America Ferrera was surprised that her Barbie speech found an audience in teenage girls, People reported.

The Barbie star told the magazine that a “young girl” used Gloria's speech regarding women and the impossible standards set for them as an audition piece.

While Ferrera found this “hilarious”, she said it was also “super sad that 11-year-old girls resonate with that monologue and already feel like they know what I'm saying.”

The actress also mentioned this during an interview with The New York Times about the speech. Ferrera said that she was able to include some of her own words about womanhood in the speech as well as working with the film's co-writer and director Greta Gerwig.

Ferrera recalled, “Greta asked me, ‘Why don't you just tell me what you would say? Write it in your own words. What would you add?' Not every director starts out by inviting actors to rewrite their work. Some of what we talked about made it into the script.”

“The line, ‘Always be grateful' came out of that conversation with Greta. She expounded on it adding, ‘But never forget that the system is rigged,'” the actress continued.

“There were many versions that we did. We ended in tears. It ended in laughter, it got big, it got small, and I was able to do that because I really trusted Greta know what would be right for the film,” Ferrera added.

America Ferrera on oversimplifying feminist ideology

While many who have seen the movie said that they were able to relate to Ferrera's Gloria's speech, others stated that the monologue oversimplified feminist ideology. Ferrera responded to this and said, “There are a lot of people who need Feminism 101, whole generations of girls who are just coming up now and who don’t have words for the culture that they’re being raised in. Also, boys and men who may have never spent any time thinking about feminist theory.”

She continued, “If you are well-versed in feminism, then it might seem like an oversimplification, but there are entire countries that banned this film for a reason.”

“To say that something that is maybe foundational, or, in some people's view, basic feminism isn't needed is an oversimplification. Assuming that everybody is on the same level knowing and understanding the experience of womanhood is an oversimplification,” Ferrera concluded.