Elizabeth Rodriguez is hittin’ the beat…
The 41-year-old Puerto Rican actress and former Orange is the New Black star will star opposite Jimmy Smits and Amanda Warren in the CBS police drama pilot East New York.
Co-written by William Finkelstein and Mike Flynn and directed by Mike Robin, the project centers on Regina Haywood (Warren), the newly promoted deputy inspector of East New York, an impoverished, working-class neighborhood at the eastern edge of Brooklyn. She leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are reluctant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting during the midst of social upheaval and the early seeds of gentrification.
Rodriguez will portray Crystal Morales, an intuitive detective who is not easily intimidated. She closely guards her private life, making her an object of endless speculation.
In addition to Warren and Smits, they join previously announced series regulars Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Richard Kind, Lavel Schley and Olivia Luccardi.
Warner Bros. Television is the studio.
Rodriguez played Aleida Diaz on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, for which she received three consecutive SAG Awards. She was a series regular on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, NBC’s Prime Suspect and Cinemax’s Blanco.
Rodriguez most recently completed a starring role in the feature film Allswell, which she also co-wrote and co-produced.
