America Ferrera credits Latina background for getting Barbie role

America Ferrera believes that her 'Barbie' character being Latina helped her get a part in the movie.

The 39-year-old actress starred as Mattel employee Gloria in last year's smash-hit blockbuster and doubts that she would have been cast if it were not for her background.

America told The Hollywood Reporter: "To be frank: For the majority of my career, I have not been considered for roles that weren't specifically Latina. And so that, in and of itself, limits what people are willing to think of you as and what's available to you.

"The gift of what Greta (Gerwig) offered me is that she actually did write the 'Barbie' part as Latina. I suspect that if she hadn't written it as such, I might not have been the person they went to."

However, the 'Ugly Betty' star stressed that Gloria was "not a Latina role" and wasn't included in the movie as a box-ticking exercise.

America said: "However, even though the role was written Latina, it was not a Latina role. Being Latina was not the purpose of the character. She got to be a full human and representative of so many things. It wasn't a 'check the box' kind of casting. That has begun to change somewhat, for me at least."

The star was lavished with praise for her performance in 'Barbie' – particularly for her powerful monologue on the challenges of being a woman in the modern world – but is not simply expecting to be deluged with work in the aftermath.

Ferrera explained: "I would be thrilled if this moment of being in highly visible films led to more opportunities for me to do the kinds of roles and create the kinds of stories that I want to, but that's hard to predict. I've had many moments in my career of wonderful successes that didn't necessarily lead to more opportunity.

"I've learned to just slow down and drop that expectation. I am gearing up to direct my first feature film, actually, and I've been involved in that since before the 'Barbie' script came to me."