America Ferrera.Photo:Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
America Ferrerajust helped powerBarbieinto abillion-dollar success story, but growing up, she says, there were “no successful actresses like me.”
“I was given the assignment to assimilate, excel and succeed. That meant leaving my heritage behind and trying to fit in,” Ferrera said of growing up in L.A. during her keynote speech.
The actress — who spoke before an energized crowd that includedAnnette BeningandLupita Nyong’o,roughly 12 hours afterthe historic SAG-AFTRA strike ended— also talked frankly of her youth exploring her talent in public school theater departments. “Despite my best efforts, I would remain ‘other’ to those around me — too Latina to be fully American, and too whitewashed to be accepted as Latina,” she recalled.
America Ferrera in Chanel.Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
“After all, there were no successful actresses like me. I was brown, short, overweight, and poor. I had no connections to the business and no money to pay for expensive acting programs. I had no community huddled around me, supporting my dreams. I, alone, held the vision for my life, and the belief that maybe I could do something I had never seen anyone like me do before,” said Ferrera.
By the time she became more successful in projects likeReal Women Have Curves, The Sisterhood of the Traveling PantsandUgly Betty, “I was used to standing on my own,” she explained, pointing to the loneliness and isolation of being “the only woman, or the only person of color in an important meeting or on set.”
Lupita Nyong’o.Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
“We must be resolute in our commitment to demanding opportunity, access, equal pay, investment and possibility for every woman," she said. “What I know today is that none of us needs to do it alone.”
Also at the luncheon wereEva Longoria,Kristen Stewartand her screenwriter fiance Dylan Meyer,Rita Wilson,Riley Keough,Leslie Mannand daughterMaude Apatow,Lily-Rose Depp, Greta Lee, H.E.R., director Gina Prince-Bythewood,Ashley Park,Sadie Sinkand Academy president Janet Yang.
With news of the strike ending arriving the night prior, stars were still reeling. “My biggest reaction’s like, “Let’s f–g go!” an elated Longoria tells PEOPLE. “Everybody wants to be back on the set, wants to get back to work.”
And at the airy November luncheon,Barbie’ssummersuccess story was still top of mind for many.
Lily-Rose Depp.Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
“I think the entire industry needs to stop using the model of what they’ve seen before to calculate success,Barbiebeing a perfect example,” director Patty Jenkins, who directedMonsterwith Charlize Theron and Gal Gadot’s twoWonder Womanfilms tells PEOPLE.
“Again and again these movies seem so shocking and surprising when they succeed, but they shouldn’t be. People are craving diverse voices,” she adds.
source: people.com
