America Ferrera is taking her new Oscar clout and cashing it in with her feature directorial debut. Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures has entered the Ferrera business by tapping the actress-turned-filmmaker to helm I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Screenwriter Linda Yvette Chávez is currently attached to the adaption.
The film is based on Erika Sánchez’s New York Times bestselling novel of the same name and was previously set at Netflix before Amazon nabbed the package deal.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter follows Julia Reyes, a teen with a sharp tongue, a fierce wit, and big dreams of becoming a famous writer somewhere far, far away from Chicago and her traditional Mexican immigrant parents who just can’t understand her love for Whitman, Dickinson, and the Ramones. They wish she was more like Olga, Julia’s sister, now eternally perfect since her tragic death. As Julia seeks to break free of her oppressive home, she tries to uncover her sister’s truth and, in the process, gains a deep understanding of the wounds her family carries.
Ferrera is coming off Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which earned the actress her first Academy Award nomination. Many will also remember the actress from ABC’s Ugly Betty, where she nabbed an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007.
