America Ferrera | The Actor's Side

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00:00 (camera shutter clicks)
00:03 - So first Oscar nomination, I saw, I was at the lunch
00:06 and they showed all the reaction shots of everybody.
00:09 The cameras were on them.
00:10 You were like in bed asleep or something?
00:13 - I was not asleep, I was in bed.
00:15 (laughing)
00:16 - And there was a camera on you.
00:18 - My husband was in bed.
00:20 But that was actually, he forced me to recreate it.
00:23 - Oh no.
00:24 - Because I was actually home alone
00:27 when I got the nomination.
00:28 And I just got in bed and I, I mean,
00:30 I always imagined that I would like scream and cry and yell,
00:34 but there was no one to scream with.
00:35 So I just kind of like went, ah!
00:38 And I was like, speech, truly speechless
00:40 for one of the very few times in my life.
00:42 (upbeat music)
00:45 - It is literally impossible to be a woman.
00:51 You are so beautiful and so smart.
00:56 And it kills me that you don't think you're good enough.
01:00 Like we have to always be extraordinary,
01:04 but somehow we're always doing it wrong.
01:09 You have to be thin, but not too thin.
01:14 And you can never say you want to be thin.
01:16 You have to say you want to be healthy,
01:18 but also you have to be thin.
01:22 You have to have money, but you can't ask for money
01:25 because that's crass.
01:26 You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean.
01:30 You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas.
01:33 You're supposed to love being a mother,
01:35 but don't talk about your kids all the damn time.
01:37 You have to be a career woman,
01:39 but also always be looking out for other people.
01:42 You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane.
01:46 But if you point that out, you're accused of complaining.
01:49 You're supposed to stay pretty for men,
01:50 but not so pretty that you tempt them too much
01:53 or that you threaten other women
01:54 because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.
01:56 But always stand out and always be grateful.
02:00 But never forget that the system is rigged,
02:02 so find a way to acknowledge that,
02:04 but also always be grateful.
02:06 You have to never get old, never be rude,
02:09 never show off, never be selfish, never fall down,
02:13 never fail, never show fear, never get out of line.
02:17 It's too hard, it's too contradictory,
02:20 and nobody gives you a medal or says, "Thank you."
02:22 And it turns out, in fact, that not only
02:24 are you doing everything wrong,
02:25 but also everything is your fault.
02:28 - Welcome to the actor's side today.
02:31 Well, she's an Emmy, Golden Globe,
02:33 SAG winner, many other awards too.
02:36 All of those were for "Ugly Betty,"
02:38 which was kind of a landmark
02:40 television comedy series, certainly.
02:43 And now she has her first Academy Award nomination
02:46 as Gloria, and who can forget her, in "Barbie."
02:49 Please welcome America Ferreira.
02:51 Hi.
02:52 - Hi.
02:53 - Thank you for joining us.
02:54 And I have to say, I just saw the promo
02:59 for the Academy Awards.
03:02 And that's as good as the movie.
03:05 It was so fun, Jimmy Kimmel showed it.
03:07 And you're in it, and it was hilarious.
03:10 If you haven't seen it, just go on YouTube.
03:13 But it's everywhere.
03:15 But how did that come about?
03:16 'Cause it's a whole riff on "Barbie."
03:18 - Yeah, I think that Jimmy's team had the idea,
03:22 and I think it's what Jimmy wanted to do.
03:24 And they asked us if we'd do it,
03:27 and I was thrilled to do it.
03:28 I thought it was hilarious to repurpose Gloria's monologue,
03:32 to give Jimmy some courage to go in.
03:36 Although I didn't give him that much courage.
03:37 I kind of discouraged him.
03:38 - Yeah, well, you just replaced women
03:41 with an Oscar host, basically, in it,
03:43 which was hilarious.
03:44 It's so funny.
03:45 And Ryan Gosling was in it.
03:47 You gotta see it anyway.
03:48 It's great.
03:48 It's fun.
03:49 Look at all this stuff that's happening.
03:51 When you're in the biggest movie of the year,
03:52 how does that change your life?
