TED2019
America Ferrera: My identity is a superpower -- not an obstacle
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Hollywood needs to stop resisting what the world actually looks like, says actor, director and activist America Ferrera. Tracing the contours of her career, she calls for more authentic representation of different cultures in media -- and a shift in how we tell our stories. "Presence creates possibility," she says. "Who we see thriving in the world teaches us how to see ourselves, how to think about our own value, how to dream about our futures."
America Ferrera - Actor, director, producer, activist
America Ferrera believes stories have the power to make people better. She uses her voice to speak up for more humanity and justice in the world. Full bio
America Ferrera believes stories have the power to make people better. She uses her voice to speak up for more humanity and justice in the world. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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On the red tiles in my family's den
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I would dance and sing
to the made-for-TV movie "Gypsy,"
to the made-for-TV movie "Gypsy,"
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starring Bette Midler.
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(Singing) "I had a dream.
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A wonderful dream, papa."
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I would sing it with the urgency
and the burning desire of a nine-year-old
and the burning desire of a nine-year-old
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who did, in fact, have a dream.
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My dream was to be an actress.
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And it's true that I never saw
anyone who looked like me
anyone who looked like me
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in television or in films,
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and sure, my family and friends
and teachers all constantly warned me
and teachers all constantly warned me
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that people like me
didn't make it in Hollywood.
didn't make it in Hollywood.
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But I was an American.
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I had been taught to believe
that anyone could achieve anything,
that anyone could achieve anything,
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regardless of the color of their skin,
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the fact that my parents
immigrated from Honduras,
immigrated from Honduras,
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the fact that I had no money.
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I didn't need my dream to be easy,
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I just needed it to be possible.
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And when I was 15,
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I got my first professional audition.
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It was a commercial
for cable subscriptions
for cable subscriptions
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or bail bonds, I don't really remember.
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(Laughter)
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What I do remember
is that the casting director asked me,
is that the casting director asked me,
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"Could you do that again,
but just this time, sound more Latina."
but just this time, sound more Latina."
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"Um, OK.
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So you want me
to do it in Spanish?" I asked.
to do it in Spanish?" I asked.
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"No, no, do it in English,
just sound Latina."
just sound Latina."
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"Well, I am a Latina,
so isn't this what a Latina sounds like?"
so isn't this what a Latina sounds like?"
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There was a long and awkward silence,
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and then finally,
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"OK, sweetie, never mind,
thank you for coming in, bye!"
thank you for coming in, bye!"
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It took me most of the car ride home
to realize that by "sound more Latina"
to realize that by "sound more Latina"
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she was asking me
to speak in broken English.
to speak in broken English.
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And I couldn't figure out why the fact
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that I was an actual,
real-life, authentic Latina
real-life, authentic Latina
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didn't really seem to matter.
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Anyway, I didn't get the job.
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I didn't get a lot of the jobs
people were willing to see me for:
people were willing to see me for:
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the gang-banger's girlfriend,
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the sassy shoplifter,
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pregnant chola number two.
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(Laughter)
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These were the kinds of roles
that existed for someone like me.
that existed for someone like me.
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Someone they looked at
and saw as too brown, too fat,
and saw as too brown, too fat,
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too poor, too unsophisticated.
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These roles were stereotypes
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and couldn't have been further
from my own reality
from my own reality
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or from the roles I dreamt of playing.
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I wanted to play people
who were complex and multidimensional,
who were complex and multidimensional,
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people who existed in the center
of their own lives.
of their own lives.
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Not cardboard cutouts that stood
in the background of someone else's.
in the background of someone else's.
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But when I dared to say that
to my manager --
to my manager --
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that's the person I pay
to help me find opportunity --
to help me find opportunity --
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his response was,
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"Someone has to tell that girl
she has unrealistic expectations."
she has unrealistic expectations."
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And he wasn't wrong.
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I mean, I fired him, but he wasn't wrong.
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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Because whenever I did try to get a role
that wasn't a poorly written stereotype,
that wasn't a poorly written stereotype,
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I would hear,
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"We're not looking
to cast this role diversely."
to cast this role diversely."
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Or, "We love her,
but she's too specifically ethnic."
but she's too specifically ethnic."
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Or, "Unfortunately, we already have
one Latino in this movie."
one Latino in this movie."
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I kept receiving the same message
again and again and again.
again and again and again.
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That my identity was an obstacle
I had to overcome.
I had to overcome.
