America Ferrera: My identity is a superpower -- not an obstacle
America Ferrera: Minha identidade é um superpoder, não um obstáculo
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.
to the made-for-TV movie "Gypsy,"
feito para TV "A Trajetória do Sucesso",
and the burning desire of a nine-year-old
ardente de uma criança de nove anos
anyone who looked like me
que se parecesse comigo
and teachers all constantly warned me
e professores sempre me avisavam
didn't make it in Hollywood.
faziam sucesso em Hollywood.
that anyone could achieve anything,
poderia conseguir qualquer coisa,
immigrated from Honduras,
terem imigrado de Honduras,
que meu sonho fosse fácil,
for cable subscriptions
para assinaturas TV a cabo
is that the casting director asked me,
de elenco me pediu:
but just this time, sound more Latina."
mas, desta vez, soando mais latina".
to do it in Spanish?" I asked.
em espanhol?", perguntei.
just sound Latina."
mas soando como latina."
so isn't this what a Latina sounds like?"
thank you for coming in, bye!"
obrigado por ter vindo; tchau!"
to realize that by "sound more Latina"
percebi que "soar mais latina"
to speak in broken English.
real-life, authentic Latina
verdadeira e da vida real
people were willing to see me for:
em que as pessoas queriam me ver:
that existed for someone like me.
que existiam para alguém como eu,
and saw as too brown, too fat,
como morena demais, gorda demais,
from my own reality
de minha própria realidade
who were complex and multidimensional,
complexas e multidimensionais,
of their own lives.
da própria vida delas
in the background of someone else's.
no cenário de fundo de outra pessoa.
to my manager --
a meu empresário,
to help me find opportunity --
a encontrar oportunidades,
she has unrealistic expectations."
que ela tem expectativas irreais".
mas ele não estava errado.
that wasn't a poorly written stereotype,
conseguir um papel
to cast this role diversely."
na distribuição desse papel".
but she's too specifically ethnic."
particularmente étnica demais".
one Latino in this movie."
um latino neste filme".
again and again and again.
mensagem muitas e muitas vezes:
I had to overcome.
que eu precisava superar.
I'll just follow the playbook,
vou seguir o manual,
that people said were wrong with me.
diziam que estava errado comigo.
so that my skin wouldn't get too brown,
para não ficar morena demais,
and more expensive clothes.
too brown, too poor Latina.
gorda demais, morena demais, pobre demais.
that would make all my dreams come true,
os meus sonhos realidade,
to be exactly who I was.
exatamente quem eu era.
like her, anyone like me,
como ela, alguém como eu,
of her own life story.
da própria história de vida dela.
ethnicity, body type,
de idade, etnia, tipo corporal,
gorducha de 17 anos de idade
to fulfill her unlikely dream.
para realizar seu sonho improvável.
I had been told my whole life,
toda a minha vida,
want to see stories about people like me.
que as pessoas, de fato,
sobre pessoas como eu,
represented in the culture
de modo autêntico na cultura
de outras pessoas.
and financial success.
cultura e bilheteria.
was rushing to tell more stories
estava correndo para contar mais histórias
and willing to pay to see them.
e disposto a pagar para vê-las.
when I got to play Ugly Betty,
comecei a interpretar Ugly Betty,
to 16 million viewers
para 16 milhões de espectadores
for 11 Emmys in its first year.
em seu primeiro ano.
por oito anos.
a primeira e única latina
em uma categoria principal.
thriving in the world
prosperando no mundo
living in the Swat Valley of Pakistan.
morando no vale do Suat, no Paquistão.
her hands on some DVDs
norte-americano
of becoming a writer reflected.
sonho dela de se tornar escritora.
could make a difference
palavras poderiam fazer a diferença
the "Ugly Betty" DVDs
aos DVDs de 'Ugly Betty'
norte-americana".
presence in the culture.
a presença na cultura.
presence creates possibility.
a presença cria possibilidade.
presence in the culture
acessar a presença na cultura
in the mainstream,
não ecoam na tendência atual,
financeiro grande demais.
meu agente me ligou
I wasn't getting a role in a movie.
um papel em um filme.
to cast diversely,
na distribuição dos papéis,
until they cast the white role first."
sejam distribuídos primeiro".
with a broken heart
"I understand how messed up this is."
"Entendo como isso é errado".
hundreds of times before,
stop crying over a job."
of accepting the failure as my own
aceitando o fracasso como sendo meu
that I couldn't overcome the obstacles.
por não conseguir superar os obstáculos.
were not about losing a job.
tinham a ver com a perda de um trabalho,
was actually being said about me.
com o que diziam a meu respeito,
sobre mim a minha vida toda
and agents and managers
agentes, empresários,
and straightening irons
e pranchas de alisamento
in this deeply entrenched value system.
profundamente enraizado.
the system to change.
que o sistema mudasse.
and those aren't the same thing.
entrar, e isso não é a mesma coisa.
what a system believed about me,
o que o sistema achava de mim,
the system believed about me.
no que ele achava de mim.
acreditava que não era possível
for me to exist in my dream as I was.
do jeito que eu era.
trying to make myself invisible.
was that it is possible
who genuinely wants to see change
quer ver a mudança
keep things the way they are.
cujas ações mantêm as coisas como estão.
is that change isn't going to come
que a mudança não virá
and the bad guys.
lets us all off the hook.
are neither one of those.
não é nenhum deles.
values and beliefs.
valores e crenças fundamentais
lead to our best intentions.
conduzam às suas melhores intenções.
that in order to fulfill my dreams,
para realizar meus sonhos,
my talents to the world
talentos para o mundo,
para parar de resistir
as my full and authentic self.
completo e autêntico.
e dizer qualquer coisa
dancing in the den, dreaming her dreams,
na sala e tinha os sonhos dela,
what the world actually looks like.
na verdade, se parece.
to reflect that,
uma nova realidade.
resisting the one we already live in.
àquela em que já vivemos.
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