03:54 - Well, I mean, when the movie came out,
03:57 we went on strike, and I'd been doing a global press tour,
04:00 so there was nothing else we could do.
04:02 And so I went on a trip with my family.
04:05 We went to Costa Rica,
04:07 and we were high up in the mountains somewhere.
04:09 And someone found me in the mountains and said,
04:12 "I just saw 'Barbie'."
04:13 And I thought, that's different.
04:14 Like being in rural Costa Rica,
04:17 and somehow, "Barbie" has reached everywhere.
04:22 And it was amazing to see,
04:25 to really take in how it was landing on people
04:30 and how it was making a cultural imprint
04:34 and all of the conversations that it was creating.
04:37 We couldn't really engage in the conversation,
04:40 but it was interesting to kind of sit back
04:43 and see what arose from it.
04:46 - Well, it's amazing.
04:47 I went to the premiere,
04:49 and I went to the party afterwards,
04:51 which took about 25 minutes to walk from my seat
04:55 into that hall that was at the shrine.
04:57 And it was just jam-packed.
05:00 I'm like, "We're never gonna get into this party."
05:02 So I wander right through the door,
05:03 and who's the first person I run into
05:06 but America Ferrera right there?
05:08 - I remember it well.
05:09 - And I just go, well, I was just like going like,
05:12 oh my God, you're just fantastic.
05:14 Really?
05:15 I mean, that was my instant reaction,
05:17 as I'm sure everybody's.
05:18 But I didn't know what to expect.
05:20 This movie had not been seen,
05:22 and certainly wasn't prepared
05:24 for your incredible monologue there
05:26 that just drew such huge applause there.
05:29 And everywhere, every theater,
05:30 people break out and applaud after that scene.
05:33 - I've gotten many a text from friends and family
05:37 reporting how the monologue landed in the theater.
05:40 They were watching the movie, and it's been amazing.
05:43 And just like, you never know.
05:46 My experience of reading the script for the first time
05:49 was the way you described it.
05:50 I didn't know what to expect.
05:52 It's a Barbie movie.
05:53 But I was curious because it was Greta,
05:57 and because it was Margot,
05:58 two deeply talented and intelligent women.
06:02 And so I just went for the ride
06:05 and had that experience of, wow, this is not,
06:09 I don't know what to expect, but this was not it.
06:12 And to kind of discover that Greta had written in this,
06:18 human, grown, adult woman,
06:22 and that her frustrations and yearning
06:27 for more freedom and expression in her life
06:32 was a driving force of the whole thing.
06:35 It just felt like a gift.
06:36 It all felt like this incredible surprise
06:41 of I just never expected this.
06:43 - I think it fit right in with so many things
06:45 you've done in your career,
06:46 because you've been in landmark movies and television,
06:51 I mean, that have a point beyond just entertaining.
06:55 And I find that going through all of your credits,
06:58 that that's a key theme I come upon,
07:01 that you really like doing something
07:03 that's got a little meat on the bones, right?
07:05 - Yeah, definitely.
07:07 Yeah, I think that that's kind of very true
07:11 to who I've always been.
07:13 Like when I was five, I announced to my mother
07:16 that I wanted to be an actress,
07:17 but also a human rights lawyer.
07:19 But I kind of like, and then I went to college
07:22 to study international relations
07:24 at the same time that my career was beginning
07:27 and I had done "Real Women Have Curves"
07:29 and people are like, well, why are you doing that?
07:31 Is that your backup?
07:32 And it's like, no, it's not my backup.
07:33 It's just another part of me that I love.
07:36 And I've noticed the trend too of,
07:40 that is what enlivens me is to get to tell a story
07:44 that is yes, entertaining and fun to watch
07:47 and it's just good storytelling,
07:49 but also that's bringing through a new conversation
07:54 for the culture or instigating conversation.
07:59 - There's so many things when you read about you,
08:03 you always see the words first and only,
08:06 and it's constant there.
08:09 It's frustrating in a lot of ways,
08:11 but you are the only Latina nominated
08:16 as an actress this year
08:17 and the only one in actually all the acting categories.
