The Dry Land's America Ferrera On the Excitement (and Frustrations) of a Post-Betty Life

What will you be doing next? You haven't picked your next project. Will it be an acting gig, or something through your production company?

It's hard to say. So many elements have to come together, like a) what am I attracted to, b) what's out there, and c) do they want me? You know what I mean? And it's more complicated even -- those aren't the only three components. "Is it out there at all?" Yes, it's out there. "Do I like it?" Yes, I like it. "Do they want me?" Oh no, they don't want me. Or they want me, but I don't like it. Or you like it and they like you but it's not out there getting produced! [Laughs]

Is that frustrating?

It's hard! It's hard to find the combination of those things coming together, but I have faith that when it's meant to be, I'll feel that energy, like, "Yes, this is what I'm meant to be doing. It feels good, it feels right." I'm just going to sort of follow my intuition, my instinct. If the next thing to come across my lap is a script I want to produce, then I'll do that, but if the next thing is a huge action film that I want to do and they want me, then I'll do that. I don't know what's going to be the next right-feeling thing, but I do feel like I've been so blessed in my career to have several of those things that just feel so right when they're all coming together. Now I sort of expect that, which might be a bad thing. [Laughs]

And you don't have to fit your next project into a tight Ugly Betty hiatus window anymore. How does that feel?

It's strange right now. It's nice. It's nice to feel like I don't have to rush and do the first thing that comes along because this is the only opportunity I'll have for the next ten months to do anything different. I like to take my time and really listen myself, and also know that I'm entering a different chapter in my career. I don't expect people to know my potential more than I know my potential. I know all my facets and where I want to go grow and challenge myself and what I'm capable of -- even things I don't yet know that I'm capable of, but I hope I am -- but I feel like a lot of audiences and the people who make decisions, they know what you've been.

And that can hold you back?

They see what you've done, and when it's about carving an uncharted path, like, "I want to do this thing that nobody's ever seen me do," that's going to take some more time than, "Oh, we've got this thing that's a cross between Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Ugly Betty." [Laughs] "We're gonna have Curves meets Our Family Wedding!" Those things are fine, and in any other state of my career I would have died for it and wanted to do it, but right now, I feel like I'd rather take the slower, more thoughtful, more challenging path. I want to challenge myself and know that I'm moving forwards always in my work.

Can you provide those opportunities for yourself as an actress while producing?

Absolutely, yeah. Definitely. It gives you a certain power as an actor that you don't have when you're just sitting there to be hired. I know what that feels like, and it's not a place of empowerment, it's a place of desperation. It's a place of "Please, someone, give me a chance and hire me." To be in a place where you're writing, developing, and talking to other artists, that feels like a really powerful place to be creatively.

[Lead Photo Credit: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images]

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