fund helps people who have faced unfair treatment.

In May 2024, Ferrera became a Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Personal Life

Ferrera with Ryan Piers Williams in October 2010

Ferrera met actor, director, and writer Ryan Piers Williams in 2005. He cast her in a student film at USC. They started dating on June 27, 2005. They got engaged in June 2010 and married on June 27, 2011.

On January 1, 2018, Ferrera and Williams announced they were expecting their first child. She gave birth to a boy in May 2018. On May 4, 2020, Ferrera gave birth to a girl.

In 2018, she published a book of stories called American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures. In April 2019, Ferrera gave a TEDTalk called "My Identity is a Superpower." In July 2020, Ferrera became an investor in a new women's soccer team in Los Angeles. The team, now called Angel City FC, started playing in 2022.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film Roles

America Ferrera in 2021

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Real Women Have Curves	Ana García
2004	Darkness Minus Twelve	Luiza	Short film
2005	How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer	Blanca Garcia
	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants	Carmen Lowell
	Lords of Dogtown	Thunder Monkey
	3:52	Kate
2006	Steel City	Amy Barnes
2007	Muertas	Rebecca	Short film; also executive producer
	Towards Darkness (Hacia la oscuridad)	Luiza	Also executive producer
	Under the Same Moon	Martha
2008	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2	Carmen Lowell
	Tinker Bell	Fawn	Direct-to-video; voice role
2010	The Dry Land	Sarah	Also executive producer
	Our Family Wedding	Lucia Ramirez
	How to Train Your Dragon	Astrid Hofferson	Voice role
	Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon		Short film; voice role
2011	Book of Dragons
	Gift of the Night Fury
2012	It's a Disaster	Hedy Galili
	End of Watch	Officer Orozco
	Half the Sky	Herself	Documentary film
2014	Cesar Chavez	Helen Chávez
	X/Y	Silvia	Also producer
	How to Train Your Dragon 2	Astrid Hofferson	Voice role
	Dawn of the Dragon Racers		Short film; voice role
2016	Special Correspondents	Brigida
2019	How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World	Astrid Hofferson	Voice role
	How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming		Short film; voice role
2023	Barbie	Gloria
	Dumb Money	Jennifer Campbell
2025	The Lost Bus	Mary Ludwig	Post-production
2026	The Cat in the Hat	Gabby and Sebastian's mother	Voice role, in-production

Television Roles

Web Series

Music Video Appearances

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: America Ferrera para niños

• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of Hispanic Academy Award winners and nominees