America Ferrera emerges as 'Barbie's' secret weapon, a mighty mom
[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Greta Gerwig's "Barbie."]
LOS ANGELES — As a kid with a precocious mind for make-believe, America Ferrera never felt like a Barbie girl in a Barbie world.
She didn't have Barbie dolls at home — her family couldn't afford them, Ferrera says. She played with them only while visiting a cousin's house. So co-starring in a summer blockbuster about the enduring American symbol of girlhood, in all its bubblegum-pink glory, wasn't wish-fulfillment for her.
"I don't really remember the Barbie world ever resonating with me," Ferrera says. "I imagine that's because I didn't feel very represented or reflected by it. Never in a million years did I imagine that I would be part of a Barbie movie. I was the little girl who didn't see myself in the mainstream culture around me, and I know how important it is to feel seen."
Ferrera may not have grown up turning to the 11 1/2-inch doll at playtime, but her role as Gloria, a lifetime Barbie lover and assistant to the chief executive of Mattel in "Barbie," is pivotal to the film's existential examination of the complicated icon. Gloria, a working mother struggling to find purpose as her teen daughter grows older, finds herself on a parallel journey of self-discovery with Barbie (Margot Robbie) as the doll journeys outside of Barbie Land into the
