Ugly Betty

Image credit: America Ferrera photograph by Gavin Bond

FERRERA

All About

Ugly Betty

Get the latest photos, news, and more

Her eyebrows are wretchedly thick. Her clothing choices are sadly misguided. And the blinding braces in her mouth could set off metal detectors from miles away. So how on earth did a homely young upstart named Betty Suarez become the It Girl of the fall TV season?

''It's a makeover show from the inside,'' says America Ferrera (Real Women Have Curves), who stars as a sartorially challenged Latina girl from Queens who miraculously lands an entry-level job in the bitchy offices of Mode, a glossy Manhattan fashion magazine. ''Betty is beautiful and charming and intelligent on the inside. The audience will fall in love with her because of that, not because of who she is on the outside.''

Ferrera sure sounds confident, and that's probably because the character she portrays has already achieved something like worldwide domination. The series is based on Yo Soy Betty la Fea, the wildly popular Colombian telenovela (that's a soap opera to you gringos) that's been remade for eager audiences from Mexico to India. ''I knew this could be incredibly successful here because Americans love the fish-out-of-water story,'' says executive producer Salma Hayek, who, in a nod to Betty's origins, makes a hysterical cameo as a telenovela star in the pilot. ''No matter what happens to [Betty], it's very satisfying to watch. It's such a crowd-pleaser.'' The pilot generated such intense early critical buzz that ABC shuttled Betty from its original, unglam Friday-night time slot and gave it the plum Thursday-night berth — right before Grey's Anatomy. ''It's definitely confirmation that they believe in the show,'' says executive producer Ben Silverman, ''but it's a lot more pressure, too.''

Of course, if anyone can handle that kind of stress, it's Betty. She's routinely beaten down by a round-robin of haters that include her rail-thin colleagues, a spineless boss (The L Word's Eric Mabius), Mode's manipulative fashionista-in-chief Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams), and Betty's Herbalux-peddling older sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz). Despite whatever hilariously humiliating circumstances befall her — like being forced to model a horrible, too-tight, red leather getup at a photo shoot — Betty (usually) winds up with dignity intact. ''Betty is the best of all of us,'' says exec producer Silvio Horta (Jake 2.0). ''We put her in situations and she does what we aspire to do. We want to honor her.''

Which is why there are no plans to turn this ugly duckling into a swan. ''She'll always be the outsider,'' promises Horta. ''She's never going to be the 6' 2" Amazon.'' Even Ferrera, who happily ditches the brows, glasses, heinous duds, and snap-on braces at the end of the day, doesn't want Betty to go all beauty queen on us. ''I've been asked a lot when she's going to get pretty. But it's so not the point of the show. You need to love the whole package,'' she says. ''You know, beautiful people do not a hit show make.''

By Jessica Shaw