Dascha Polanco

Dascha Polanco is, for me, inseparable from Daya on Orange Is the New Black. That role gave one of TV's best ensembles a vulnerable, volatile center, and she made Daya feel painfully real rather than written. What I admire is her backstory: Santo Domingo-born, raised in the U.S., a Hunter College student who reportedly came to acting later than most, after other work. That non-linear road tends to produce performers with more lived texture, and you feel it. Catching her again as Cuca in the 2021 In the Heights film was a treat - proof she can swing from gritty drama into joyful musical energy without missing a step.

Name (English)

Dascha Polanco

Name (Japanese)

ダーシャ・ポランコ

Reading

だーしゃ・ぽらんこ

Born

December 3, 1982 (age 43)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Dog

Origin

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Occupation

actor / television actor / exotic dancer / film actor

High school

American High School

University

Hunter College

Motto

Private

• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/sheisdash/
• Xhttps://x.com/sheisdash
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%80%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9D%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B3

Tags

• actor
• television actor
• exotic dancer

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.