America Ferrera: I've Wasted Too Much Time on Dieting

While there's nothing "ugly" about actress America Ferrera, the former Ugly Betty star admits that being known as curvier than most of Hollywood took its toll on her.

In the new fall/winter issue of Cosmopolitan for Latinas, Ferrera, 28, opens up about all of the pressure she's felt in her career to look like her thinner colleagues. Despite breaking out in the independent film Real Women Have Curves and then winning an Emmy for Ugly Betty, Ferrera couldn't escape the body issues that pervade the industry.

"More often than not, I hate photos shoots and I hate being on the red carpet," says Ferrera, who has been married to filmmaker Ryan Piers Williams, 31, since June 2011. "I don't think I'm very well equipped for the scrutiny or the pressure to be perfect, and I don't think anyone really is."

Currently starring in End of Watch opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, Ferrera admits that having low self-esteem earlier in her career made accepting compliments difficult.

"People are saying 'We love you and love what you do,' and you're sitting there thinking, 'I'm not skinny enough or pretty enough,'" she says. "It's taken a lot of work to get over that."

But now Ferrera welcomes the fact that she's not another size-zero in Hollywood and says she hopes to inspire young women to take stock more in who they are than a number on the scale.

"How much time have I wasted on diets and what I look like? Take your time and your talent and figure out what you have to contribute to this world," Ferrera says. "And get over what the hell your butt looks like in those jeans!"

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/america-ferrera-ive-wasted-too-much-time-dieting/1-a-491821

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