HBO’s newest series, “Euphoria,” has the Internet buzzing, but it’s one of the characters, Kat Hernandez, played by upcoming actress Barbie Ferreira who’s making waves right now.
The 22-year old Ferreira has been a fan favorite of the American teen drama television series, and she’s defying one-note narratives as the spotlight is now focused on her.
While’s she’s larger than life and queer as she can be, she wants to be more than just a series of “activism points.”
In an interview with Out magazine, she said: “Everyone’s identity has so many facets; so many things influence the way you make decisions. It’s hard to just talk about one thing all the time.”
“I’m feeling really great about maybe never having to talk about my body like that anymore, or having to market my body as my only thing. I don’t want it to happen again with my sexuality,” she said.
Barbie Ferreira: A body-positivity star
Born on December 14, 1996 in New York City, Barbie Linhares Ferreira lived in Queens before she moved to Maywood, New Jersey. She was raised by her mother, aunt, and grandmother.
As a teenager, she began a modeling career by participating in an American Apparel open call. Since then, she’s become known as a model-body positivity advocate.
While modeling for Aerie, Adidas, Forever 21, H&M, and Target, she was included in Time’s Most Influential Teens of 2016.
“When I started modeling, I felt like I had to open up in a way that was different than before, because I wanted to. I wanted to start that journey now rather than later,” Ferreira told them website.
Ferreira told Bust in another interview: “I started modeling to be an actor. I had a goal: 21, I wanted to be already working as an actor.”
Now, Ferreira said she’s achieved her acting dreams: “Because you don’t get fat girl roles where you’re allowed to explore sexuality, where you’re not just the tragic, dowdy, chubby girl.”
Barbie Ferreira doesn’t give a f*ck
Even though she’s focusing on her acting career, she’s still making major fashion statements in her new show. This is currently bleeding over into her present style.
Likewise, she still loves being a fat girl: “I love the word fat. When I talk about myself or my friends, we are The Fat Agenda.”
“The moment when I reframed what beauty is to me, and what I find attractive, and how I want to present myself to the world, and how that doesn’t have to necessarily closely relate to what everyone else is doing– that was really powerful for me,” she said.
“Not giving a f*ck about your looks in that way, where you can express yourself and you have taken that time with yourself to explore and take up space that you probably couldn’t before. Or, didn’t feel like you could manage your insecurities. That always spoke to me,” she added.
Identities of being queer, fat, and Brazilian
Ferreira has also declared herself as queer in Out Magazine: “I’m queer. In my private life, it’s been going on for a long time.”
“I obviously don’t really identify as a straight woman ever in my life, but I feel like now I’m really in my queerness. I’m in LA living my ‘L Word’ life. Isn’t it amazing?” she said.
In the Bust interview, she said: “I’d love to see a healthy queerness explored. We deserve that.”
“I love being queer. I love being fat. I love being Brazilian. I love being from New York. [All my identities] are what make me Barbie,” she said.
For more of Ferreira and her character in “Euphoria,” check out the video below:
