[IMG1 L] America Ferrera secured her place as one of Hollywood's most vibrant young talents with her starring role in the Patricia Cardoso film, Real Women Have Curves. Her performance earned her a Sundance Jury Award for Best Actress, an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance and a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance for a Leading Young Actress.

Currently Ferrera stars as the title character in the new ABC hit series Ugly Betty. Her portrayal of Betty has earned her a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance for a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Last summer Ferrera completed work on the bilingual independent film Towards Darknes which she also executive-produced. Directed by Antonio Negret, the film follows the last 90 minutes in a kidnapped hostage's life, and the frustration his family, a man in charge of delivering the ransom money, and a special ops team all feel as they rush to save him. Ferrera plays a young woman who has a complicated relationship with the young kidnapping victim. The feature is based on Negret's short, Darkness Minus 12 which Ferrera also starred in.

Ferrera recently completed work in a Spanish speaking role in the independent film Boy, Immigrant. Directed by Patricia Riggen, the story chronicles a nine-year-old Mexican boy's journey to the United States to find his migrant mother after the grandmother who is taking care of him passes away. The film also stars Mexican actors Kate del Castillo and Eugenio Derbez.

At the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Ferrera appeared in the Brian Jun film, Steel City, which premiered in Dramatic Competition. She most recently appeared off-Broadway in Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, directed by Trip Cullman.

In 2005 Ferrera starred in the hit film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants directed by Ken Kwapis and based on the bestselling novel by Ann Brashares, for which she was nominated for an ALMA Award. She also appeared in Catherine Hardwicke's Lords of Dogtown and in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival entry, How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer written and directed by Georgina Riedel and co-starring Elizabeth Pentildea. In recognition of her work, Ferrera received a 2005 Movieline Breakthrough Award.