Mere days after a jaw-dropping appearance at the Emmys [1], America Ferrera [2] traded her glitzy red carpet dress for a fiery red number on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert [3]. The Superstore actress, who just completed her first triathlon [4], opened up to the show's host about her recent physical feats and what her role on the hit NBC show means to her as a Latina actress.

"It was the first time I was asked to do a role that wasn't specifically for a Latina," she told Stephen. "Every other role that I had been offered had been specified . . . this was the first time I read a script that said, 'Amy, 30, no ethnicity.' And that seems like not that big of a deal, but in television and film, if ethnicity isn't specified, then the assumption — and the default, in most cases — is white. And you have to give a reason for that role to be something other than that."

Press play above to watch her elaborate even more on the groundbreaking part the writers played in casting such a diverse group of actors. Then, remember that amazing time she and Eva Longoria [5] called out Hollywood's lack of diversity [6] at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards.