Blake Lively and America Ferrera’s sisterhood goes way beyond a pair of traveling pants.
Following Ferrera’s 2024 Critics’ Choice Awards victory and empowering speech on Sunday, January 14, Lively, 36, sang her former costar’s praises.
“Give this woman every stage, every statue, every microphone forever please,” Lively wrote via her Instagram Story on Monday, January 15, resharing a clip from the awards show. “My god we are blessed to orbit in the same times as you my sister, @Americaferrera.”
The video showed a beaming Ferrera, 39, as she articulated how honored she was to receive the SeeHer Award for her portrayal of Gloria in 2023’s Barbie.
“Receiving the SeeHer Award for my contributions to more authentic portrayals of women and girls [couldn’t] be more meaningful to me. Because I grew up as a first-generation Honduran American girl in love with TV, film and theater, who desperately wanted to be a part of a storytelling legacy that I could not see myself reflected in,” Ferrera began after earning a standing ovation from the crowd, including Ryan Gosling, who played Ken in the blockbuster hit.
She continued: “Of course, I could feel myself in characters who were strong and complex. But these characters rarely, if ever, looked like me. I yearned to see people like myself on screen as full humans.”
The actress noted that when she started working in Hollywood 20 years ago, it “seemed impossible that anyone could make a career portraying fully dimensional Latina characters.” Ferrera attributed the change in representation to writers, directors, producers and more people behind the scenes who chose to “rewrite outdated stories and to challenge deeply entrenched biases” about Latina culture.
“We are all worthy of having our lives richly and authentically reflective,” Ferrera declared before thanking her Barbie counterparts.
She concluded with a message to the men on set, saying, “Thank you to our Kens — Noah Baumbach, Tom Ackerley, David Heyman and Ryan Gosling — for all being man enough to support women’s work. You are all brilliant and you are more than Kenough.”
In addition to Lively, fellow Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costar Amber Tamblyn also celebrated Ferrera’s milestone. “You’re extraordinary and that’s all there is to it. I love you. ❤️,” Tamblyn, 40, wrote in the comments section of Ferrera’s Instagram post from the awards show.
Lively, Ferrera, Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel have been showing up for each over since they starred in 2005’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the 2008 sequel. Their most recent reunion came in December 2023 when all four actresses attended a special Barbie event in New York City.
“I was so happy to celebrate my denim sister @americaferrera She’s the heart and soul of @barbiethemovie because she’s the heart and soul of everything she’s a part of,” Lively captioned a series of Instagram photos last month. “Pants = Love. Love your sisters. Love yourself.”
