America Ferrera

America Georgine Ferrera (born April 18, 1984) is an American actress and producer. She is best known for her leading role as Betty Suarez on the ABC television series Ugly Betty (2006–2010). Her portrayal garnered critical acclaim, and she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She transitioned to a film career, starring in several films aimed at young audiences, including, Real Women Have Curves (2002), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), its sequel Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008), The Dry Land (2010), End of Watch (2012), and had a small role in the skateboard biopic Lords of Dogtown (2005). In addition, she was the voice of Astrid the Viking in the Dreamworks animated picture How to Train Your Dragon (2010).

Ferrera, the youngest of six children, was born in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, América Griselda Ayes and Carlos Gregorio Ferrera, were originally from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1970s. Her mother worked as the director of the housecleaning staff for Hilton Hotels, and stressed the importance of higher education. When she was 7, her parents divorced and her father returned to Honduras. Read Less