10 Best Movies and TV Shows

America Ferrera has been acting professionally since 2002. The first few roles of her career were largely coming-of-age stories that reflected her own age at the time, but as she has matured as an actor, her roles have also diversified. Although she is best known for several television projects, she actually made her big screen debut in 2002.

With more than 50 professional projects on her acting resume, Ferrera has also worked behind the camera. She was also a producer on several short films and series, including the sitcom Superstore. She also tried her hand at directing, stepping into the director’s shoes for four episodes of Superstore. I’m not your perfect Mexican daughter will be her feature directorial debut. While she is building her resume behind the camera, these are her best acting projects.

10

We Crashed (2022)

An AppleTV+ series inspired by a podcast and real events

The series was inspired by the podcast WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of We WorkWhich in turn tells the real events of the rise and fall of the company WeWork. Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto are the stars of the miniseries as the founders of the company, but America Ferrera appeared in several episodes as Elisha Kennedy.

While Ferrera’s Kennedy is a fictional character, she was inspired by Julie Rice, the founder of SoulCycle. Rice was the chief brand officer of WeWork in 2017. Most of Ferrera’s time in the series is opposite Hathaway as their two characters form a friendship. They have excellent chemistry, playing off each other’s performances very well. Their rapport in the show is enough to make any fans hope they get together in another project down the line.

9

Gotta Kick It Up (2002)

One of her earliest roles was as a DCOM

The late 90s and early 2000s were a golden age for the Disney Channel. This time is when most of the iconic Disney Channel series and original movies premiered. Ferrera appeared in one of the projects, a DCOM called Gotta kick it up.

The movie centers on a Latina dance team of middle school girls called the Dancing Barrios, who all face their own personal problems while trying to keep the dance team going. Ferrera stars as Yolanda, one of the members of the ensemble who is often the comedic relief of the group. She’s not one of the spotlight characters that has the most difficulty, but she’s still a compelling character in the story.

Even this early in her career, it was clear that Ferrera had a charm and spark on screen that meant she would be acting for a long time.

8

Dumb Money (2023)

Inspired by the real Reddit Wall Street saga

Dumb money is inspired by the real events that happened when one man went viral with his investing advice. Keith Gill (played by Paul Dano) invests his entire savings in GameStop and goes viral by posting videos online with his investment advice. His viral advice prompts a huge change in who is buying stock and how they invest their money.

While Pete Davidson and Seth Rogan also star in the movie, America Ferrera stands out in her role. She plays a nurse named Jenny who is suffering under the weight of incredible debt. When she follows Keith’s advice, her life changes very quickly. Because of the nature of the movie, Ferrera has to toe the line between humor and drama in the role, much like she has in so many of her more iconic parts.

7

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer (2005)

A Mexican-American coming from ancient history

Quite a few of Ferrera’s earliest projects feature her in coming-of-age stories as a Mexican-American teenager trying to find her place in her family. One of the best of them is How the Garcia Girls spent their summer.

Here, it’s not just Ferrera’s Blanca that’s going through changes though. The story centers on three generations of Mexican-American women in a small town in Arizona. Blanca is the youngest of the family and experiencing first love with the new boy in town. While she does this, her mother and grandmother form different relationships with a gardener.

The movie is a great showcase for romantic love, but also familial love and the relationships between the women at the center of the story. Much of Blanca’s story is about how growing up coincides with first love, but the other women around her are in very different stages of their lives, and each of these life stages influences how they approach love and relationships.

6

The Sisters of the Traveling Pants (2005)

Four girls share a pair of magical jeans

Inspired by the novel of the same name, The sister of the traveling pants Four young women find a pair of jeans in a thrift store that magically seems to fit all of them. The friends decide to share the pants, sending the clothes to one another over the summer they will be separated, with notes or drawings on the jeans to indicate their experiences while wearing them. The four friends are made up of Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively and America Ferrera.

Each of their journeys during the summer is very different. Ferrera, like Carmen, is sent to stay with her father and her step-family during the summer holidays, and she struggles to fit into their lifestyle. Not only are they rich, but they are all white, and she feels completely out of place with them. Ferrera was nominated for an ALMA Award for her role.

