What ever happened to the cast of "Ugly Betty"?

It is hard to believe that it has been over 10 years since “Ugly Betty” first graced our television screens on ABC. Ironically, the series was released only one week after the film The Devil Wears Prada, which featured a similar storyline of an intelligent plain Jane (Anne Hathaway) who lands a job as an assistant for the evil high fashion magazine editor (Meryl Streep). The film received rave reviews and earned Streep a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. So when “Ugly Betty” made its debut, fans who recently fell in love with The Devil Wears Prada, were more than thrilled to see a TV series with the same plot.
Of course, there was a lot of negative attention that “Ugly Betty” initially received, many believed that the producers of the show were “ripping off” the recent book turned film by Lauren Weisberger. However, the critics were soon proved wrong after it was revealed that “Ugly Betty” was actually based on the very popular Columbian telenovela “Yo Soy Betty, La Fea” (I am Betty, The Ugly), which aired from 1999-2001.
Despite its familiar storyline, the series continued to stand out among everything else on air at the time. There weren’t many popular American series out there that featured “ugly” female characters, especially one who is Latino. The series celebrated diversity and broke ground for minorities everywhere. It didn’t take long until America fell in love with America, America Ferrara that is. The young actress became a star for portraying the role of “Ugly” Betty (who is not so ugly after all) and gained recognition from all over the world for her tremendous performance on the show. She went on to win an Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award and more only one year following the show’s premiere.
After two immensely successful seasons, the ratings suddenly began to drop and the series was moved to a Friday night spot, which angered its dedicated fans. ABC gave the series one more chance with a new Wednesday night slot right after Modern Family, but unfortunately it didn’t help much and the ratings continued to drop. “Ugly Betty” ended too soon, and was cancelled after the 4th season.
It has now been 7 years since we said goodbye to the cast of “Ugly Betty”. The actors and actresses that made the show so remarkable are now 7 years older, and while some of them left their acting days behind them, many of them are off to much bigger and better things.
[post_page_title]Rebecca Romijn as Alexis Meade[/post_page_title]
Alexis was originally Alexander Spencer Meade, Daniel’s brother and the former editor-in-chief of Hudson Magazine who was believed to be killed in a skiing accident. He returns as a mysterious woman in bandages, and conspires with Wilhelmina to takeover MODE magazine from Daniel. The mysterious woman reveals her identity as the former Alex Meade who is now called Alexis, leaving the Meade family in shock. Alexis was played by Elizabeth Penn Payne for the first 12 episodes, but was later replaced by Rebecca Romijn for the rest of the series.