America Ferrera In Newsweek Emmy Roundtable

In this week’s edition of Newsweek, there in a transcript from a two-hour Emmy roundtable discussion held with Masi Oka (Heroes), Sally Field (Brothers and Sisters) , Julia Louis-Dreyfus (New Adventures of Old Christine) ,Jeremy Piven (Entourage), and Ugly Betty’s own America Ferrera.  It starts off talking about how starstruck Ferrera was about meeting Sally Field:

When two-time Oscar winner Sally Field arrived for our first-ever Emmy Roundtable, America Ferrera, the radiant young star of ABC’s freshman hit series “Ugly Betty,” stayed bolted to the floor. “I’d go up to her, but I’d just say something dumb,” Ferrera said. “All I could say is ‘Hi.’ I mean, what do you say to Sally Field?”

Then comes the roundtable, many parts of which are fascinating.  The single most intriguing quote from America Ferrera was this:

I had a friend who is a writer, and he wrote this beautiful, beautiful script and I fell in love with it. I said, this is me, I have to do this. For a while it was a possibility and then it was, like, Well, listen, the producers don’t want—they’re looking for someone who’s blond and who has, you know, lighter skin. And basically that was it. I didn’t even get to fail on my own. It was the first time I felt really angry. And so I went out and bleached my hair. I was 17, and it was the first time I’d done something out of anger. I bleached my hair and put on lily-white powder makeup—whiteface, I guess. But my friend called me up and was, like, “I get it, I understand that it’s warped and twisted and it sucks. But you still don’t have the part.”

Sometimes I forget that the Hollywood seems to be exempt from the usual fair hiring practices by which the rest of us in the business world have to abide.  They can literally reject you because you don’t have the right shade of skin, or your nose is shaped the wrong way, or, God forbid, you’re not a size zero.  It is wonderful to see Ferrera triumph through it all. 

Here are some more Ferrera exerpts from the roundtable:

Ferrera: I didn’t start acting professionally until I was 17, and I had a really small agent and manager, and they were sending me out for anything—bail-bondsman commercials, whatever. And I never got a single callback for anything. Because they’d always say, “Can you speak English with a bad Spanish accent?” They were always, like, “We don’t get it—you’re Latin but you don’t sound Latin.” Even my own family, my own friends, they would say to me, “Look, we think you’re really talented, and it’s not that we don’t believe in you—we just don’t believe that industry is accepting of any kind of variety.”

Do you feel a certain obligation as a role model for young women and Latina women?
Piven: I do. Oh, I’m sorry. [Laughter]

Ferrera: I feel like what the show is doing—and not just what they’ve done for Latinos or for young girls but for the gay community—has been immense. The show does it, so I don’t feel like I have to go about my days preaching it.

[on the new culture of celebrity]

Ferrera: Anyone with a phone is a paparazzi. They sit there and take pictures with their phone and they think you don’t see them. They don’t even ask. Sometimes you feel like an animal in the zoo.

Didn’t you expect this?
Ferrera: I don’t know. I understand where it comes from. I mean, I grew up worshiping people like Sally Field, and when you meet them, they mean so much to you that you’re hoping that it’ll be a life-changing experience. But you just can’t be that for everyone you see. It’s exhausting. When do I get to shut it off? I know that sounds like complaining, but at the same time there is a lack of respect.

let’s end with a question about the big night. Is there any part of it that you’re not looking forward to?
Ferrera: The red carpet is the most nerve-racking, isn’t it? The focus is all on something I’m just not comfortable with. The whole point is to stand there so people can criticize you—What are you wearing? It’s a meat market.

Louis-Dreyfus: Who are you wearing!

Ferrera: I’m not saying I’m against red carpets, but what’s really wonderful is sitting there and being a part of the celebration. And that red carpet doesn’t feel like a celebration.

The rest of the roundtable is wonderful, to hear the back and forth amongst the artists.  Go check it out.