Few TV shows have had the cultural impact of Euphoria, and none has launched the careers of quite so many young Hollywood stars, among them Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney.
But it was the fearless Barbie Ferreira as Kat Hernandez, the show’s goth turned dominatrix cam girl, who captured the girliesphere from the get-go.
“Euphoria always felt really special,” she says. “I remember that the first few episodes were slow. And then episode four, season one, everything changed. We were everywhere. I was superyoung. I had no idea how to deal with it. But it was so fun. It was a rollercoaster ride.”
Perhaps more than any of her contemporaries’ on the HBO show, Ferreira’s career trajectory, from modelling to acting and producing, offers the perfect blueprint for the polymath, many-platformed nature of modern youthful stardom.
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Long before Kat became a body-positive television icon, Ferreira had gained recognition as a lively, unfiltered voice on the internet, notably as @barbienox on Tumblr, where she shared sharp-witted commentary on beauty standards and teenage life.
When she was 20 she sent what she describes as “very blurry, very embarrassing” photographs of herself to the American Apparel clothing company, which led to modelling campaigns for Adidas, Forever 21 and H&M.
“I learned early that people won’t trust you if you don’t believe in yourself,” Ferreira says. “Even when I don’t feel confident I feign it, to control the space I’m in, especially as a young woman and an actor. It’s a tactic to make sure people see me as the artist I want to be. Modelling was a way to get exposure and get into acting. And it worked.”
Ferreira has amassed an impressive list of collaborators since Euphoria, including Jordan Peele, on Nope; Sharon Horgan, on Divorce; and, alongside Charli XCX, Daniel Goldhaber, on the director’s upcoming reboot of the 1978 horror film Faces of Death.
“I still feel like a new actor, but I’ve learned a lot,” she says. “Working on Nope was eye-opening; seeing how Jordan Peele runs a set, his vision and kindness. That was great to watch.”
A few hours after we talk, Ferreira is awarded the Golden Bee prize for rising star at this year’s Mediterrane Film Festival, in Malta, to recognise her growing influence in the film industry and her work on the recent indie drama Bob Trevino Likes It, a poignant comedy in which she plays a lonely young woman who strikes up a Facebook friendship with an older man (played by John Leguizamo) who happens to have the same name as her abusive father (French Stewart).
The film, which Ferreira also executive-produced, had already scooped the grand jury and audience awards at the South by Southwest festival, in Texas.
“Coming from a matriarchal family without a father figure, the role in Bob Trevino was cathartic,” Ferreira says. “It allowed me to confront complicated feelings about trauma and narcissism in family relationships.
“The script really resonated with me. It captured the CPTSD” – complex post-traumatic stress disorder – “of having a narcissistic or absent family member. I felt ashamed of that burden growing up and tried to downplay it. But, on set, having supportive father figures like John and French helped me emotionally process my experiences.
“It felt like closure, not ignoring pain but addressing it head on. I realised so many people relate to those family dynamics, which made the process even more powerful and healing. I ugly-cried a lot. It felt like coming full circle, finally addressing something I’d ignored.”
Ferreira is double-jobbing for a second time, as lead actor and producer, on Mile End Kicks, Chandler Levack’s follow-up to the Canadian comedy I Like Movies.
The new film, which is about to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, concerns an aspiring writer who relocates to Quebec hoping to write a book about Alanis Morissette’s album Jagged Little Pill but instead becomes romantically and professionally involved with two members of an indie-rock band.
“I love the production side of things,” Ferreira says. “I love getting to be a part of the creative process and to be a part of making decisions. I get to have a say in stuff that I didn’t have before. I get to be creative in that way.
“I’m finding my voice in the production side of things just like I’m finding my voice in acting. Acting has always been my way to express my sensitivity and emotions, and the projects that I’m doing now let me explore deep parts of myself I hadn’t explored before.
“I’m focused on roles that challenge me and help me grow. At 28, everything is starting to make sense. It feels good to be my own boss, to control my mindset and path.”
Ferreira was born in East Harlem, in New York City, in 1996, and grew up in Queens. Of Brazilian descent, she was raised primarily by her mother, aunt and grandmother, all of whom worked in the service industry.
“I’m the only American in my family,” she says. “Growing up in Queens, surrounded by immigrants, gave me a strong sense of community and cultural pride. I didn’t speak English at first. I went to a Brazilian church, spoke Portuguese at home and stayed connected to my roots. I was surrounded by diverse communities. Now I have to use Duolingo to keep up with Portuguese grammar. But that cultural identity is a big part of who I am.”
I feel, as a New Yorker, being part of an immigrant community or being the children of immigrants is what makes us New Yorkers
She attended high school in New Jersey after her family moved across the Hudson River. She was hooked on performing after participating in a local youth-theatre production of Peter Pan.
“My grandma cleaned houses, and my mom worked as a cook,” Ferreira says. “Acting was completely outside my world. I didn’t know anybody who worked in the industry. But I always loved dressing up and putting on accents. So my mom saved up to get me acting classes, because she knew it was my passion. I went to the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens and did theatre there.”
She returned to the stage late last year in a starry Broadway production of Leslye Headland’s Cult of Love featuring Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto and Mare Winningham.
“I was terrified, since I’d never done professional theatre,” Ferreira says. “But the cast was like family, and they took great care of me. I take theatre seriously, and I was worried about being the weakest link, but everyone was supportive.”
The actor now lives in Los Angeles; on trips back to New York she has been disheartened to see the ongoing redevelopment of the places where she grew up. The immigrant population of the city, and of the wider United States, dropped recently for the first time in decades, according to census data.
“It’s extremely scary,” Ferreira says. “What breaks my heart is that even my neighbourhoods have been gentrified. I feel, as a New Yorker, being part of an immigrant community or being the children of immigrants is what makes us New Yorkers, whether you are a Dominican from Washington Heights or a Jamaican in Queens. Being surrounded by diverse communities gave me resilience and pride in my culture.”
Mile End Kicks premieres at Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, September 4th
