Ugly Betty star America Ferrera has said she would not be able to live with herself if she had not spoken out in support of Professor Christine Blasey Ford.
Professor Ford, who has accused US Supreme Court candidate Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers – claims he denies – gave evidence to America’s Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
Ferrera told Net-a-Porter’s digital magazine PorterEdit: “People are so tired of the daily assault on all of our values that this feels like this another thing. But we can’t let it be just another thing. I couldn’t live with myself if I stayed silent.”
The 34-year-old, who gave birth to her first child – a boy named Sebastian – with husband Ryan Piers Williams in May, also spoke about how her early role in comedy series Ugly Betty was “an anomaly”.
She said: “We don’t make shows about ugly brown girls who have grit.”
The Superstore star said she uses her public platform to speak out because “being an actor is my profession. It isn’t who I am and it certainly isn’t where I came from.”
Wearing forever-in-fashion dresses, skirts and knits, actress and producer @AmericaFerrera talks #UglyBetty, breaking the Hollywood mold and why she’ll never give up the fight, with #PorterEdit. Read the exclusive interview and see the shoot now: https://t.co/hkeksgcIrU pic.twitter.com/ugI2MAZAGd
— PORTER magazine (@PORTERmagazine) October 5, 2018
She added: “The notion that I shouldn’t fight for the world that I wanna live in because it might threaten how people see me isn’t an option.”