08:21 And that's a flag you're carrying here,
08:24 but it doesn't have to be.
08:25 - No, it doesn't have to be.
08:27 And when I was young, it felt like a badge of honor.
08:31 Like you're the first to do this.
08:32 Like you broke some sort of record.
08:35 - And now the only Latina to win an Emmy in your category.
08:38 - Still, yeah.
08:39 When it's been, I don't even,
08:41 I can't even do the math right now,
08:42 but it's been a minute.
08:44 And like I said, I think that we're sort of taught
08:49 to wear that as some sort of badge of honor
08:52 or like you accomplished something wonderful,
08:55 which of course it is an accomplishment
08:57 and one to be celebrated,
08:59 but then the hope is that it changes, right?
09:03 And it is frustrating that after my 20 plus career,
09:08 there's no real joy in being the first and only.
09:13 You begin to think like,
09:16 this isn't for lack of talent in our community.
09:20 It's about lack of opportunity.
09:22 And that's why it's so matters and is so special
09:26 when filmmaker storytellers choose
09:29 to create different opportunities.
09:33 And I think that's, what's amazing
09:34 about this whole award season,
09:36 this entire class of nominees.
09:38 So many people are our first time nominee.
09:41 - Absolutely a lot, yeah.
09:42 - And most of them are the people of color, right?
09:45 And what we see is that like,
09:47 we have to be the first and breaking ground
09:52 because it just hasn't changed enough.
09:54 But when those opportunities exist,
09:58 something new and fresh gets to come through.
10:00 And I think that we're all seeing
10:02 that it all gets better and we all win
10:04 when more people get to take part.
10:06 - Yeah, well, talk about the casting here in this.
10:09 This was certainly not written as a Latina
10:12 or a specific kind of ethnicity.
10:14 This is just a human being.
10:17 And you were cast by Greta.
10:19 How did that work?
10:20 - Yeah, well, Greta sent it to me
10:22 and said that she and Noah had written the role
10:26 with me and my voice in their head.
10:30 And I don't know, I guess you'd have to confirm that
10:32 with Greta if like she was Latina
10:34 because I was Latina or she came to me.
10:36 I don't know.
10:37 But what matters is that the role did not exist
10:42 to check a box.
10:43 The role was not, Gloria didn't exist
10:45 to be a Latina in "Barbieland."
10:47 She existed to represent humanity.
10:50 And how wonderful.
10:52 - She's the one, you know.
10:53 - And how wonderful to be invited in like full humanity,
10:58 which is a little bit the struggle and frustration
11:05 as a woman of color in the industry
11:08 to kind of for so long to feel like there's not room
11:12 for your full humanity and the opportunities that exist.
11:15 That's hard, that's hard.
11:17 - And you see her not just in the monologue,
11:20 but throughout the movie, you know,
11:22 she's rich, I think, as a character.
11:24 - I think so too, yeah.
11:25 I mean, like the car chase scene
11:29 and when she first meets Barbie
11:30 and they're kind of sussing out like, how did this happen?
11:33 That was one of my favorite scenes.
11:34 I feel it is so rich.
11:36 There's so much there and the relationship
11:38 with her daughter and the daughter stuff,
11:41 kind of in the whole movie with Ruth and Barbie
11:44 and all of the mothering that's happening
11:46 is really, I think, really landed with audiences as well.
11:50 - Yeah, and when you were doing that monologue,
11:52 did you have an input yourself into it?
11:55 'Cause you deliver it so flawlessly.
11:59 I feel like you're just making it up as you're doing it,
12:02 which is great acting.
12:03 - Well, thank you.
12:04 (laughing)
12:05 The monologue is largely like as written
12:07 as Greta and Noah wrote it.
12:09 I mean, we talked about it for months
12:11 and one of the first things Greta said to me was like,
12:14 what's missing?
12:15 Like, what would you say?
12:17 Is there something you'd wanna say in this that's not there
12:20 or what would you add?
12:21 And I sent her a bunch of things
12:23 and she like zoomed in on one part of something
12:26 like the like, always be grateful line.
