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Dominican actress Dascha Polanco is proving to be a rising star of her generation and is continuing to star in impressive projects both on the small and the big screen. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Polanco moved to the US at a very young age to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming an actress. While she initially pursued nursing at a medical school, she eventually moved to acting.
Dascha Polanko started her acting career with minor roles in TV shows like Unforgettable and NYC 22. She finally gained recognition in 2015, when she debuted in Jenji Kohan's black-comedy series Orange Is the New Black in Season 3.
Polanko continues to widen her resume with acting roles in projects like Peacock's Poker Face and Netflix's When They See Us.
Here are 5 must-watch TV shows and movies starring Dascha Polanko.
Top 5 Dascha Polanco movies and TV shows
1) Orange Is the New Black
Netflix's Orange Is the New Black is one of the most important and successful projects in Dascha Polanco's career, where she played the character of Dayanara Diaz. Daya was introduced in Season 3 as Aleida Diaz's daughter and was brought into the Litchfield Penitentiary as an inmate. While Daya initially exhibited childlike behaviour in prison, she eventually changed because of her mother and the other inmates' influence over her.
After Aleida's release, Daya changed for the worse and eventually channeled her rebellious side, indulging in substance use, violence, and other illegal activities inside the prison. Dascha Polanco appears in 81 episodes and also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2014 for her performance in Orange Is the New Black.
2) Russian Doll
While Dascha Polanco is a recurring character and appears in only 4 episodes of Russian Doll, her character brought much-needed emotional weight to Charlie Barnett’s Alan story. Polanco played Alan's girlfriend Beatrice in the sci-fi comedy series, who initially appears as a stable girlfriend. However, her affair with Mike gave a new direction to Alan's story and threatened to disrupt the only stability in his life.
Dascha Polanco's Beatrice was not just a woman who betrayed and cheated on her boyfriend, but her character was way more nuanced than that. Bea was actually a woman looking for emotional stability and maturity, which she never found in Alan.
3) In the Heights
Based on Quiara Alegría Hudes and Lin-Manuel Miranda's eponymous stage musical, this 2021 musical drama film tells the story of a Dominican community in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan. Dascha Polanco was an important addition to the ensemble cast of the film, bringing her community's representation to the project. She plays the role of Cuca, one of the three salon ladies alongside Daniela and Carla.
Dascha Polanco's Cuca was a free-spirited, glamorous, and witty character who was often the comic relief in the movie. In the Heights is a lively and light-hearted musical comedy that easily stands out in the actress' career.
4) The Walking Dead: Dead City
The most recent and impressive addition to Dascha Polanco's small-screen projects is AMC's Dead City, a spin-off of the post-apocalyptic franchise The Walking Dead. While the actress is mostly known for her lively roles, she played the secondary antagonist, Lucia Narvaez, in the spin-off. Lucia was an officer of the New Babylon Army, who had one mission of bringing back Manhattan to its pre-apocalypse glory.
While she initially fairly recruited people in New Babylon and also showed leniency, she eventually became ruthless and antagonistic. Dascha Polanco's character was eventually killed in Dead City Season 2, when she was turned into a zombie by Roksana and was eventually killed by Bruegel.
5) DC League of Super-Pets
The 2022 superhero animated film follows Superman's pet dog Krypto and shelter dog Ace as they work together with other animals to save the captured superheroes from Lex Luthor and Lulu. Dascha Polanco bagged her first DC project and debuted as Jessica Cruz, the first female human Green Lantern in the film.
Polanco lent her voice to Jessica's character and brought her own unique flavour to this classic and beloved comic book character. In the film, Jessica eventually adopts Diego Luna's Chip, a red squirrel, as her pet.
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