Biography

America Ferrera stars as Amy, Cloud 9's intelligent and responsible floor supervisor on NBC's hit comedy "Superstore." She also serves as an executive producer on the series and occasionally directs.

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.

Ferrera recently edited "American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures," a vibrant and varied collection of first-person accounts from prominent figures about the experience of growing up between cultures in America. The anthology also includes essays by Ferrera, sharing her own perspective of growing up the daughter of Honduran immigrants in Los Angeles. Contributors to the book include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Roxane Gay, Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani, Congressman Joaquin Castro, Kal Penn, Uzo Aduba, Jenny Zhang, Michelle Kwan, Padma Lakshmi and many others.

Ferrera will soon lend her vocal talents as Astrid in "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World," set for release in March.

In 2017, Ferrera worked as one of the driving forces alongside other powerful women in Hollywood to establish the "Time's Up" movement that addresses the systemic inequality and injustice in the workplace that has kept underrepresented groups from reaching their full potential. Powered by women, the organization has partnered with leading advocates for equality and safety to improve laws, employment agreements and corporate policies.

In 2016, alongside husband Ryan Piers Williams and Wilmer Valderrama, Ferrera founded Harness, which connects communities through conversation to inspire action and power change. The organization is a community of artists, influencers and grassroots leaders that provide education and engagement opportunities to amplify the work of organizations and individuals working on behalf of social justice. Harness has partnered with multi-platform content companies, such as Hearst Media and NBC Entertainment, to amplify stories of activism and social justice.

Ferrera spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in 2016 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.

Ferrera has extended her activism on screen in several television documentaries, including the EPIX TV miniseries "America Divided," Showtime's groundbreaking documentary "The Years of Living Dangerously" and Nicholas Kristof's series for PBS, titled "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide."

Some of Ferrera's television and film credits include a memorable arc on the CBS hit "The Good Wife," Ricky Gervais' "Special Correspondents," Ryan Piers Williams' drama "X/Y," (which she co-produced and co-starred), Diego Luna's biopic "Cesar Chavez" (ALMA Award Special achievement in Film), David Ayer's crime thriller "End of Watch," Ryan Piers Williams' "The Dry Land" (Best International Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival), "It's a Disaster," "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (parts 1 and 2)," "Real Women Have Curves," "Lords of Dogtown" and "How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer" among many others.

On stage, she has appeared Off Broadway in Terrence McNally's "Lips Together, Teeth Apart," Laura Marks' "Bethany" and "Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead," directed by Trip Cullman. She co-starred as Roxie Hart in the West End production of the hit musical "Chicago."

In 2006, Ferrera founded her own television and film production company, Take Fountain.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ferrera is the youngest of six children. As a graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrera studied International Relations while pursuing her career in film and television.