America Ferrera: My identity is a superpower -- not an obstacle
艾美莉卡·弗利拉: 我的特征是超能力,而不是障碍。
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.
《玫瑰舞后》又唱又跳,
to the made-for-TV movie "Gypsy,"
迫切心情和强烈欲望歌唱。
and the burning desire of a nine-year-old
任何一个和我相像的人
anyone who looked like me
and teachers all constantly warned me
和老师都经常提醒我,
didn't make it in Hollywood.
that anyone could achieve anything,
immigrated from Honduras,
或保释金的广告,
for cable subscriptions
is that the casting director asked me,
but just this time, sound more Latina."
更加有拉丁裔的感觉。”
重复一遍?” 我问。
to do it in Spanish?" I asked.
听起来像拉丁美洲的英语。”
just sound Latina."
so isn't this what a Latina sounds like?"
谢谢你能来试镜,再见!”
thank you for coming in, bye!"
我才明白“听起来更拉丁美洲”
to realize that by "sound more Latina"
to speak in broken English.
real-life, authentic Latina
那些人更希望看到我饰演:
people were willing to see me for:
that existed for someone like me.
and saw as too brown, too fat,
from my own reality
who were complex and multidimensional,
of their own lives.
in the background of someone else's.
to my manager --
to help me find opportunity --
她的期待太不切实际了。”
she has unrealistic expectations."
并非刻板,可怜的角色时,
that wasn't a poorly written stereotype,
to cast this role diversely."
但是她的种族太特殊了。”
but she's too specifically ethnic."
已经有拉丁美裔演员了。”
one Latino in this movie."
again and again and again.
I had to overcome.
是我必须跨越过的障碍 。
艾美莉卡(America)。
我会循规蹈矩,
I'll just follow the playbook,
that people said were wrong with me.
只为了让我的皮肤不会太黑,
so that my skin wouldn't get too brown,
and more expensive clothes.
太黑,太穷的拉丁美洲人。
too brown, too poor Latina.
展现出来的符合他们要求的人,
that would make all my dreams come true,
to be exactly who I was.
like her, anyone like me,
自己书写的生命故事中的人,
of her own life story.
ethnicity, body type,
和世俗对抗着。
to fulfill her unlikely dream.
I had been told my whole life,
和我一样的人的生活。
want to see stories about people like me.
真实的自我,
represented in the culture
有文化底蕴的,经济上的成功。
and financial success.
急着要去讲更多的故事,
was rushing to tell more stories
也愿意付钱去看的故事。
and willing to pay to see them.
when I got to play Ugly Betty,
《丑女贝蒂》里的人物,
仅在美国就有一千六百万次观看,
to 16 million viewers
for 11 Emmys in its first year.
由一位拉丁美裔演员
thriving in the world
巴基斯坦斯瓦特谷的小女孩,
living in the Swat Valley of Pakistan.
her hands on some DVDs
of becoming a writer reflected.
能做出怎样的改变,
could make a difference
the "Ugly Betty" DVDs
presence in the culture.
presence creates possibility.
能够在这个文化中露面,
presence in the culture
in the mainstream,
获得一个电影中的角色。
I wasn't getting a role in a movie.
来自各个国家各个文化,
to cast diversely,
这部电影就无法获得足够的钱。”
until they cast the white role first."
with a broken heart
"I understand how messed up this is."
hundreds of times before,
数不清的情况一样,
别为了一个工作而流泪。”
stop crying over a job."
of accepting the failure as my own
接受我自己的失败,
这些困难而感到羞愧难当。
that I couldn't overcome the obstacles.
不是因为我失去了一份工作,
were not about losing a job.
was actually being said about me.
and agents and managers
and straightening irons
in this deeply entrenched value system.
the system to change.
进入这个系统,这是不同的。
and those aren't the same thing.
what a system believed about me,
the system believed about me.
for me to exist in my dream as I was.
trying to make myself invisible.
was that it is possible
who genuinely wants to see change
keep things the way they are.
is that change isn't going to come
and the bad guys.
lets us all off the hook.
are neither one of those.
values and beliefs.
我们通过行动实现了目标。
lead to our best intentions.
that in order to fulfill my dreams,
my talents to the world
而我正是其中的一员。
as my full and authentic self.
做梦的九岁小女孩说些什么,
dancing in the den, dreaming her dreams,
what the world actually looks like.
to reflect that,
resisting the one we already live in.
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