America Ferrera Quotes & Sayings

I was young not too long ago, and I know the last thing you want is someone preaching to you. — America Ferrera

I'm not ashamed to say that I cried at an animation movie — America Ferrera

You'd never catch me dancing on tables in public. I have no desire to be known for my personal life. — America Ferrera

Kids not only understand [a dark story] but appreciate it ... Because in the real world there's fear, and dark things happen no matter how young you are. People lose parents, people lose friends ... There's darkness in the world. So I think when kids are talked to in that way, they appreciate it. They're not being given some candy-coated, 'Oh, this is a world where there are no stakes.' I think that actually insults their intelligence. — America Ferrera

I work really long hours and work a lot and have done press tours and junkets, but there is nothing like a presidential campaign that I have experienced before ... I think at one point we visited three different cities in one state in 12 hours. It's exhausting. — America Ferrera

I was one of six kids in a single-parent household. — America Ferrera

My siblings are my best friends. — America Ferrera

You'll never see me at the launch of the new PlayStation or some club. For me, the fun stuff is being able to get my mom tickets to 'Dancing With the Stars' - she loves Mario Lopez. — America Ferrera

I just want to be in my sweats, walk my dog, watch TV and eat pizza. — America Ferrera

There's something pretty awesome about staying with a character and growing. — America Ferrera

When you finish a series like 'Ugly Betty,' there are so many voices around you telling you what you should be doing next and what would be good for your future, sometimes you can't hear yourself. I've gotten pretty good at tuning everyone else out. Now it's just me; what pleases me creatively. — America Ferrera

I am incredibly, incredibly fortunate about the opportunities I've had. But at the same time, I've had plenty of opportunities to screw it up, too. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is 'No ... ' and not feel the need to do everything. It's about doing what rings true to me. — America Ferrera

I was an open, smiley and gregarious child. I could make friends in 30 seconds wherever I went. — America Ferrera

What's kind of wonderful about being the voice in an animated film is you're a small part of an enormous production. And in a way, you get to remain a little bit objective. — America Ferrera

Finding the one is not just a feeling, it's an educated guess. I feel like I chose someone to share my life with who is my friend. — America Ferrera

I'm the first one in line to go watch 'Spider-Man', but there's definitely something in me that makes me want to go to a movie and see something that makes me feel good about life. — America Ferrera

How much time have I wasted on diets and what I look like? People are saying 'We love you and love what you do' and you're sitting there thinking 'I'm not skinny enough or pretty enough.' It's taken a lot of work to get over that. — America Ferrera

I miss Betty madly. I loved her. Whenever people talk about her, I get really nostalgic. There are parts of her still with me; I played her for four years and, of course, the lines get blurred. — America Ferrera

They say 15 million people are watching the show, but what does that mean, you know? It's not until I'm accosted on the street that I understand! — America Ferrera

I'm okay if people don't know who I am, but if you remember my character that would be great. — America Ferrera

When my mother was born on 14 April, he named her after a Latin American holiday, the Day of Americas, that nobody knew about. My due date also happened to be 14 April. — America Ferrera

I was just so lucky with 'Real Women Have Curves.' At that point, I would have done an insurance commercial. I would have done anything. — America Ferrera

I struggled with being a Latino growing up in Los Angeles. I felt very American. I still do. I went to 35 bar mitzvahs before I went to a single quinceanera. I could talk all day about my culture and what it means to me. — America Ferrera

As a child, I didn't know what I didn't have. I'm thankful for the challenges early on in my life because now I have a perspective on the world and kind of know what's important. — America Ferrera

I am trying to be guided by my passion. — America Ferrera

There's not really a choice about, am I going to pursue a typical career? Because I'm not the typical standard, so that's not even an option. — America Ferrera

I've never been speed dating! I sort of wish I had, just for the experience of it. — America Ferrera

I could have easily been too afraid to say 'yes' to Chicago, because it requires so much I haven't done before. If I am a flop at singing and dancing, maybe my love for it will carry me through. — America Ferrera

There are so many wonderful shows that come out through the year. What makes some stick is an unknown factor, you know? It's gotta be the right show at the right time. Really, you've got to have magic elements line up. But I felt that this was going to be something that was really going to ring true to people. — America Ferrera

I mean, I grew up in the Valley. All my friends were white Jewish kids. So the Latino kids thought I was this white girl. — America Ferrera

It would be impossible to be a woman in Western culture and not have your own issues about your image and what you look like. — America Ferrera

What I would say is that vows and rings don't change anything: the challenges are the same. Every day is just a conscious commitment to making the next day better. — America Ferrera

I really hate the duties of being a celebrity, like getting dressed up for the red carpet. — America Ferrera

Am I Latin? Am I American? What the hell am I? I love my culture and I'm very proud of my culture. — America Ferrera

Nowadays I'd describe myself as earnest, terribly earnest. I'm the person who wants everybody in the room to feel important and happy. — America Ferrera

