America Ferrera: 'Shows Like 'Gossip Girl' Kind Of Condition Us To Be Mean'

Access Hollywood - September 12, 2008 8:40 PM PDT
Story photo: America Ferrera: 'Shows Like 'Gossip Girl' Kind Of Condition Us To Be Mean'Access Hollywood

NEW YORK, NY -- America Ferrera plays a plucky 24-year old do-gooder on ABC's "Ugly Betty," and it appears she has quite a lot in common with her on-screen character, Betty Suarez.

In a new interview with Seventeen magazine's October issue, America stood up for positivity, saying she believes there are a host of television programs that do more harm than good.

"Close, genuine female relationships are not what generally gets depicted in movies and TV shows. Like, if you're watching 'The Hills' or '90210,' all the backstabbing shapes the way we act - you go to school and you think your job is to find a sworn enemy and be jealous of each other," America said.

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And her concern extends to "Gossip Girl," which stars her "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" pal, Blake Lively.

"I mean, I love Blake; she's a wonderful friend of mine, but shows like 'Gossip Girl' kind of condition us to be mean," America said.

Though she may not be chiming in with a ringing endorsement of Blake's show, America loved working with Blake and her other "Sister" co-stars - Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel.

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"One of the most wonderful experiences I've had with girl relationships was working with them on 'Sisterhood,'" America explained. "I'd worked with other girls before and it was pretty catty.

"But this time, I thought, I don't want to feel judged or defensive. So before we started shooting, I was like, I'm just going to show up to work and be professional - not their best friend. But a couple of weeks into shooting, Amber and I started talking. She's a hippie and I thought we had nothing in common - and now she's one of my closest friends!"

And like "Ugly Betty's" Betty Suarez at Mode, America believes you should head out into the workplace with a positive attitude.

"It was so empowering to make girls your friends instead of your competitors," she said. "What I've learned is, don't waste your time judging people, because more often than not, you're off base. And you'd be shocked to know what they think about you - where you meet someone and they're like, 'I thought you were stuck-up.' And you're like, 'What?!? I've been sitting here waiting for you to talk to me!'"

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  • UM
    America is awesome
    report abuseposted March 18, 2009 6:03 PM PDT
  • L S
    I think that America has a point about how obnoxious and mean girls can be, but does she need to use a friends' show to illustrate her point. I just wonder what Blake thinks of America trashing her livelyhood.
    report abuseposted October 15, 2008 5:11 AM PDT
  • Victoria
    I agree with her as well. Television shows in the 21st century have greatly evolved. Many of them have some way of influencing people, even if it's not intentional. TV plays a huge role in the American youth also; a lot of kids can be easily influenced one way or another by what they see on TV. Look how much more cattier girls are now, as compared t0 the past. It's a big differenc
    report abuseposted September 22, 2008 1:14 AM PDT
  • renee
    GG doesn't condition ppl to be mean..in reality there really ARE mean ppl. I love watching Gossip Girl, and 90210, but do not watch Ugly Betty.
    report abuseposted September 17, 2008 4:38 AM PDT
  • britishangel
    i love gg i hate the hills and 90210
    report abuseposted September 15, 2008 3:44 AM PDT
  • Kimberlli
    And, Ugly Betty conditions big girls who aren't attractive to think they would get a break in the fashion world. She's just mad cause even though her show gets more views, Gossip Girl gets more hype.Besides,the evil chicks on EB aren't any better than the ones on GG. Girls, especially teenagers are mean.
    report abuseposted September 14, 2008 3:04 AM PDT
  • sciencegirl99
    america sets an awseome example for girls my age and all other girls and women so keep do wat ur doin america and keep rockin it
    report abuseposted September 13, 2008 6:15 PM PDT
  • Lisa
    Ms. Ferrera is a real class act. She seems to be the "real deal".
    report abuseposted September 13, 2008 3:42 PM PDT
  • hookem
    America is right. Gossip Girl is trash. Its high time we have some decent , moral teens to be role models. Look at what we have had....Brit, her sister JL, Paris....and they have done nothing but increase the rate of teen pg and make it look ok when its NOT ok. I hope this purity ring is a new thing that wont go away b/c its really really COOL!!
    report abuseposted September 13, 2008 4:50 AM PDT
  • Jamie
    She is my favorite. Just saw her on milllionaire personals site """" W e a l t h y D a t e r . c o m"""""" last week. I am wondering what kind of relationship she is looking for on that site.Is she single again now? ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
    report abuseposted September 12, 2008 11:45 PM PDT
comments 1-10 of 14  |< newest · < newer · older > · oldest >| 

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