Actress America Ferrera is hoping her new movie role will draw attention to the kidnapping crisis in Colombia.

The Ugly Betty star plays the girlfriend of a man kidnapped in Spanish language movie Hacia la oscuridad (Towards Darkness), which hits movie theatres in the U.S. on 14 March (08).

And while promoting the film, Ferrera is keen to remind the public of the kidnapping epidemic in the South American country.

She says, "The rate in Colombia is awful. More than one person a day is kidnapped there."