INTERVIEW: America Ferrera Sees Her Own Single Mom in ‘The Cat in the Hat’—& Xochitl Gomez On Why That Matters

Families come in all forms, but kids don’t always get to see that reflected on screen. The new animated film The Cat in the Hat offers a refreshing example: a Latine family at the center of a familiar story, navigating change together and appreciating where you are in life.

America Ferrera voices Carmen, a Latina single mom who works at a hospital while raising her two children, Gabby (voiced by Xochitl Gomez) and Sebastian (voiced by Tiago Martinez). After the family moves to a new town, the siblings struggle to adjust. Enter the Cat (voiced by Bill Hader), whose latest assignment is to cheer them up. He works for the fantastical Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, bringing joy and imagination to children who need it.

Hitting U.S. theaters on November 6, 2026, the film reimagines the classic Dr. Seuss story as an adventure about navigating change and appreciating where you are in life. Carmen’s status as a single mom isn’t treated as her defining characteristic—or as a problem. She’s simply a mother raising her kids. For Ferrera, who grew up with a single mom, seeing families like hers represented naturally and positively is personal.

“I was raised by a single mom. I’m the youngest of six kids, and it was just my mom raising us,” Ferrera says. “I remember growing up with this image of the perfect family on TV, which is a mom and a dad, a boy and a girl, and a dog. And that’s what a family looks like… so I think it really hit something deep for me.”

She reflects on how growing up seeing only one version of a family shaped what she believed a family could look like.

“I remember growing up and feeling like that was the right way to be a family and every other way of being a family was kind of messy or wrong or faulty. And I think it’s so beautiful that kids can grow up seeing that families look like all different kinds of things and that the love is real and family is family,” Ferrera says. “I was raised by a single mom, and I just think that they’re superheroes holding everything together, and Carmen is definitely a superhero.”

Gomez, who joined Ferrera for the press junket, echoed her sentiments, emphasizing just how meaningful this representation is.

“Just to add on to that, I think when you see something on screen, and it’s so normalized, it makes it feel okay,” Gomez says. “And that’s something that I love about film, is that when you see something represented on screen it doesn’t seem odd or alarming or scary because it is what it is. And the way it’s so natural in this movie is perfect.”

Latine families are often represented in major animated films like Disney’s Coco and Encanto through stories in which their cultural identity is central to the plot. The Cat in the Hat offers something different: a Latine family simply existing within a familiar story, without their cultural background driving the narrative. It’s the kind of everyday representation we still don’t see enough of in children’s animation, and an encouraging step toward making it more common.

“The Cat in the Hat is so iconic. It’s part of our childhoods. It was part of mine. It’s part of my kids. I read it to them. I read all of Dr. Seuss to them,” Ferrera says. “So, the idea that we can, as we should, be present inside of all the stories—it’s all imagination. The Cat in the Hat is not a color. He’s not a race. He’s a cat. So, we all belong there. We all belong inside of these big stories that particularly help kids imagine what’s possible in the world.”

Ferrera adds that she hopes this kind of representation becomes normalized for a new generation of kids of color.

“That it’s normal for them to go to the movie theater and that the biggest, most iconic stories being told in their time reflect them to them,” she says. “That shouldn’t be weird. That should be normal.”

Xochitl adds that working with Ferrera made her appreciate being part of the film even more.

“The saddest part is I didn’t actually get to record with her, but I’ve known her for a minute, and so getting to see her in her real job format instead of at an event format is really fun,” she says.

“I admire how good you are at this,” Xochitl adds while looking at Ferrera. “You come prepared, and I like that because a lot of people don’t. It makes me feel like I’m on the right path.”

Ferrera, who has voiced characters in several animated films, including How to Train Your Dragon, Disney’s Tinker Bell, and Arco, says she deeply appreciates the genre. She understands the lasting impact these films can have on young viewers.

“I just think that there’s something about animated movies that hold such a special place in people’s lives, particularly kids,” she says. “When you’re young, and you fall in love with something, it’s like you never love anything as much as you love the things that you love when you’re a kid.”

She adds that she hopes young viewers come away understanding that families don’t all look the same, that it’s okay for families to struggle, and that being different or a little weird is something to embrace.

“I know that in five years, 10 years, 15 years, we will be hearing from the kids who grew up watching this movie saying, ‘That movie meant this to me.’ And that’s always my favorite part of being a part of a film like this,” Ferrera says.