Summary

America Ferrera begins her TED talk “My identity is a superpower – not an obstacle” with a memory from her childhood. She remembers being nine years old and dancing in the family’s den while watching the movie Gypsy. Ferrera’s dream was to become an actress, even though her family and friends warned her that Latinos rarely became successful actors. 

Ferrera then recalls going to an audition where she was asked to speak in broken English to sound more like a Latina. She talks about the stereotypical roles in which Latinas are usually cast and claims that she fired her manager when he told her that she had unrealistic expectations from the film industry. However, she also admits that he was right.

Ferrera then talks about the multiple rejections she rece...