This Trailblazing Model Is Poised to Become TV’s Next Big Thing

Barbie Ferreira has always lived by her own rules. The 22-year-old model shook up the fashion world when she burst onto the scene four years ago when her unretouched campaign images for Aerie, American Eagle’s wildly popular lingerie brand, went viral. Ferreira has been a fearless champion for body positivity ever since, challenging beauty standards with her refusal to accept the boundaries placed on plus-size talent. Rather than take the traditional route (with catalogs or commercial fashion campaigns, say), she beat her own path as a model multitasker with her Webby Award–winning Vice video series focused on self-care, How to Behave becoming a sensation on social media along the way. And that makes her next move all the more exciting.

Ferreira hits the small screen this year, starring opposite Zendaya, Maude Apatow, and Storm Reid in the forthcoming HBO production Euphoria. Executive-produced by Drake and based on the groundbreaking Israeli drama of the same name, the show promises to put a new spin on the coming-of-age narrative. For Ferreira, who plays Katherine Hernandez, a high schooler on a journey of self-discovery, the experience of working on the project has been transformative. “I love my character [because] as I’m working on understanding her, I better understand myself,” shared Ferreira on the phone from Los Angeles. “I’m a sensitive person. I’ve always been brimming with emotion—it feels good to let it all out!”

Performance has been Ferreira’s preferred mode of self-expression. Since her days as a 13-year-old in Mount Vernon, New Jersey, making playful Tumblr videos in her bedroom, she’s channeled her feelings into her creative process. And in the eight months that it took to film the new show, she had time to develop the most emotional facets of her character. “Kat and I really similar,” she says. “She’s exploring herself and what it means to be a girl who doesn’t fit in the same boxes as the people around her. I based it on how I was at 16.”

A fan of everything from art-house classics (think Tilda Swinton’s Orlando) to the escapist fantasy of the Harry Potter series, Ferreira is eager to try her hand at comedy and drama. She’s been impressed by the way Euphoria tackles the realities of teenage life. “It’s like walking into a cafeteria—it really puts you in that mind-set,” she says. “It’s been a lesson, a boot camp for actors, and a great safe space where we’ve all been learning and growing.”