I feel like my convictions and my passions come from my very personal experience and the life that I've led. I feel the very naturally tendency to stand up for and use my voice for the things that I know about and the things that I feel passionate about. — America Ferrera

Relationships take time and energy, and your job kind of sucks that all out of you. It takes an extra effort to stay present in a relationship when you are working so many hours. — America Ferrera

I used to hate getting dressed, getting in front of the camera and walking down the red carpet. It bothered me because I felt like I couldn't be what they wanted me to be. Now it's still not my favorite thing, but I get through it a lot easier because I know that my work brings value to who I am. — America Ferrera

To me, the tragedy about this whole image-obsessed society is that young girls get so caught up in just achieving that they forget to realize that they have so much more to offer the world. — America Ferrera

As early as second grade I remember feeling really different and isolated. I had the hugest crush on a boy, and my best friend had a crush on him, too. One day he said to me, 'I like your best friend more because she's paler and she has freckles.' And it was right then that I began to feel like, Oh wow, I'm different. — America Ferrera

At different times in my life, I've made grand statements like, 'I want these many kids, and I want them by this age.' I think, with every year that goes by, I accept that I don't know when it's going to happen or how it's going to happen. I'll just take it one day at a time, and when I'm ready, I'll be ready. It'll reveal itself, I guess. — America Ferrera

What's hard about being on the other side of the world is that sometimes the problem feels so big that changing one life doesn't feel like enough. But it is. — America Ferrera

It's so reassuring to have a woman heroine who triumphs with more than just what she has on the outside ... who has more to offer the world than just a pretty picture. — America Ferrera

Salma and I had run into each other once or twice at film festivals because I was doing the press for Real Women Have Curves at the same time she was doing the press for Frida. She had seen Real Women Have Curves, and when the idea of Ugly Betty came up, she thought of me. Her enthusiasm about the project was so infectious-she spoke of it with such expectation. Everyone that was involved was really excited about the project. I really wanted to be a part of it. — America Ferrera

The first time I landed in New York and got a cab to my hotel, I was completely struck by it: a feeling of life and chaos, 24 hours around the clock, just like in London. And whatever your problem is, it's insignificant. You're just a small part of something very big. — America Ferrera

The name America has definitely grown on me. I wish there was a big patriotic story behind it, but the truth is that my grandfather was a librarian who knew all sorts of random facts. — America Ferrera

I just wanted to see every single musical I could. The very first one I saw was 'Beauty and the Beast,' the only one I could get tickets for, and then 'Les Miserables' and then 'Chicago.' — America Ferrera

What's so kind of beautiful about the whole thing was that everything that made me not right for all of those hundreds of commercial auditions that I went on and no one ever wanted me for is what made me perfectly right for 'Real Women Have Curves'. — America Ferrera

I hope to be acting until I'm playing the role of Grandma, and I'd like to branch out in film - producing, directing, all of it. I'll sleep when no one wants to hire me! — America Ferrera

If I learned anything from Betty coming into my life, it's to just be open to all the things that come along. — America Ferrera

I think Hispanic women are beautiful with their curves. I'm not sure who feels that way in Hollywood. I was never told to lose 50 pounds. If they think that they just don't bother with you. You just don't get the role and you never know why. That's still better than physically harming yourself and becoming unhealthy just to star in a movie. — America Ferrera

I don't think running for office is anything I'm prepared for or could even prepare myself for. — America Ferrera

I realized how Latina I was, and then also, at the same time, how not Latina enough I was, because I'm born and raised in Los Angeles. I speak Spanish, but I don't speak perfect Spanish, not like a native speaker. — America Ferrera

The most important thing you wear is your personality. — America Ferrera

I remember being a kid, and if you had to pee, well, you had to hold it until the commercial break. Then you rushed, and hopefully, if you're going to the kitchen for a snack, you'll be back before so you don't miss a line. If your sister sneezed or was talking over a line, there was no way of knowing what that line was or what the joke was. — America Ferrera

Sometimes I worry more about losing weight than gaining weight, because this is how people know and accept me. — America Ferrera

I'm not going to miss wearing the braces very much. — America Ferrera

I think it's hilarious when people call Jessica Alba or Eva Longoria curvy. Come on. They're not curvy. They're small. I'm curvy. — America Ferrera

Early in my career, I was really spoiled with a beautiful project. I got such a good start that I thought, 'Why would I ever take a step back?' Why would I take on something that wasn't meaningful - to me, if nobody else - and powerful and groundbreaking? — America Ferrera

My parents were both Spanish-speakers and they used to speak to me and my siblings in Spanish and we'd answer them in English. — America Ferrera

I think the body image thing, everybody can identify with that. In our culture there's just so much pressure and so much attention placed on the way we look. You just turn on the TV or flip open a magazine and there's people who don't look like any of us. I think this movie is like, finally, a celebration of reality and of our imperfections. We're not all a size 2 and we're not all a size 0, and you know what? That's OK, because some of us like to eat! — America Ferrera

Once I started drinking more water, my skin, hair and nails all flourished. — America Ferrera