America Ferrera may not have walked away with the Best Supporting Actress after tonight’s Oscars, but we’re still remembering her movie and poignant Barbie monologue that resonated with women around the world.
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America’s nomination was well-deserved for many reasons, but the monologue was definitely her stand-out performance. The speech came while her character, Gloria, was speaking to Barbie about the impossible double standards put on women.
If you need a refresher or haven’t seen the movie, you can watch the scene below.
America Ferrera Remembers the “Pressure” of the “Barbie” Monologue
While talking to Vanity Fair, America said that the monologue was “one of the first things” director Greta Gerwig mentioned. She told her about it even before America “read the script.”
“She said, ‘I wrote this monologue for Gloria, and I’ve always imagined you saying this.’ While that was flattering, it also felt like pressure in the nicest way. I read the monologue and it hit me as powerful and meaningful. It also felt like, wow, what a gift as an actor to get to deliver something that feels so cathartic and truthful. But it also felt like this pivotal moment that I obviously didn’t want to mess up. There was a little bit of healthy pressure around it.”
When the day came to shoot the scene, America Ferrera did “30 to 50 full runs” of the Barbie monologue, and she said her favorite line was “Always be grateful.”
In the end, the pressure and practice paid off. Fans loved America Ferrera’s Barbie monologue so much that they made it go viral on social media. But before audiences were wowed, Greta and the cast and crew were blown away.
“When America was giving her beautiful speech, I was just sobbing, and then I looked around, and I realized everybody’s crying on the set,” Greta told The Atlantic. “The men are crying too, because they have their own speech they feel they can’t ever give, you know? And they have their twin tightrope, which is also painful.”
This story’s feature image is by JC Olivera/Getty Images.
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