AnUgly Bettyrevival could be in the works, but certain conditions have to be met, at least for one of its stars,Ana Ortiz. Inspired by the Colombian telenovelaYo soy Betty, la fea,Ugly Bettyran successfully on ABC for four seasons, before ending in 2010. The comedy-drama series was a star-making vehicle forAmerica Ferrera, who played the titular character, Betty Suarez, and won an Emmy for her performance in Season 1. The series follows Betty, a socially awkward and unfashionable Mexican American woman who lands a job at a New York high-fashion brand, Mode, and has to navigate this new world despite her naivety. Despite wrapping a decade and a half ago, its appeal remains strong with talks of a revival gaining steam after itsrecent debut on Netflix.
Ortiz, who played Ferrera’s supportive older sister, Hilda Suarez in the series, recently weighed in on a potential revival during her appearance on theBehind the Velvet Ropepodcast viaEntertainment Weekly. “I’m gonna live in the world of yes, because we all wanna do it so badly,” she said responding to the question of whether some form of revival was being considered. However, Ortiz shared her idea of an ideal scenario that would see her return, saying; “I honestly think the only way to do it is at least six episodes,” she explained. “I don’t think, because it’s a large cast with so many different moving parts, you couldn’t put it into a movie.It couldn’t just be a two-hour thing, because every character is so epic, right? I mean, Wilhelmina [Vanessa Williams] andJudith Light’s character, Claire Meade, and then [Michael Urie] and [Becki Newton] who play Marc and Amanda… and then the family.I think it would have to be a proper series.”
Shifting away from her thoughts on the ideal reboot format, Ortiz revealed that the entire main cast is eager to return. However, she pointed out a larger obstacle that could stand in the way — a revival would require securing the rights, which involve not just ABC but also the production company behind the original Colombian series. Regardless, Ortiz shared that discussions are already underway to navigate any potential roadblocks: “I can only say that we are so all of us, from soup to nuts,we all want to do it. I think it’s just a question now of getting the rights because it was owned by the Colombian production company, blah, blah, blah.So, we’re working on it.”
What Other ‘Ugly Betty’ Cast Members Have Said About A Revival
Ortiz isn’t the onlyUgly Bettystar excited about a potential revival. In 2023,Ferrera sharedthat the cast members have remained close-knit through the years, and they’d all be eager to reunite for a revival: “I think there has been like a deep desire there for a long time, because our Ugly Betty family is so close, and so we love each other so much… I think we’d all come back in a heartbeat.” Also,Salma Hayek,who appeared in the pilot episode and served as producer under her Ventanarosa banner, recently raved about the show on social media, writing; “This series is very close to our hearts at Ventanarosa because we produced it 17 years ago. It was groundbreaking at its time and has remained relevant throughout all these years.”
Ugly Bettyis currently available to stream on Netflix and Hulu. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
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