America Ferrera

• Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley


• Five siblings (America is the youngest)


• Starred in Real Women Have Curves when she was 17.


• She won a Sundance Best Actress nod for her performance in Real Women Have Curves


• Graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) in International Relations.


• Won a Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild award for her performance in Ugly Betty.

Read more about America in an Unoauthorized Biography by Grace Norwich.

With silver braces, bushy eyebrows, and crazy clothing, America Ferrera is transformed into Betty Suarez, the last person in the world that fashion magazine mogul Daniel Meade would sleep with. So when she goes for an interview at the elite Mode Magazine his father jumps at the opportunity of hiring her.

Everyone in the office is stunned when she walks in the building and decide she's unacceptable strictly by her superficial appearance. At first everyone is against the poor girl, even her womanizer boss Daniel but her integrity, sweetness and loyalty win her a few comrades.

I've been addicted to this show since its first teaser previews aired. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and it makes me think about our society's expectations as a whole. Betty gives hope even in some of our darkest moments.

America has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild award for her performance in Ugly Betty. And it's well deserved. Betty knows who she is and it is evident America does too. A curvy body can mean success.

Ugly Betty - The Complete First Season

In Real Women Have CurvesAmerica Ferrera portrays Ana, a Latina teenager, during the summer of her 18th year living in a Mexican community of East Los Angeles. Ana is beautiful; hourglass figure with melon breasts, full lips and long thick hair. She's intelligent and strong-willed but she feels like she is being held back by her family, especially her mother who constantly berates her for her physical appearance.

The story begins with Ana getting ready for her last day of high school. Her mother feigns being sick to get her to stay home but Ana doesn't fall for it and heads off to school showing immediately the strained relationship between these two women and the emphasis Ana places on education.

When she's not at work Ana starts spending time secretly with a boy from school. Of course he thinks she is beautiful. She enjoys the attention and tells him she's happy with who she is and how she looks but she doesn't really believe he can be happy with her because she's fat.

I love this little film about a strong willed girl's transition from a teenager into a woman. America Ferrera plays the part of Ana as a confident teenager who has a devilish side for egging her mother on. She still has insecurities to discover and conquer. It's easy to love her, her sister and even her mother.

Most importantly this film's success and the success of the characters are not contingent on Ana losing weight and finding true love to be happy. Real Women Have Curves is a movie not only for Latina women but, I think, for girls and women everywhere battling the views of others about how they should feel about their bodies.

Read my complete review
Purchase this film at Amazon.com.

In the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants America Ferrera portrays Carmen, one of four friends just trying to grow up sane in an insane world. Carmen and her three friends have known and loved one another for as long as they can remember. Carmen narrates this story that surrounds themes of fate, friends, family and self respect.

The girls are all sixteen and have never been apart. But this summer they are all going off in their own directions. There's Bridget a blonde take charge kind of girl (Blake Lively). Lena the shy Greek artist (Alexis Bledel). Tibby the rebel-with-a-cause film documentarian (Amber Tamblyn). And Carmen, the writer. Before they depart they go on one last shopping trip together. For a joke they try on the same pair of jeans Carmen casually pulls from a bin of disorganized clothing. The girls all different shapes and sizes all magically fit into the same pair of jeans.

They decide to buy the jeans and share them over the summer as a way of keeping in touch. In a candle celebration where their mothers met they reside over flame, paper and ink and develop the "Sisterhood Manifesto" containing rules they all must abide while wearing the pants; like, each girl gets the pants for a week, no picking your nose while wearing the pants, writing a letter about something exciting that happened while wearing the pants and sending it along with the pants to the next girl. They hold hands and chant "The pants - the sisterhood - the summer. The rest of our lives together and apart." then blow out the candles.

All the girls played their parts excellently but America Ferrera seemed to pave the way with the narrating and her dominate role. She faces similar conflicts in this role as she did in Real Women Have Curves but it isn't the focus of her story line. If you're a fan of any of these women it's well worth seeing. Have your Kleenex handy.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants is based on the novel of the same title by Ann Brashares. Ann has a whole series dedicated to the friends and the pants. The second installment to the movie series will be released to theaters August 2008.

Read my complete review
Purchase this film at Amazon.com.

America Ferrera had a wonderful official website created by her brother Carlos at http://www.americaferrera.biz but it's currently not available.