Ana María Orozco and Jorge Enrique Abello will reprise their iconic roles in “Yo soy Betty, la fea” in a sequel called “Betty La Fea,” set to debut on Amazon’s Prime Video in 2024.
The series will pick up Betty’s story 20 years later when she’s a successful woman, mother and wife.
Still married to Armando (Abello) and trying to rebuild her relationship with her adolescent daughter, she battles the economic crisis of her family company and wonders whether the path she has chosen in life has really made her happy.
The original Colombian series is hailed as the most successful telenovela of all time, having sold worldwide and spawning 20 remakes, including an American version called "Ugly Betty" featuring America Ferrera in the lead role that ran from 2006 to 2010.
Ferrera's widely acclaimed performance as Betty Suarez, a budding journalist living in New York City, earned her a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy, among other accolades.
The original series’ overnight success was a testament to Orozco’s endearing performance and the talent of its creator, the late Fernando Gaitan, who imbued its characters with such universal humanity that they still resonate with young generations two and a half decades later. Rebelliously tender Betty transformed the world around her and with her Gaitan found a poignant twist to the Ugly Duckling trope.
“This is, I think, an homage to Fernando’s work. I’ve witnessed how this incredible writer’s room has taken his legacy and we’ve tried with immense care and respect to live up to the task. It is a huge challenge but I think we are in good hands,” Orozco commented.
She added, “Even though Betty was so advanced for its time, there’s many elements that are very much from its time, from our culture, from our idiosyncrasy, issues that now, 20 years later we can address, to have a dialogue with a modern audience. I feel that her essence hasn’t changed but precisely because of this Betty surely poses many questions, She is now more mature, but life for a woman in her forties is never an easy challenge.”
“‘Yo soy Betty, la fea’ had a healthy energy, and the character an enormous impact on conventional beauty codes which explains why it became a global franchise with which all women can relate,” said Francisco Morales, who leads Prime Video’s team of contents strategy and acquisitions for Latin America.
"Betty La Fea" joins Prime Video’s lineup of Latin titles which includes “News of a Kidnapping,” “Life After Reality,” “The Head of Joaquín Murrieta” and “Argentina, 1985.”