TV Actress Profile: America Ferrera of Ugly Betty

America Georgine Ferrera, a dark haired, dark eyed star, is better known this Fall as Ugly Betty, the leading character from NBC’s new sitcom also named “Ugly Betty”.

Ferrera was born on April 18, 1984 in Los Angeles, California. Ferrera’s parents emigrated to the United States from Honduras in the mid-1970’s. Later, her mom divorced her father and raised six kids (five girls, one boy) and stressed the importance of higher education. All six graduated from college. Ferrera earned her degree in International Relations from the University of California. However, she pursued acting throughout those years as well.

At the age of 8, Ferrera began her acting career at a local theater and in school plays, one of which was Hamlet. At 16, Ferrera signed with a small talent agency and began auditioning for commercials and other projects. Her first big gig came at age seventeen when she was cast as one of a handful of Latina girls transformed from a group of shiftless teens into a championship dance troupe by a schoolteacher. The movie, Gotta Kick It Up, premiered in 2002 in the Disney Channel’s movie-of-the-week.

America soon afterwards earned a 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," as well as a Young Artist Award nomination for "Best Performance for a Leading Young Actress."