12:28 And she's like, yes, I love that.
12:30 And she put it in the monologue and then she expanded on it.
12:32 And we really, for months, we had talked about it.
12:35 And then kind of just before, and maybe even on the day,
12:39 I can't remember now, like we did tweaking of words
12:42 and it was like, oh, maybe we don't need that word.
12:45 And adding a word and like clarifying a couple of things.
12:48 But at the end of the day, there was no improv.
12:51 I said the words that she wrote
12:53 and that we kind of tweaked together.
12:56 And what was a gift about it?
12:58 I mean, I had spent months relating it to me
13:01 and my experience and to Greta.
13:04 We did a lot of talking about how we each individually
13:08 related to it.
13:09 We also like, she would send me poetry
13:12 and like movies to watch and we would share news articles.
13:16 And we would just, we spent so much time thinking about it
13:20 and kind of having our eye out for everything
13:23 in the culture that was related to it.
13:26 So by the time we did it, months and months and months later,
13:30 I was bursting at the seams.
13:32 I was ready to go.
13:33 And it just landed on me the first time I read it as truth.
13:39 And I kind of felt like, okay, my job here
13:42 is to let it be true, which it is,
13:45 and to not get in the way and to let these words be heard
13:49 because they do reveal a truth.
13:52 - They really do.
13:53 And you were never into Barbies when you grew up,
13:57 like so many girls were and some guys were, Kim.
14:01 (laughing)
14:02 - No, and so I think some guys played with Barbies.
14:04 I've met a lot of guys who played with Barbies.
14:06 - No doubt, no doubt.
14:07 I have a few Barbies in my garage
14:09 that I've gotten at different events.
14:10 I have like the Audrey Hepburn Barbie.
14:12 (laughing)
14:15 - That's beautiful.
14:16 And now I am a Barbie, which is crazy.
14:18 - You are right.
14:19 You have your own.
14:20 - Well, Gloria is a Barbie.
14:21 - Yeah, well, yeah.
14:22 But isn't it like the first Honduran Barbie?
14:25 - The first Honduran Barbie to ever exist,
14:27 which is pretty cool.
14:28 - It's history making.
14:28 - But I didn't play with Barbies growing up,
14:31 but for me, the way in, to me, Barbie's a stand-in.
14:36 She's a stand-in for what connects Gloria
14:41 to the feeling that anything is possible.
14:46 You know, when we're children,
14:47 we escape into these worlds where anything is real.
14:50 And for me, that was performing and acting and singing.
14:53 And for some people, that's numbers and painting.
14:55 And for some people, that's Barbies.
14:57 But that to me was the connection
15:02 and what Barbie represented to Gloria
15:04 and why even if you hated Barbie, loved Barbie,
15:08 didn't have any feelings about Barbie,
15:10 that really what she represented in this film
15:12 was that expression of anything is possible.
15:16 - Right.
15:17 - And Gloria really needed to connect to that feeling
15:20 at this point in her life.
15:22 And I thought it was just such a gift
15:25 to get to see a woman character hold both the reality
15:30 and the disappointment and the frustrations
15:34 and what it feels like to be a woman a bit stuck
15:38 and be connected to a childlike wonder.
15:43 And to see that held by women
15:46 because we do hold all of those things.
15:48 And that what she's searching for
15:50 is the permission to be all of those things.
15:52 And just, it was just so rich
15:56 and I had such an amazing time doing it.
15:58 - And this kind of movie, meaning it's about women,
16:02 (laughs)
16:03 and sort of I'm sure they say,
16:05 oh, let's bring in the female audience.
16:07 Little did they know it brought in everybody,
16:10 is hard to make in Hollywood.
16:12 And female directors still to a degree
16:16 are based on the success of whatever their last film was.
16:20 Well, that represents all female directors.
16:21 That was the case for a while.
16:23 You're now going to set out and direct too, I guess.
16:26 - I am, yeah.
16:27 - And that's exciting.
16:28 - Very exciting.
16:28 (laughs)
16:29 I started directing when I was on "Superstore"
16:31 as an executive producer.
