Ugly Betty star ready for the big-screen as hit fashion show comes to an end
Nov 14 2010 Exclusive by Steve Hendry,
Sunday Mail THE glitzy world of fashion has made America Ferrera a star.
Starring as Ugly Betty Suarez, the dowdy secretary who uses her brains to negotiate the bitching and backbiting of the fashionistas at glossy magazine Mode, has hurled her into the big-time.
The fourth and final series of the hit Channel 4 show ends next month but America is ready for new challenges.
The 26-year-old, who finished filming on the show in April, said: "It's scary and exciting but my memories of my experience on Betty will forever be beautiful.
"I got so much out of those four years of my life, not just as an actor but in friendships and family.
"I grew up. I learned a lot and I got to work in a really great job. I was a Close couple: America is making a film with her fianc› Ryan part of something which meant a lot to other people.
"All I have are good memories. That's the reason why it's easy in some ways and hard in others to walk away."
The actress was brought up in LA by her mum - who emigrated to the US from Honduras and is also called America - after her dad walked out.
She was the youngest of six and was encouraged to work hard at school to get the A grades which took her to the University of Southern California, where she studied international relations.
With money tight, she also worked at weekends as a waitress from the age of 15. She got up at 4am to start the job, where she developed an attitude to work which has remained with her through early roles in films such as Real Women Have Curves and The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants.
But Ugly Betty was the biggest break of her career.
America said: "Every day I was grateful - we all were. The cast would look at each other every now and then and say, 'Look at how lucky we are'.
"There was always that air of knowing how fortunate we were and knowing it could be gone in a second.
"I showed up every day with the intention to take the most out of the experience, this character, this story and these people and just relish that. I lived it."
Ugly Betty is a world away from her new movie, The Dry Land.
America plays the wife of a US soldier - Ryan O'Nan - who returns home to Texas from Iraq suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
As he battles his demons, he trashes their home in a drunken rage and almost chokes her to death in the middle of a nightmare.
It is tough, gritty stuff but America takes full responsibility for the dramatic change of direction. She acted as an executive producer on the film, which was written and directed by her fianc›, Ryan Piers Williams.
She said: "I signed on to be an executive producer on the project before the first draft was written.
"I didn't plan on acting in it and then, as the project went on and we developed the script and found Ryan (O'Nan), we started talking about me.
"I was kind of drawn to the character anyway but we had to get the lead guy and see what made sense."
America threw herself into it and prepared for the role by talking to women who have lived with the effects of PTSD.
She said: "Ryan had submitted the script to the US Army for their support, which made it much easier for us to contact people.
"I spoke to women whose husbands had come home from the war, some with PTSD, some without, some with symptoms which weren't diagnosed.
"Those conversations were the central point of my research.
"Ptsd or mental wounds are very isolating for the surrounding family and friends, not just when they come back but when they are away as well. Spouses are just left to carry on, take care of the children, provide income, go about life with your partner in what you think is constant danger.
"What kind of extra stress and toll does that put on a spouse and how invisible do they feel when they are sacrificing just as much and working just as hard?
"But that's not really what anyone thinks about. It's always how is the one who is away - are they safe, are they okay, when are they coming back?
"When they do come home, it's be sensitive, walk on egg shells and give them time. Yet, as a spouse - as anyone who has been in a relationship will know - you are meant to be in it together."
She is obviously proud of The Dry Land which, with Ryan, she brought to the Edinburgh International Film Festival earlier this year, where it picked up the Best International Feature Award.
Her trip to the Scottish capital saw her showing off her engagement ring in public for the first time and she enjoyed her stay in the city, which lived up to all her expectations. She had been briefed, after all, by Scots actress Ashley Jensen, her friend and co-star in Ugly Betty.
She said: "Flying in, I could not have imagined how gorgeous, green and breathtaking it would be, especially as we were coming from the desert of Iraq.
"I had heard about it, of course. Ashley is one of the funniest, sweetest and most talented people. We don't get to see each other all the time because she lives in LA and I live in New York but I consider her a dear friend."
Next up America will once again be adding her vocal talents to animated sequel How To Train Your Dragon 2 and is in talks to make her London theatre debut next year.
America does not like to plan too far ahead but, whatever she does, it will be noted. In 2007 she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy, the first Latina to win in that category.
And her high-profile success in Ugly Betty has made her a role model.
She said: "If you put yourself where people can see you and see what you are doing, you immediately become a symbol or role model, whether you asked for it or not. It can be daunting but it doesn't have to be.
"It can just be beautiful and nice that your hard work and successes can be an inspiration for someone else to think, 'I come from a small town, from a big family with no money, and nobody thinks that's a reality for me - but if she can do it, I can'. I think that's great."
