America Ferrera, the guest on this episode of The Hollywod Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, which was recorded in front of film students at Chapman University, is a 39-year-old actress, producer, director and activist who has been a public figure — and a trailblazer — for more than 20 years.
Ferrera has starred in projects on screens big and small. She is widely known for the TV series Ugly Betty, which aired on ABC from 2006 through 2010, during which she was chosen as one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world, and for which she became the first Latina ever to win the best actress in a comedy series Emmy; and Superstore, which aired on NBC from 2015 through 2021. She has also starred in films ranging from the 2002 indie Real Women Have Curves to 2005’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its 2006 sequel to the animated How to Train Your Dragon trilogy spanning 2010 through 2019. Now, for her scene-stealing turn in Greta Gerwig’s critically-acclaimed mega-blockbuster 2023 film Barbie, she is nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar.