16:33 - Yeah, you were a producer on that too.
16:34 - I was and acting in it.
16:37 And actually Eva Longoria said to me,
16:41 "This is your chance.
16:43 "Like you're on a show, you know the show,
16:46 "there's a structure, people want you to succeed.
16:48 "Like if you're lucky enough to be on a TV show
16:52 "and you wanna do it, ask to direct
16:54 "because that's your best shot."
16:57 - Right.
16:57 - And so I took that to heart.
16:59 I was very nervous and I did want to direct
17:02 and I finally found the courage to ask
17:04 and Justin Spitzer, our showrunner,
17:07 like didn't even hesitate.
17:09 He was like, "Yes."
17:10 And then I directed an episode every season.
17:13 And after that, directed episode "The Pentafide"
17:16 which was another show I executive produced for Netflix.
17:19 And I just like fell in love with it.
17:22 - That is like Eva, as she was here
17:24 and talking about her directing career in television.
17:27 - Yeah.
17:27 - Being able to do those series
17:29 and then finally this year got to do "Superstore."
17:31 - "Flaming Hot."
17:32 - "Superstore," "Flaming Hot."
17:33 - Yeah, yeah.
17:34 - I mean, that's moving up the ladder there.
17:37 So what's the movie you're gonna do?
17:38 - I'm directing an adaptation
17:40 of a beloved young adult novel
17:42 called "I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter."
17:44 - Right.
17:45 - And it's a beautiful coming of age story
17:48 of a young woman who's struggling with mental health
17:52 but also struggling with grief and the loss of her sister
17:56 and trying to survive her childhood,
17:59 trying to survive her adolescence.
18:01 And you know, it's not the same story
18:04 as "Real Women Have Curves"
18:05 but there's some similarities
18:07 that it's a lead 17 year old Mexican American girl.
18:10 And there's so much that feels like full circle
18:13 about the moment, but it's a very different story.
18:15 And I think an exciting and new version
18:18 of a young Latina portrayal that we haven't seen before.
18:22 So I'm really excited about that.
18:23 - That's really exciting.
18:24 When you mentioned "Real Women Have Curves,"
18:26 first of all, I went to the Academy Museum
18:29 when it opened. - I know.
18:31 - And there in one of the things,
18:33 you know, amidst all this film--
18:34 - It was next to Citizen Kane.
18:35 - Isn't it?
18:36 - It was Citizen Kane.
18:37 - I'm just going like--
18:38 - And then it was "Real Women Have Curves."
18:39 - Whoa. - I know.
18:40 (laughing)
18:41 - That was impressive.
18:42 - I know.
18:43 I went to go see it and I was so caught off guard
18:48 and I just started crying.
18:50 - Did you?
18:52 - I mean, yes.
18:53 And I was so moved of its inclusion
18:57 because for a lot of people,
18:58 "Real Women Have Curves" is their Citizen Kane.
19:01 Like it's the first time that they've seen their story told.
19:05 And I mean, I've spent 20 years hearing that
19:07 from people who said, "Real Women changed my life.
19:10 "Real Women made me feel like I could go to college,
19:12 "like I could be a writer, like I could do,
19:14 "you know, follow my dream."
19:16 And it means so much to people.
19:18 And so, you know, to include those audiences,
19:21 those voices who feel so seen by that,
19:23 by including this film was so moving.
19:26 It was so beautiful to be there.
19:28 - That was amazing.
19:29 And then it's the first film directed
19:32 by a Latina female director
19:34 to ever be put into the National Film Registry
19:37 in the Library of Congress.
19:38 - That's right.
19:39 - And that's major too.
19:40 I mean, I think when it came out, it had its followers,
19:43 but this is one of those cases of a movie
19:47 that just develops years and years and years down the line
19:50 and people keep discovering it.
19:52 - And I think that that's true for so much in this day and age.
19:56 It's like, you may not be a blockbuster head out the gate,
19:59 but there are ways for new audiences
20:02 to access things that really resonate.
20:04 I mean, we did six seasons of "Superstore"
20:07 and we had a relatively humble following there.
