Leyva Promoted to Series Regular on Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black”

Forget red! Selenis Leyva is seeing orange

The 41-year-old Cuban-Dominican American actress has been promoted to series regular on Netflix’s hit prison comedy Orange Is The New Black, which was recently picked up for a third season well-before its second-season premiere.

Selenis Leyva

Leyva plays the quick-witted and sharp-tongued Gloria Mendoza in the series, which also stars Taylor Schilling, Jason Biggs, Laura Prepon and Kate Mulgrew.

“Gloria is sassy, there’s a fierceness about her and you know that eyebrow, when it goes up, you know she means business,” Leyva told Huffington Post in an interview. “And that’s like my thing [laughs]. When I’m a little bit upset, my eyebrow goes up and that is a trait that my beautiful mother passed down to me [laughs]. We always knew in the house ‘mommy’s upset, her eyebrow just went up.’”

Selenis, who has appeared on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Girls, will next be seen opposite Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy and Naomi Watts in the feature film Saint Vincent de Van Nuys.

Season 2 of Orange Is The New Black premieres on Netflix on June 6 with all 13 episodes available at launch.

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