- America Ferrera says it was "insane" that her "average-size body" was "groundbreaking" by Hollywood standards.
- She opened up in an Elle interview about how she was perceived by the public early in her career.
America Ferrera says it was "insane" that her "average-size body" was considered "groundbreaking" by Hollywood standards.
In a new interview with Elle, the 39-year-old actor reflected on the way she was often lauded for setting a new standard for what a Hollywood star could look like.
"What's so insane is, you go back and look, and I had a very average-size body. And so the idea that people were looking at me and saying, 'That's curvy' is crazy," Ferrera told Elle.
The "Ugly Betty" star added that she felt it was "insane" that people thought her appearance was "groundbreaking."
"I was Hollywood's version of imperfect, which seems so ridiculous," Ferrera said. "There are so many women who were called brave, just because they are people in bodies."
Ferrera, who most recently starred as Gloria in "Barbie: The Movie," added that she hopes the industry would give her — and other actors like her — a chance to be true to themselves and not "be relegated to represent just the thing that the culture wants us to represent."
"I want to be more of who I am as a person, and to get to make art that doesn't fit into any of the boxes and isn't about the dominant conversation people have wanted to have about me because I'm a woman who doesn't fit into stereotypical Hollywood," she said.
In 2007, Ferrera became the first Latina to win an Emmy for her lead role in "Ugly Betty."