Hi, Barbie!: America Ferrera visits Dodge for Master Class
On Feb. 20, Academy Award-nominated actress America Ferrera took the Folino Theater stage with Chapman professor Scott Feinberg to share insight into her career and the art of perseverance. Photos courtesy of Matt Harbicht
America Ferrera has been ready for her Oscar since she was five years old.
The actress and activist has been making headlines as a key part of Greta Gerwig’s smash hit “Barbie” — nominated for eight Academy Awards, including a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Ferrera. Her career has spanned over two decades, and it all started with seeing her sister in a school production of “The Wizard of Oz.”
“This was my first time watching a live play,” Ferrera said during a Feb. 20 Master Class at Chapman. “I’ll never forget sitting in the audience and watching my sister and other kids perform on the stage, and I was just seething with rage that nobody had asked me to be a flying monkey in the ‘Wizard of Oz’… What I felt was just jealousy, like ‘I want to be on that stage!’ and it was the first time I realized that that’s what I want to do.”
Ferrera is best known for her roles as Amy Sosa in “Superstore,” Astrid in the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise, Ana in “Real Women Have Curves” and Betty Suarez in “Ugly Betty.”
The master class was moderated by Scott Feinberg, a trustee professor in the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Feinberg is also the executive editor of awards for The Hollywood Reporter and the host of the “Awards Chatter” podcast.
After the revelation at her sister’s play, Ferrera went on to star in several school plays and joined theater groups like the Drama Teacher’s Association of Southern California (DTASC) and Northwestern University’s prestigious ‘Cherubs Program.’ Her first major role was in the Disney Channel movie “Gotta Kick it Up,” which she joked was her first Oscar-worthy performance. From there, she booked her major film break in “Real Women Have Curves” and “Ugly Betty,” which is currently seeing a resurgence in popularity on Netflix.
Since those early days, Ferrera has come a long way. She starred as Amy Sosa in NBC’s comedy “Superstore,” voiced Astrid in the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise and brought “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” to life. Ferrera has also gotten much experience in the realm of writing, producing and directing.
Around the time she started college as an international relations major at the University of Southern California, Ferrera started doubting whether acting was the path she should dedicate her life to. With all the injustice and issues in the world, she felt a responsibility to give back to her community. Luckily, one of her professors was able to tell her a story that changed her mind, exposing her to the impact that her breakout role had on others.
“I went to one of my beloved teachers… and I told him my epiphany of ‘I have to quit, and I have to do something better,’” Ferrera said. “And he stopped me and told me that he had a young high school mentee…and she said ‘Dr. Anders, if you really wanna know what my life is like, if you really wanna know what I’m up against, then come watch this movie with me, it’s called ‘Real Women Have Curves.’”
This interaction helped Ferrera realize that she could use her talents as an actor to bring light to global issues and make people feel seen and heard. Senior screenwriting major Jackson Spiner enjoyed hearing her reflect on her career and was particularly inspired by the aforementioned moment in her career.
“The story that really stood out to me was the story about her college professor…the message (there) of how you shouldn’t give up your dreams for the betterment of the world, (but rather) you should use your dreams to better the world. ”
Since then, Ferrera has been very invested in her work as an activist both on and offscreen. In 2016, she co-founded HARNESS, an organization intended to amplify marginalized storytellers in order to shed light on social issues and bring about change. She was, and still is, a big proponent of the #MeToo movement, helping found TIME’S UP in 2018. Ferrera also spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.
“I started to realize that there was intersection here, and sometimes that looked like getting to tell stories that highlighted issues that I really cared about,” Ferrera said.
The Honduran-American actress has been very open about the ways in which she’s struggled in Hollywood, citing instances of outright racism and sexism. These examples go so far back as her first-ever audition, during which the casting director asked her to sound “more Latina.” These setbacks caused people close to her to advise against pursuing her dreams because they didn’t want to see her crushed.
“It was just wanting to protect me and wanting me to live in reality and realize that, all things considered, there wasn’t really room for somebody like me in the industry,” Ferrera said. “I found inspiration in all kinds of people, but I couldn’t find people who looked like me.”
Flash forward 20 years, and now Ferrera has earned an Oscar nomination. Although she’s ecstatic and very grateful, Ferrera also acknowledged that this doesn’t mean all the doors are automatically going to be open for her and other actors of color. This frustrated her until she changed her perspective.
“Sometimes it felt like climbing a mountain and then taking an elevator straight to the bottom and then having to climb another mountain and another mountain. It forced me to stop waiting for permission to do my work and to say what I wanted to say and make what I wanted to make.”
Ferrera spoke about how she’s felt very introspective lately and how “weird” it’s been to reflect back on how she’s gotten to be where she is today. She urges aspiring creatives to spend more time focused on the path than the final destination and to enjoy the ride.
“At the end of the day, this moment is not the journey; the journey is the journey. It all feels like montage moments in the movie of my life. It’s like this is the opening scene of the movie, and then you cut back to five year old America seething at the flying monkeys in the ‘Wizard of Oz’.””
Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Master Classes are available to all Chapman students and alumni. Seats are available either on a first-come, first-served basis or by lottery system, depending on the Master Class. Dates, times, upcoming guests and additional information can be found in the lobby of Marion Knott Studios or on the Dodge College Instagram account.