Award-winning actress America Ferrera wears many hats. She’s well known and loved for long-running roles in series like Ugly Betty and Superstore, but even beyond that, Ferrera is a business person, which may account for her instincts when trusting co-writer and director Greta Gerwig and star and producer Margot Robbie when they sent her their script for Barbie.

While part of the movie takes place in Barbie Land, a world of pink, plastic fun, Barbie (Robbie) and Ryan Gosling’s Ken also journey to the real world, where they’re confronted with the harsher realities of humans. One of those humans is Ferrera’s Gloria, a mother and hard worker. Though she’s lower on the food chain, Gloria has dreams of playing a much larger part in her workplace, aspirations Ferrera herself worked hard to make realities. In an interview with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, Ferrera discusses the accomplishments made on the set of Barbie while working with fellow producers, creators and actors like Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon and Simu Liu.

During their conversation, Ferrera also talks about why Gerwig’s vision for Barbie changed her perspective on the brand and what nostalgic treasure from her childhood still has a lasting impact today. Find out more about that and what Barbie means to Ferrera now in this interview!