Bio
America Ferrera is an American actress best known for her roles in the films Real Women Have Curves and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and for her award-winning role as Betty Suarez on the comedy-drama television series Ugly Betty, from 2006-2010.
Ferrera, the youngest of six siblings, was born in Los Angeles, California to Honduran parents and was raised by her mother in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.
She started acting at age eight in school plays and community theatre and attended high school at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills.
Ferrera made her screen acting debut in a starring role in the Patricia Cardoso film Real Women Have Curves, in 2002. Her performance earned her a Sundance Jury Award for Best Actress, an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance and a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance for a Leading Young Actress.
Currently Ferrera stars as the title character in the dramedy Ugly Betty. Her portrayal of Betty has earned her a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance for a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
In 2007 Ferrera completed work on the bilingual independent film Towards Darkness, which she also executive-produced. Directed by Antonio Negret, the film follows the last 90 minutes in a kidnapped hostage's life, and the frustration his family, a man in charge of delivering the ransom money, and a special ops team all feel as they rush to save him.
Ferrera plays a young woman who has a complicated relationship with the young kidnapping victim. The feature is based on Negret's short, Darkness Minus 12, which Ferrera also starred in.
Also in 2007 Ferrera completed work in a Spanish speaking role in the independent film Boy, Immigrant. Directed by Patricia Riggen, the story chronicles a nine-year-old Mexican boy's journey to the United States to find his migrant mother after the grandmother who is taking care of him passes away.
The film also stars Mexican actors Kate del Castillo and Eugenio Derbez.
At the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Ferrera appeared in the Brian Jun film, Steel City, which premiered in Dramatic Competition. She also appeared off-Broadway in Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, directed by Trip Cullman.
In 2005 Ferrera starred in the hit film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, directed by Ken Kwapis and based on the bestselling novel by Ann Brashares, for which she was nominated for an ALMA Award.
She also appeared in Catherine Hardwicke's Lords of Dogtown and in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival entry, How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, written and directed by Georgina Riedel and co-starring Elizabeth Peña.
In recognition of her work, Ferrera received a 2005 Movieline Breakthrough Award.
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.
Ferrera married Ryan Piers Williams on June 27, 2011.
America Ferrera as Betty in Ugly Betty