Although the movie has been dismissed by some as fluff for younger audiences, it offers four very different views on what it means to be a teenage girl and how growing up can be different for each of them.

5

How to Train Your Dragon Franchise (2010-)

Astrid shares the spotlight in the children’s franchise

Hiccup is likely seen as the primary protagonist in the How to train your dragon Franchise, but Astrid, whom Ferrera voices for all the movies, is right by his side from the beginning. She voices Astrid from her age at 15 in the beginning to 30 in the epilogue of the story.

Astrid is a fierce and determined young Viking. She is smart and capable, and she never gives up. Although the audience cannot see Ferrera on screen in the role, her entire performance is entirely with her voice. Most of the voice acting work of Ferrera’s career has been for the same character, and it’s surprising that she hasn’t taken on more voice roles since she’s so great at it.

The first movie of the franchise was nominated for best animated film at the Oscars, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Annie Awards.

4

Real Women Have Curves (2002)

Ferrera’s best coming-of-age movie

Released the same year as Ferrera’s Disney Channel Original Movie, Real women have curves is the best coming-of-age movie that Ferrera appeared in during her teenage years. Here, she is, again, a Mexican-American teenager growing up in the shadow of the expectations of her family members.

In this case, her family works in a textile factory, and Ana is expected to follow in their footsteps. The story takes place during her last summer before starting college courses when she decides to pursue her own dreams.

The movie also puts a big focus on body image as Ana struggles with how she sees herself and how others may see her. Self-acceptance and female empowerment are big themes of the movie without it feeling too heavy-handed with Ferrera’s performance here feeling like one of her most authentic.

3

Barbie (2023)

Ferrera goes on a journey with Barbie

Barbie May be one of Ferrera’s best known works right now. Released in 2023 at the same time as Oppenheimer, the two drastically different films went toe-to-toe at the box office and raked in money as a result of so many people opting to see both in a double feature.

Ferrera does not appear as one of the Barbies in the movie, but instead as Gloria, an assistant to Mattel’s CEO who discovers that her own musings about life and Barbie have given Barbie an existential crisis. She ends up on an adventure with Barbie in the real world, and in Barbie Land as a result. Ferrera’s speech about exactly what it means to be a woman is one of the standout moments in the movie, and it was recreated and parodied extensively after the movie’s release.

Barbie Earned America Ferrera an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. It’s also part of the reason she won the See Her Award at the Critics’ Choice Awards, which “Honors a woman who advocates for gender equality, portrays characters with authenticity, defies stereotypes and pushes boundaries.“

2

Superstore (2015-2021)

A workplace comedy in the retail world

Much of Ferrera’s career has been on the small screen instead of on theater screens. Superstore Was one of the TV series in the longest and one of the last projects for her. The series was set in a fictional big box store and was largely a workplace comedy, focusing on the day-to-day goings on at the store as well as the relationships between the coworkers.

Ferrera’s Amy starts the show as a floor supervisor who has worked for Cloud 9 since she was a teenager. She’s tired and doesn’t think anything about the job will change, but she needs the paycheck since she has a young daughter and a husband who isn’t great with money. Her relationship with Johan (Ben Feldman), however, helps her see that even just one employee can change things and that she can allow herself to be more ambitious.

Although Ferrera is only in a handful of episodes in the show’s final season, her character is one of the series’ most authentic. She undergoes so much growth, starts a new life, and finds her happiness, giving the audience a place of hope in the monotony of a retail job.

1

Ugly Betty (2006-2010)

Ugly Betty is Ferrera’s best role to date

The sister of the traveling pants is, arguably, Ferrera’s big break, however Ugly Betty Really put you on the map. It was her first starring role in a television show. She played the titular character in a drama inspired by a telenovela.

Here, Ferrera played Betty, a young woman who got a job as an assistant at a fashion magazine where everyone judged her appearance from her hair to her braces to her clothes. While she may not have fit in, she worked hard, and eventually made friends with her judgmental coworkers. Ferrera got to really show off her abilities in the series as she grew with the role and the show used a huge amount of comedy and drama.

During the show, America Ferrera won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, an NAACP award and an ALMA Award for her work. This role is one of her most acclaimed and her most iconic.