Selenis Leyva is an American actress. She is known for her role as Gloria Mendoza in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
comedy-drama series ''
Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–19), and also starred on the
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
comedy-drama series ''
Diary of a Future President
''Diary of a Future President'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Ilana Peña which premiered on Disney+ on January 17, 2020. Gina Rodriguez serves as an executive producer through her company I Can & I Will Productions, ...
'' (2020–21).
Life and career
Leyva was born and raised in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. She is of Cuban and Dominican descent.
She has appeared in a number of
Off-Broadway productions. On television, Leyva had a recurring role of Detective Mariluz Rivera in ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'', and also appeared in different roles on the show and on ''
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. She has guest-starred on ''
Third Watch
''Third Watch'' is an American crime drama television series created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero that aired on NBC from September 26, 1999, to May 6, 2005, with a total of 132 episodes spanning over six seasons. It was produced ...
'', ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'', ''
The Good Wife
''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...
'', ''
Girls
A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...
'', and ''
Elementary
Elementary may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001
* ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007
* ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977
Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...
''.
In 2013, Leyva began starring as Gloria Mendoza, a Latina leader in the jail, in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
comedy-drama series ''
Orange Is the New Black''. Her character was recurring for the first two seasons and she was promoted to series regular in Season 3.
Along with cast, she received three
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. She also received
ALMA Award for Outstanding Special Achievement in Television in 2014. The series ended in 2019, after seven seasons. During her time in ''Orange Is the New Black'', Leyva co-starred opposite
Viola Davis
Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...
and
Catalina Sandino Moreno
Catalina Sandino Moreno (born 19 April 1981) is a Colombian actress. She shared the Silver Bear with Charlize Theron and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her leading role in '' Maria Full of Grace'' (2004). She c ...
in the 2016 courtroom drama film ''
Custody'' directed and written by
James Lapine
James Elliot Lapine (born January 10, 1949) is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for ''Into the Woods'', '' Falsettos'', and '' Passion''. He ...
, and played Monica Warren in the 2017 superhero film ''
Spider-Man: Homecoming''. In 2018, she had a supporting role in the Netflix miniseries ''
Maniac
Maniac (from Greek μανιακός, ''maniakos'') is a pejorative for an individual who experiences the mood known as mania. In common usage, it is also an insult for someone involved in reckless behavior.
Maniac may also refer to:
Film
* ' ...
''.
In 2019, Leyva was cast in the
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
comedy-drama series ''
Diary of a Future President
''Diary of a Future President'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Ilana Peña which premiered on Disney+ on January 17, 2020. Gina Rodriguez serves as an executive producer through her company I Can & I Will Productions, ...
'' produced by
Gina Rodriguez
Gina Alexis Rodriguez-LoCicero (born July 30, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her leading role as Jane Villanueva in The CW satirical romantic dramedy series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019), for which she received a Golden Glo ...
. The series premiered on January 17, 2020 and was cancelled in December 2021.
Books
Leyva is the co-author, with her sister Marizol, of the book ''My Sister: How One Sibling's Transition Changed Us Both'', which was published by Bold Type Books in March 2020.
Personal life
Leyva has one daughter, Alina.
She is a supporter of the
LGBT community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...
and revealed in June 2015 that her sister Marizol is
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leyva, Selenis
American television actresses
American film actresses
American people of Dominican Republic descent
American people of Cuban descent
American stage actresses
Hispanic and Latino American actresses
Living people
21st-century American actresses
20th-century American actresses
Entertainers from the Bronx
Year of birth missing (living people)