Dascha Polanco

Dascha Polanco
Polanco at the 2014 Peabody Awards
Born	1981/1982 (age 34–35) Dominican Republic
Alma mater	Hunter College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2011–present

Dascha Polanco is a Dominican American actress, best known for playing the character Dayanara Diaz on Orange Is the New Black.

Polanco was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States at a young age. She was raised in Brooklyn, New York and Miami by her father, a mechanic, and mother, a cosmetologist.

Polanco aspired to be an actress from an early age but "always doubted auditioning because of [her] weight", so she completed a bachelor's degree in psychology at Hunter College. After college she began working in the healthcare industry with the intention of becoming a nurse. She was working in hospital administration at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx while studying nursing when she gained the courage to pursue acting again and registered herself with an acting studio. She attended BIH Studios in New York, and while there was signed by the talent agency Shirley Grant Management. Her first acting credits were minor parts on the television series Unforgettable and NYC 22.

In 2012, Polanco was cast in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black as Dayanara "Daya" Diaz, an inmate in a women's prison; it was her first full-time acting job.

Polanco subsequently appeared in the independent film Gimme Shelter (2013) before returning to her role on Orange Is the New Black for the show's second season. In June 2014, it was announced that she had been promoted from a recurring role to a series regular for the show's third season, which was released in June 2015. She appeared in the comedy films The Cobbler (2014) and Joy (2015), and will next star in the film The Perfect Match (2016), as well as Orange Is the New Black's fourth season.