20:11 And "Superstore" went on Netflix
20:13 and found some massive audience over the years.
20:16 "Ugly Betty," which we finished in 2010,
20:20 is on streaming.
20:21 People who weren't alive when we finished "Ugly Betty"
20:24 are finding it and it's resonating with them.
20:27 And I just think that's so beautiful
20:31 that you can make something that means something to you,
20:35 put it in the world, and kind of over time,
20:38 see how it ripples and affects many generations of people
20:43 who get to see the art, see the work.
20:45 - There's no question.
20:46 And with the Netflix thing,
20:48 that happened with "Breaking Bad,"
20:49 that happened with "Suits" most recently,
20:52 being number one there.
20:53 These shows that are on commercial television or whatever
20:56 suddenly wind up on, in a different service,
20:59 a different way, a whole new audience.
21:01 And if you haven't seen it, it's brand new.
21:03 So people come up to you and say,
21:05 when did you shoot that, last week?
21:08 - Exactly, I know, I know.
21:11 - It's crazy.
21:11 Your mother worked at Hilton Hotels as a housekeeper.
21:15 I was thinking of that yesterday.
21:16 I saw you there and you're at the Beverly Hilton.
21:19 It's a Hilton Hotel.
21:20 And you're up there with, you know,
21:23 accepting an Academy Award nomination
21:25 with all of those people.
21:27 And think about your mother, you know,
21:30 working there and look what's happened to her daughter.
21:33 - I think that's part of what is so magical
21:36 about the Academy Awards.
21:37 And like the Olympics or like anything
21:40 where you get to watch kind of
21:43 the fairy tale ending of a story, right?
21:46 You know what you're watching
21:47 is somebody's dream come true.
21:50 And you know that there's so much had to happen
21:53 for that moment.
21:55 And I think that's part of why people all around the world
21:59 who have nothing to do with movies
22:00 and maybe have not even watched half the movies,
22:02 but people still tune in to see, you know,
22:05 a moment that has been years, decades,
22:08 a lifetime in the making and in the dreaming.
22:11 And so it's a special thing.
22:12 And I still kind of, I'm still trying to,
22:17 process it.
22:18 - Before we go, I cannot let this go by without saying,
22:22 I love "How to Train Your Dragon" so much.
22:25 Love that series.
22:26 - I know, me too.
22:27 - Yeah, and that was a big deal for you too, Astrid.
22:29 - Oh my gosh, I spent 12 years voicing Astrid
22:33 and working with Dean Zabala and Jay Berchel.
22:36 And 12 years of my life voicing this character.
22:41 And that felt like, I mean,
22:44 that is for so many young people,
22:48 like very, you know, a big part of their childhood.
22:51 Even the music from the movie,
22:54 like people have really fallen in love
22:57 with parts of that series.
22:58 And I couldn't believe--
23:00 - Oh, the score is amazing.
23:01 John Powell? - The score.
23:02 - Oh my God.
23:03 - I couldn't believe that I got to be a part of it.
23:07 Like when we started it,
23:09 I had no idea what "Dragons" was gonna be.
23:11 I was a part of it 'cause Leslie Feldman,
23:14 who was the head of casting at DreamWorks,
23:17 was a dear friend and she brought me in
23:20 and I thought, this is fun.
23:21 And you know, a feature movie.
23:24 I had no idea I was stepping into like
23:26 one of the most iconic animated series.
23:30 And those movies make me weak.
23:32 And now they're making the live action versions of it.
23:34 - So I heard.
23:35 - I never was holding out to get to play live action Astrid.
23:39 I knew that was never gonna happen.
23:40 So I'm very pleased with that.
23:42 - Maybe there's a cameo in there somewhere.
23:44 - Maybe, who knows?
23:45 Yeah.
23:46 (laughing)
23:46 - Well, whatever you do, it's always looking forward to it.
23:49 - Thank you.
23:50 - America Ferreira, best of luck at the Oscars
23:53 and thank you for joining us on "The Actors Show."
23:55 - Thank you so much.
23:56 (upbeat music)
23:58 (upbeat music)