‘I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter’: America Ferrera to Make Her Directorial Debut!!

Fresh off her first-ever Oscar nomination, Barbie‘s America Ferrera is set to make her feature directorial debut. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is in development at Amazon MGM‘s Orion Pictures, with Ferrera slated to helm. Deadline reports that the film will be based on Erika Sánchez‘ bestselling novel of the same name. The project was first announced in 2021, when it was being developed by Netflix; the film has since moved to Amazon, with Ferrera still attached. Although this will be her first feature, Ferrera is no stranger to the director’s chair; she previously directed four episodes of her NBC sitcom Superstore, and five episodes of the Netflix series Gentefied, which she also executive produced.

First published in 2017, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter centers around Julia Reyes, an aspiring writer and the black-sheep daughter of a Mexican immigrant family in Chicago. She labors under the shadow of her sister Olga, who was killed in an accident before anything could tarnish her perfection. However, when Julia learns that Olga’s short life may have had a hidden, darker side, she enlists her friend Lorena and boyfriend, Connor, to discover the real truth about her sister. The project is in development at Orion Pictures, MGM‘s showcase for underrepresented filmmakers from marginalized groups; it has not yet set a release date.

Who is America Ferrera?

The LA-born Ferrera made her feature debut at age 18 with the lead role in Real Women Have Curves, earning her critical acclaim. In 2005, she was part of the lead ensemble in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, reprising her role for its sequel. 2006 saw her break out with the title role on the ABC dramedy series Ugly Betty; in 2007, the role won her an Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy, making her the first Latina woman to do so. Ferrera has also voiced Astrid in Dreamworks‘ animated How to Train Your Dragon and its assorted spinoffs and sequels, and led ABC’s workplace sitcom Superstore. Last year, in addition to her Oscar-nominated role in Barbie, she also starred in the comedy-drama Dumb Money. She is next slated to lend her voice to Disney‘s animated alien-themed film Elio, which is due in 2025.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter‘s screenplay was written by Linda Yvette Chávez, who also wrote last year’s Flamin’ Hot. It will be produced by Doreen Wilcox Little, MACRO’s Charles D. King and Poppy Hanks, Aevitas Creative Management’s David Kuhn, and Anonymous Content. Author Sánchez and MACRO’s Greta Talia Fuentes will executive produce.