It's Dark Times for America Ferrera in 'X/Y' (Exclusive Trailer)
America Ferrera has come a long way from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
"I’ve been exploring new avenues and aspects of what I love about storytelling," Ferrera, now 30, tells Yahoo Movies. That’s evident in the upcoming indie X/Y, a drama about the obstacles people caught between Gen-X and Gen-Y face — as seen in the exclusive trailer above.
Yes, Ferrera is excited about the Pants sequel that’s in the works, but she’s also making time for passion projects, like X/Y — in which she stars and produced along with her husband, Ryan Piers Williams, who also wrote and directed.
Ferrera plays Sylvia, a New York woman who finds herself disillusioned with relationships in a world of social media. “No one gives you a handbook on ‘this is how to balance technological communication — Facetime — with in-person communication,’” Ferrera says.
X/Y is one of several film and television projects Ferrera has been developing, but not one she had planned to star in. “We had gone out to several actresses,” she reveals. As the project took shape, she sparked to the role. “[Sylvia is] in this place in her life where she’s made a lot of mistakes and where it seems quite dark. As an actor it’s a very interesting challenge to take on a character that on the page doesn’t have very many redeeming qualities,” says Ferrera.
Like her character, Ferrera calls New York home. She says life there with Williams is enhanced by their close-knit working relationship. They met while Ferrera was at USC, working on one of his student films, and have collaborated on several projects since. “We really like being in a creative process together,” she says. “With all of its challenges, it’s really fun to do the thing that we both really feel passionate about together. It just works for us. I don’t know why. It just does.”
For now, Ferrera is trusting her instincts and reveling in her career shift behind the camera as a producer. “I like this period of exploration.”
X/Y, also starring Common (Selma), Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station), and Ferrera’s fellow Pants alum Amber Tamblyn, opens March 6 in select theaters and VOD.
See the poster for X/Y (exclusive):
