America Ferrera delivers moving speech at Critics Choice: ‘We are all worthy’

The actress received the SeeHer award from Barbie star Margot Robbie at the 29th Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles, for advocating for gender equality, portraying characters with authenticity, defying stereotypes and pushing boundaries.

Ferrera said the best use of storytelling is to “hold the truth that we are all worthy of being seen”.

“Brown, indigenous, Asian, trans, disabled, any body type, any gender, we are all worthy of having our lives richly and authentically reflected,” she said.

“Receiving the SeeHer award for my contributions to more authentic portrayals of women and girls couldn’t be more meaningful to me because I grew up as a first generation Honduran American girl in love with TV, film and theatre, who desperately wanted to be a part of a storytelling legacy that I could not see myself reflected in.

“When I started working over 20 years ago, it seemed impossible that anyone could make a career of portraying fully dimensional Latina characters but because of writers, directors, producers and executives who were daring enough to rewrite outdated stories and to challenge deeply entrenched biases, I and some of my beloved Latino colleagues have been supremely blessed to bring to life some fierce and fantastic women.”

Ferrera thanked director Greta Gerwig and star-turned-producer Margot Robbie.

“Margot, you saw value in Barbie, an entirely female idea that most would have dismissed as too girly, too frivolous or just too problematic, but you had the courage and the vision to take it on,” she said.

“Thank you for gifting the world with Barbie.

“And Greta… thank you for proving through your incredible mastery as a filmmaker that women’s stories have no difficulty achieving cinematic greatness and box office history at the same time.

“And that unabashedly telling female stories does not diminish your powers, it expands them.”

The 39-year-old thanked Robbie’s husband Tom Ackerley, Gerwig’s husband Noah Baumbach and Barbie star Ryan Gosling “for all being man enough to support women’s work – you are all brilliant and you are more than Kenough”.

She signed off her speech saying: “This is for every kid yearning to break in. I see you and you got this.”

To introduce the award, Robbie said Ferrera “tells us the truth and asks us to reach for something more in the world and in ourselves”.

She said: “America is both my co-star and my friend so I feel extremely qualified to tell you she is authentic in everything she does.

“On screen she plays characters that defy stereotypes, push boundaries and inspire the next generation to see themselves as they are.

“Off screen, she is remarkably grounded, surprisingly silly, seemingly unaffected by the talent she possesses and always, always on the right side of the cause.”

Robbie said when Gerwig needed someone to talk about the true experience of what it’s like to be a woman, “there was one voice in her head”.

Speaking about the monologue Ferrera delivers as character Gloria, she said: “America gave our film a rallying cry filled with candour, vulnerability and inspiration.

“She was speaking for every woman everywhere in a way that only America could.

“Every time I have been in a cinema it has played, the audience has erupted into applause after Gloria’s monologue.

“There are undoubtedly kids all over the world right now reciting that monologue in drama classes and since opening weekend, the internet has been flooded with hundreds of thousands of social posts quoting her – those words and her performance have had that much of an impact on the world.”

During the ceremony, Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford was also honoured with the career achievement award, which saw a standing ovation from the Hollywood audience.

He thanked his wife Calista Flockhart for supporting him when he needs support – “And I need a lot of support,” the 81-year-old said.

Ford added: “I’m really happy to be here tonight to see what our business is turning into, and all of the talented people who are getting opportunities that probably wouldn’t have existed in the early part of my career, I’m very happy about that.”