Emmys: America Ferrera Recalls Being Told to 'Sound More Latina' in First Ever Audition

By Dana Cruz Sep 21 2020, 05:17 AM EDT

America Ferrera opened up during the 2020 Emmys about her first audition in Hollywood, where she was told to "sound more Latina."

In a pre-recorded segment of the Emmys, Ferrera shared her personal experiences with Hollywood. Twenty years have already passed since her first audition, but the comment to "sound more Latina" was clear to her.

"I was this little, brown, chubby, valley girl, who spoke like a valley girl," she started her story.

Ferrera did her audition, and the casting director told her, "That's great. Can you do that again, but this time, sound more Latina?"

She was confused at the request. So, at the time, she said: "Um, so, like, do you want me to do this in Spanish?"

But the casting director clarified that she should do the scene in English, just make it "sound more Latina." To which she quipped, "I am a Latina. And this is what I sound like."

The casting director looked at her and said, "thank you" and "bye," concluding her audition.

It was a special moment for the "This Is What I Sound Like" segment of the Emmys, Celebrity Insider said in a report.

Ferrera's Family was not Surprised

The Emmy-winning actress told her family about what happened in her audition then. She said they weren't surprised by her experience.

"They said, 'They wanted you to speak in broken English. They wanted you to sound like a chola,'" Ferrera narrated.

She also recalled her family asking her, "What did you think was going to happen? They were going to have you starring in the next role meant for Julia Roberts?"

Emphatically, she told them at the time that it was what she thought would happen during the audition.

Creating More Opportunities

Ferrera was only 16-years-old when the audition happened, People noted. It was her early eye-opener to the grueling world of the entertainment industry.

Even though the experience could have pushed her out of pursuing Hollywood, it did not do so. It led Ferrera to "create more opportunities" for diversity in showbiz, said an Entertainment Tonight report.

It encouraged her to drive towards being a model for minorities. "That has fueled me to create more opportunity for little brown girls to fulfill their talent and their dream," she said.

The Emmys was lacking Latino representation this year. John Leguizamo pointed this out, saying it would be fine to just boycott the Emmy Awards altogether.

"If you don't have Latin people, there's no reason for me to see it. What's the point?" he said.