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And so I thought,
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"Come at me, obstacle.
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I'm an American. My name is America.
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I trained my whole life for this,
I'll just follow the playbook,
I'll just follow the playbook,
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I'll work harder."
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And so I did, I worked my hardest
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to overcome all the things
that people said were wrong with me.
that people said were wrong with me.
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I stayed out of the sun
so that my skin wouldn't get too brown,
so that my skin wouldn't get too brown,
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I straightened my curls into submission.
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I constantly tried to lose weight,
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I bought fancier
and more expensive clothes.
and more expensive clothes.
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All so that when people looked at me,
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they wouldn't see a too fat,
too brown, too poor Latina.
too brown, too poor Latina.
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They would see what I was capable of.
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And maybe they would give me a chance.
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And in an ironic twist of fate,
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when I finally did get a role
that would make all my dreams come true,
that would make all my dreams come true,
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it was a role that required me
to be exactly who I was.
to be exactly who I was.
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Ana in "Real Women Have Curves"
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was a brown, poor, fat Latina.
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I had never seen anyone
like her, anyone like me,
like her, anyone like me,
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existing in the center
of her own life story.
of her own life story.
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I traveled throughout the US
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and to multiple countries with this film
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where people, regardless of their age,
ethnicity, body type,
ethnicity, body type,
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saw themselves in Ana.
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A 17-year-old chubby Mexican American girl
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struggling against cultural norms
to fulfill her unlikely dream.
to fulfill her unlikely dream.
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In spite of what
I had been told my whole life,
I had been told my whole life,
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I saw firsthand that people actually did
want to see stories about people like me.
want to see stories about people like me.
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And that my unrealistic expectations
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to see myself authentically
represented in the culture
represented in the culture
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were other people’s expectations, too.
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"Real Women Have Curves"
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was a critical, cultural
and financial success.
and financial success.
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"Great," I thought, "We did it!
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We proved our stories have value.
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Things are going to change now."
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But I watched as very little happened.
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There was no watershed.
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No one in the industry
was rushing to tell more stories
was rushing to tell more stories
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about the audience that was hungry
and willing to pay to see them.
and willing to pay to see them.
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Four years later,
when I got to play Ugly Betty,
when I got to play Ugly Betty,
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I saw the same phenomenon play out.
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"Ugly Betty" premiered in the US
to 16 million viewers
to 16 million viewers
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and was nominated
for 11 Emmys in its first year.
for 11 Emmys in its first year.
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(Applause)
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But in spite of "Ugly Betty's" success,
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there would not be another television show
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led by a Latina actress
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on American television for eight years.
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It's been 12 years
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since I became the first and only Latina
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to ever win an Emmy in a lead category.
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That is not a point of pride.
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That is a point of deep frustration.
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Not because awards prove our worth,
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but because who we see
thriving in the world
thriving in the world
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teaches us how to see ourselves,
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how to think about our own value,
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how to dream about our futures.
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And anytime I begin to doubt that,
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I remember that there was a little girl,
living in the Swat Valley of Pakistan.
living in the Swat Valley of Pakistan.
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And somehow, she got
her hands on some DVDs
her hands on some DVDs
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of an American television show
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in which she saw her own dream
of becoming a writer reflected.
of becoming a writer reflected.
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In her autobiography, Malala wrote,
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"I had become interested in journalism
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after seeing how my own words
could make a difference
could make a difference
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and also from watching
the "Ugly Betty" DVDs
the "Ugly Betty" DVDs
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about life at an American magazine."
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(Applause)
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For 17 years of my career,
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I have witnessed the power our voices have
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when they can access
presence in the culture.
presence in the culture.
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I've seen it.
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I've lived it, we've all seen it.
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In entertainment, in politics,
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in business, in social change.
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We cannot deny it --
presence creates possibility.
presence creates possibility.
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But for the last 17 years,
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I've also heard the same excuses
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for why some of us can access
presence in the culture
presence in the culture
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and some of us can't.
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Our stories don't have an audience,
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our experiences won't resonate
in the mainstream,
in the mainstream,
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our voices are too big a financial risk.
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Just a few years ago, my agent called
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to explain to me why
I wasn't getting a role in a movie.
I wasn't getting a role in a movie.
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He said, "They loved you
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and they really, really do want
to cast diversely,
to cast diversely,
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but the movie isn't financeable
until they cast the white role first."
until they cast the white role first."
