I was Hollywood's version of imperfect, says America Ferrera

America Ferrera thinks it is "ridiculous" that she was considered "imperfect" in Hollywood 20 years ago.

The 39-year-old actress became known around the world when she took on the title role of the hit series Ugly Betty in 2006 and slammed the notion that her "curvier" figure was thought to be something "groundbreaking" in show business at the time.

She told Elle: "What's so insane is, you go back and look, and I had a very average-size body. And so the idea that people were looking at me and saying, 'That's curvy' is crazy. Not that I care, but it's like, that's insane that we thought that was so groundbreaking.

"I was Hollywood's version of imperfect, which seems so ridiculous. I don't feel alone in that either. There are so many women who were called brave, just because they are people in bodies."

The Barbie actress went on to add that it is her "wish" for the future that actors will no longer be stereotyped and she will instead be seen for more of who she is as a person rather than being "relegated" to being a stereotype.

She said: "What I continue to wish for my career, and women's careers and people of colour's careers, is that we don't have to exist inside of these boxes or these lanes - that we don't have to be relegated to represent just the thing that the culture wants us to represent.

"I want to be more of who I am as a person, and to get to make art that doesn't fit into any of the boxes and isn't about the dominant conversation people have wanted to have about me because I'm a woman who doesn't fit into stereotypical Hollywood."

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