 | Saturday, May 28, 2005, 7:14 PM EST.
'Real Women Have Curves' Star Ferrera Goes 'Traveling'
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In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, sassy and outspoken yet deeply sensitive, fireball Carmen is brought to life by America Ferrera, who earned wide recognition, critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award with her feature debut in 2002's comedy drama Real Women Have Curves. The film took the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Hoping for quality time with her father, whom she's seen only briefly since her parents' divorce, Carmen is instead stunned to discover him happily living with a fiancé and two future stepchildren. As producer Broderick Johnson suggests, "It's as though he has moved on to a whole new family and Carmen can't help thinking, for herself and her mother, 'weren't we good enough for you?'" Disappointed and suddenly out of place, she struggles with her feelings rather than risk losing him with a confrontation, until her emotions get the better of her and all hell breaks loose.
Ferrera sees Carmen's situation as "something many people can relate to in this world where the definition of family is always changing and so often one parent is not present or where relationships can be full of love but lack trust. I grew up in a single-parent household so Carmen's struggles are familiar to me."
What Carmen must learn, Ferrera says, "is that your parents aren't superheroes and aren't perfect and that can be a very painful experience. Sometimes you hate them. And after that you learn to love and respect them."
For all her self-doubt when it comes to talking with her father, "Carmen is really the rock of the quartet," says producer Denise Di Novi. She's the one who always says what the others are thinking or feeling and with they could say. She's also the writer and narrator of the story. Carmen is a combination of passion and introspection, and America is all of that and more."
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