Actress America Ferrera has played many roles—a dorky editorial assistant on "Ugly Betty," a jeans-wearing teen in "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and, currently, a bossy-but-empathetic floor manager on NBC's "Superstore." But it's her latest venture, a partnership with The North Face on a campaign that highlights female athletes, that most complements her social advocacy efforts. Ferrera, who recently announced she's pregnant with her first child, spoke with Ad Age about the #MeToo movement, protection for those in the DACA program, and more. Our conversation has been edited.
Why did you decide to work with the North Face on its
"Move Mountains" campaign?
There are a lot of reasons why the campaign felt like such a
natural fit. For one, I think it's so incredibly important to
spotlight the stories of women doing incredible things in order to
inspire the next generation of women to become doers and explorers
in the world. It's important that we have those role models and are
able to see ourselves in order to imagine what's possible for
us—that part of the campaign really resonates with me.
Are you a big outdoors person?
I have had an incredible journey finding my own explorative,
adventurous spirit in the outdoors. A couple years ago, I started
training for a triathlon and started doing things I had never done
before, things I never thought I was capable of doing, like
swimming in the ocean, riding my bike in the mountains and hills,
and running. I'd never been a runner. I'd never had a lot of that
in my life growing up—it was something that I didn't think
was accessible to me. The experience really changed my perception
of myself and what I was capable of, so I care deeply about making
that kind of adventure feel accessible to young women.
How do you choose the brands that you
represent?
I don't partner with a lot of brands. It's rare that something
comes up that feels really aligned with the things that I care
about. Brands with messaging that resonates with me are few and far
between.
You've been a fierce advocate of the #MeToo and #TimesUp
movements. What still needs to change to prevent abuse and
harassment against women?
I think how we value women in society, how we talk about them and
the stories we tell, what we believe about their value and what
their bodies are for and who those bodies belong to. Our culture is
at fault for a lot of messaging that makes both men and women
perceive women's bodies to be objects and, in a way, decoration for
life, versus active, imaginative, creative people being and doing
and adventuring in the world. I do think that the stories we tell
young women and young men about what a woman's body is meant for
has a lot to do with how we treat and legislate women, and the
unwritten laws of culture.
You've also been active in your support of Latinos and
of the DACA "Dreamers" program that protects undocumented
immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. Can you talk about
that?
I started an organization with my husband [Ryan Piers Williams]
called Harness. We have been convening and gathering communities of
artists and activists to create deep relationships and
collaborations that speak not just to one side of our society, but
narratives and storytelling and campaigns that impact multiple
sides of our culture.
There is so much that needs to happen, so many pieces of the puzzle. For any issue to make headway, things need to change legislatively and policy-wise, but things also need to change culturally. It's hard to predict when those things will align. At our organization, we truly believe collaborations between artists and activists are more effective for creating the environment that allows for change to happen. We've been focused on creating those lasting relationships between artists and the activists' community across all issues—immigration, mass incarceration, gun reform, and women's and health issues. But ultimately, the relationships and collaborations between people with different perspectives and different platforms is what we're passionate about.
