After Peloton released its widely panned Christmas ad this week, conversation around the commercial switched from “This poor woman!” to “Who is this poor woman?”
The cult-favorite stationary bike company received backlash over its 30-second ad, “The Gift That Gives Back,” since the gift was a $2,245 bicycle from a seemingly image-obsessed husband. The gift back was, apparently, a fitter wife for the “sexist” spouse.
And while the criticism was fierce, the need to identify the actress in the Peloton commercial was far fiercer. Across all social media platforms, internet sleuths dug for the answer. Many compared her to “Shameless” actress Emmy Rossum, “with a little Jessica Alba thrown in,” one desperate Redditor wrote.
“Who is the actress in the Peloton commercial and does she need our help?” @EvanJKessler tweeted, alluding to the arguably disturbing undertones of the ad.
“Does anyone know who the actress is on the commercial? I recognize her from a hallmark movie or something. Same constant look of terror throughout,” one Reddit user said.
Another user commented, “I wanna know who she is! I can’t stop looking at her.”
Update: The actress, Monica Ruiz, is alive and well.
Ruiz told “Today” host Hoda Kotb she wanted to set the record straight.
“When [the backlash] didn’t blow over and when people started kind of answering for me,” said Ruiz, 32, “I was like, okay, I’ll let everyone know: I’m fine.”
When asked why she thought her role sparked such a negative reaction, she responded, “I think it was just my face.”
“My eyebrows looked worried,” Ruiz continued. “I looked scared. That was the problem.”
She has since appeared in an ad for Ryan Reynolds’ gin company, Aviation, and is set to guest star on “The Bold and the Beautiful.”