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He delivered the message
with a broken heart
with a broken heart
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and with a tone that communicated,
"I understand how messed up this is."
"I understand how messed up this is."
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But nonetheless, just like
hundreds of times before,
hundreds of times before,
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I felt the tears roll down my face.
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And the pang of rejection rise up in me
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and then the voice of shame scolding me,
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"You are a grown woman,
stop crying over a job."
stop crying over a job."
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I went through this process for years
of accepting the failure as my own
of accepting the failure as my own
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and then feeling deep shame
that I couldn't overcome the obstacles.
that I couldn't overcome the obstacles.
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But this time, I heard a new voice.
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A voice that said, "I'm tired.
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I've had enough."
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A voice that understood
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my tears and my pain
were not about losing a job.
were not about losing a job.
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They were about what
was actually being said about me.
was actually being said about me.
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What had been said about me my whole life
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by executives and producers
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and directors and writers
and agents and managers
and agents and managers
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and teachers and friends and family.
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That I was a person of less value.
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I thought sunscreen
and straightening irons
and straightening irons
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would bring about change
in this deeply entrenched value system.
in this deeply entrenched value system.
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But what I realized in that moment
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was that I was never actually asking
the system to change.
the system to change.
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I was asking it to let me in,
and those aren't the same thing.
and those aren't the same thing.
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I couldn't change
what a system believed about me,
what a system believed about me,
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while I believed what
the system believed about me.
the system believed about me.
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And I did.
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I, like everyone around me,
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believed that it wasn't possible
for me to exist in my dream as I was.
for me to exist in my dream as I was.
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And I went about
trying to make myself invisible.
trying to make myself invisible.
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What this revealed to me
was that it is possible
was that it is possible
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to be the person
who genuinely wants to see change
who genuinely wants to see change
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while also being the person whose actions
keep things the way they are.
keep things the way they are.
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And what it's led me to believe
is that change isn't going to come
is that change isn't going to come
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by identifying the good guys
and the bad guys.
and the bad guys.
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That conversation
lets us all off the hook.
lets us all off the hook.
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Because most of us
are neither one of those.
are neither one of those.
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Change will come
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when each of us has the courage
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to question our own fundamental
values and beliefs.
values and beliefs.
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And then see to it that our actions
lead to our best intentions.
lead to our best intentions.
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I am just one of millions of people
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who have been told
that in order to fulfill my dreams,
that in order to fulfill my dreams,
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in order to contribute
my talents to the world
my talents to the world
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I have to resist the truth of who I am.
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I for one, am ready to stop resisting
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and to start existing
as my full and authentic self.
as my full and authentic self.
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If I could go back and say anything
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to that nine-year-old,
dancing in the den, dreaming her dreams,
dancing in the den, dreaming her dreams,
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I would say,
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my identity is not my obstacle.
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My identity is my superpower.
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Because the truth is,
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I am what the world looks like.
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You are what the world looks like.
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Collectively, we are
what the world actually looks like.
what the world actually looks like.
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And in order for our systems
to reflect that,
to reflect that,
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they don't have to create a new reality.
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They just have to stop
resisting the one we already live in.
resisting the one we already live in.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
America Ferrera - Actor, director, producer, activistAmerica Ferrera believes stories have the power to make people better. She uses her voice to speak up for more humanity and justice in the world.
Why you should listen
America Ferrera is an award-winning actress and producer known for her breakthrough role as Betty Suarez on ABC's hit comedy Ugly Betty. For her performance, Ferrera was recognized with a Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as ALMA and Imagen Awards. She currently produces and stars in the NBC workplace comedy Superstore, which is in its fourth season.
Ferrera recently released her first book, American Like Me, landing on the New York Times best-seller list. The book is a vibrant and varied collection of first-person accounts from prominent figures about the experience of growing up between cultures in America. A longtime activist, Ferrera co-founded HARNESS with her husband, Ryan Piers Williams, and Wilmer Valderrama in 2016. HARNESS is a community of artists, influencers and grassroots leaders that provides education and engagement opportunities to amplify the work of organizations and individuals working on behalf of social justice. In July 2016, Ferrera spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on behalf of women's rights and immigration in support of Hillary Clinton. She was a chair for the Artists' Committee for the Women's March on Washington and spoke at the historic Women's March the day after the 2017 Presidential Inauguration. In 2006, Ferrera founded her own television and film production company, Take Fountain.
America Ferrera | Speaker | TED.com