America Ferrera’s scene-stealing, heartfelt performance in Barbie has earned her a best supporting actress Oscar nomination — and, despite the film’s global success, the honor came as surreal and unexpected.
Ferrera played the human protagonist to Margot Robbie’s Barbie, a woman struggling with her own insecurities and trying to reconnect with her teenage daughter. Her monologue about the hypocrisy of the demands society places on women has become iconic. “It is literally impossible to be a woman,” she says while consoling Barbie. “You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough.” Her words snap the Barbies out of their Kendom-induced haze and help inspire them to reclaim Barbieland.
As a performer, Ferrera has been inspired by not only her co-stars and creatives on Barbie — which landed eight nods, including best picture and best adapted screenplay for Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach — but also her fellow nominees.