AMERICA FERRERA
(Crystal) is perhaps best known for her fearless portrayal of “Betty Suarez” on ABC’s hit comedy Ugly Betty. This breakthrough role has earned Ferrera an Emmy®, Golden Globe®, and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as ALMA and Imagen Awards.
Ferrera recently wrapped production on Diego Luna’s biography, Chavez, which centers on the civil-rights activist and labor organizer, Cesar Chavez. Portraying his wife, “Helen Chavez,” Ferrera stars opposite Michael Peña and alongside an impressive cast including Rosario Dawson and Gabriel Mann.
Ferrera can currently be seen in David Ayer’s crime thriller, End of Watch, also starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Michael Peña, and Cody Horn. The film is set to release September 21st. Also this fall, Ferrera is set to appear in Todd Berger’s comedy It’s a Disaster opposite Julia Stiles and David Cross. The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June.
In addition to her fall film lineup, Ferrera participated in Half The Sky, the four-hour television series for PBS. The series, which was shot in 10 under-privileged countries, delivered audiences with an intimate and dramatic portrayal of the women and young girls in the world that live under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. Ferrera joined reporter Nicholas Kristof, and actresses Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union and Olivia Wilde, in an inspiring program that captivated the struggling and empowering stories of females fighting for change. The series premiered on October 1st and 2nd.
In tandem with her work on the series, Ferrera is currently serving as ambassador on a campaign called, “America4America” joining Voto Latino, the leading non-partisan national youth empowerment organization. The campaign aims to reach people across the country by using online content to engage in conversations with the actress and discusses issues related to voter id laws, education, and immigration. Ferrera will be the face of the initiative for the upcoming 2012 election.
The actress recently starred as “Roxie Hart” in the West End production of the hit musical Chicago for an eight week run that started last November. Ferrera was also recently seen in a recurring role on the second season of the CBS hit series The Good Wife, in which she played an illegal, nanny and object of Eli’s (Alan Cumming) affection.
Prior to this, Ferrera was seen in Ryan Piers Williams’ The Dry Land opposite Melissa Leo and Jason Ritter. Ferrera also executive produced the film, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won Best International Film at the 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival. The film was released by Maya Entertainment.
Other feature film work includes Fox Searchlights’ Our Family Wedding, Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon and Warner Bros.’ The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, the sequel to the 2005 original. She also starred in the bilingual independent film Towards Darkness, which she executive produced, and Fox Searchlight’s independent film Under The Same Moon. Additional credits include the Brian Jun film Steel City, Catherine Hardwicke’s Lords of Dogtown, and the 2005 Sundance Film Festival entry How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer. America also appeared off-Broadway in Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, directed by Trip Cullman.
Ferrera first secured her place as one of Hollywood’s most vibrant young talents with her starring role in the Patricia Cardoso film Real Women Have Curves. 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.
(Ferrera photo by Yu Tsai.)