Wonder Woman of the Week: America Ferrera

The spotlight for this week is not only an inspiring actress, but an individual with a personality for self-improvement. Starting off with role typecast for people of color, the Wonder woman this Week channeled her inner Delores del Rio to make a name for herself in an industry segregated by race and challenged the status quo of actresses of her ethnicity. Now, this week’s heroine of the screen has conquered the world of televised racism by establishing herself in roles now cast without ethnocentric stereotypes and has pushed herself to improve not only her career but her own physical strength along the way. The Wonder Woman of the Week is America Ferrera.

America Ferrera was born in Los Angeles in 1984 as the youngest of six children to immigrant parents from Honduras. After Ferrera’s parents got divorced while a young child, America ended up in her mother’s care. The early family split bore little weight on Ferrera’s shoulders though as by seven years old, she was already embarking on a life-long career in show business. After acting in a school production of Hamlet, seven year-old Ferrera decided she wanted to be an actress and over the course of her continued education, the young girl remained in theatre before landing her first role in a televised film in 2002. In the same year, Ferrera stared in an independent film called Real Women Have Curves for which she received awards for Best Actress at the Sundance Film Festival. [1]

After graduating from college, America Ferrera starred in her first television show Ugly Betty on ABC where she played the titular character. The show featured an unattractive lead character who over the course of the series highlighted the hypocrisies of a culture that overwhelmingly judged people by their appearances into a culture of acceptance. As the titular role, Ferrera received numerous awards for her acting including a Golden Globe. Ferrera and the shows writing staff helped establish a strong series of role models for young American viewers that educated a new generation about the dangers of judging people for what they look like instead of their personalities. [2]

After Ugly Betty ended, America Ferrera waited a few years before joining another show. In 2016, Ferrera landed her first role not typecast for a Hispanic actress when she landed a lead role in the NBC show Superstore. Ferrera later hailed the show’s success in its genesis via the writing staff. The show hosted a panoply of diverse characters and actors each unbound by racial stereotypes and helped herald in a new age of television free from the Modern ideals of race showcased by 20th Century television. [3]

With a renewed success in her acting career, America Ferrera pushed herself further and began training to accomplish a goal she deemed impossible. Growing up in a culture that constantly told women and ethnic minorities they would never succeed, Ferrera decided to set an impossible goal for herself and never give up until she achieved it. She decided to compete in a triathlon and immediately set to work training for what would be her most difficult trial. Not only did she complete the triathlon and achieve her goal, but Ferrera continues to compete in triathlons today alongside her work. [4]

After breaking through the symbolic wall of televised racism, actress America Ferrera not only proved her worth as an actress, but as a champion of Hispanic Civil Rights. On top of that, her roles in Ugly Betty and Superstore help establish a new ideal for the roles of Hispanic characters and actors in television and film. Beyond that, Ferrera has proven not only to herself but to her fans that challenging oneself to complete impossible tasks is ultimately the greatest path toward becomes one’s best self.

“America Ferrera Biography.” Biography.com. A&E Television; nd. Web. 5 April 2017.

Pringle, Gill. “America Ferrera interview: How Ugly Betty became more than just a pretty face.” Independent Magazine; 27 June 2014. Web. 5 April 2017.

Valdes, Pili. “America Ferrera On the Diversity of ‘Superstore’ and How Its Color-Blind Casting Is a Milestone.” Remezcla; 2016. Web. 5 April 2017.

Ferrera, America. “How a Triathlon Helped America Ferrera Defy Her Inner Critic.” The New York Times; 30 November 2016. Web. 5 April 2017.