America Ferrera ‘Didn’t Know How to Behave’ at First Sundance: ‘I Stuck My Bare Hand in Snow’ (Exclusive)

The 2002 Sundance Film Festival, says America Ferrera, was “the first time I saw myself on screen.”

It was also, perhaps just as significantly, the Los Angeles native’s first experience with real winter. “I was most excited by the snow,” says 39-year-old Ferrera. “I didn’t know how to behave. I stuck my bare hand into a pile of snow and immediately regretted it.”

With Sundance celebrating 40 years of launching Hollywood careers, PEOPLE asked Ferrera, Jennifer Lawrence and others in this week’s issue about their earliest memories of the snowy festival in Park City, Utah.

Founded with the help of Robert Redford, the Sundance Institute’s annual celebration of cinema has launched hit indies ranging from Little Miss Sunshine to The Blair Witch Project this year’s Oscar nominee for best film Past lives.

At the debut of his breakthrough film Real women have curveswhich won the Jury Prize at the 2002 festival, Ferrera remembers celebrating “with a packed audience that laughed, cried and clapped, then gave us a standing ovation of several minutes.”

America Ferrera Says Her Travel pants The costars FaceTimed her ‘as a group’ after Barbie Oscar nomination

America Ferrera at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2010.

George Pimentel/Getty

Adds newly minted Barbie Oscar nominee: “That moment changed my whole world. I started living my wildest dreams. I will never forget it.”

“I love the films that come out of there and I love the kind of audiences they attract,” Lawrence, 33, says of the festival. The Hunger Games The star’s Oscar-winning film career began at Sundance in 2010 during the film’s sensational premiere Winter bone.

“I remember it was the first time someone wanted to interview me and they were really interested because they thought I was a good actor, so it worked out,” she tells PEOPLE.

For other indie film fans, the annual event created an opportunity to connect with lifelong friends and collaborators. Starring Don Cheadle Manicwhich debuted in 2001, is where Joseph Gordon-Levitt bonded with fellow actress and musician Zooey Deschanel.

The best photos from Sundance 2024

Ingrid Oliu, America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiveros, Josefina Lopez and Patricia Cardoso in “Real Women Have Curves” at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Randall Michelson/WireImage

“Zooey lightened her hair,” recalls Gordon-Levitt, 42. “I know it sounds like a small thing, but for some reason it sticks in my mind. I guess because years later [in 2009]we returned to Sundance together with 500 days of summer, so I think about that first year, when it looked so different, that stands out.”

“I built the foundation of my career doing indie films, and Sundance was a big part of that,” Deschanel, 44, tells PEOPLE. “It’s a wonderful place to meet old friends and meet new ones.”

Not that her first experience in Utah went without a hitch. “I didn’t even know someone was going to take my picture,” Deschanel recalls. “The only makeup I had with me was one lipstick that I put on my lips and cheeks for all the events.”

She also recalls feeling “extremely uncomfortable watching a kissing scene in a movie with my parents sitting next to me.”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

J. Vespa/WireImage

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, whose career got a big boost when he Crazy boots won Sundance in 2006, remembers getting “a lot of free weather gear. Almost 20 years later I still have a pair of boots!”

The British star adds: “Even though London is no stranger to cold weather, it still felt very exotic to me. But maybe it had something to do with people escaping to ski between screenings.” Ejiofor’s advice for those new to Sundance? “Try not to freeze to death!”

Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart are reuniting after more than 20 years Panic room at the Sundance Film Festival

For Ejiofor, what makes the Sundance experience so memorable are “the people, the discussions, the (frankly rather manic) love of movies and moviemaking.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by others, including Ferrera, who says that returning to the festival “is like coming home.” And I love seeing it evolve. My favorite addition is the Latinx House which celebrates all the amazing Latino talent out there.”

Egyptian theater. Getty

For Gordon-Levitt, Sundance was the “holy grail” even before he started premiering films there. “All the movies I loved as a teenager in the ’90s went through Sundance. Reservoir Dogs, Swingers, Sling Bladethose little films that didn’t fit into the mainstream Hollywood box.”

Now, the actor adds, the festival is a “safe haven” for him. “I remember that joyful feeling of finally getting to where I always wanted to be.”

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival runs January 18-28, with premieres in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education