--- title: Dascha Polanco on the Pressures of Being Latina description: Find out what Orange Is the New Black star Dascha Polanco said about the pressures of being Latina in Hollywood. canonical: https://time.com/4820450/dascha-polanco-latina-pressure-hollywood/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-15T18:17:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:43.914Z og:title: Orange Is the New Black’s Dascha Polanco on the Pressures on Being Latina in Hollywood og:description: ‘When you look at Latinas who are succeeding in Hollywood, they’re super thin’ og:url: https://time.com/4820450/dascha-polanco-latina-pressure-hollywood/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b884c404b5a99e5/6988d1ebbc6cfcd29d3e1dd8/gettyimages-695360144.jpg?branch=production&width=729&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 729 og:image:height: 410 og:image:alt: gettyimages-695360144 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Orange Is the New Black’s Dascha Polanco on the Pressures on Being Latina in Hollywood twitter:description: ‘When you look at Latinas who are succeeding in Hollywood, they’re super thin’ twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b884c404b5a99e5/6988d1ebbc6cfcd29d3e1dd8/gettyimages-695360144.jpg?branch=production&width=729&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Orange Is the New Black_’s Dascha Polanco on the Pressures on Being Latina in Hollywood > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=b870e950-f7db-490b-a789-06a34b2e6f7d&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Thatiana Diaz / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Thatiana Diaz / People Contributor Jun 15, 2017 6:17 PM UTC  CJ Rivera by [Thatiana Diaz / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Thatiana Diaz / People Contributor Jun 15, 2017 6:17 PM UTC There’s no holding back when it comes to [**Dascha Polanco**](http://people.com/bodies/dascha-polanco-talks-about-embracing-her-thighs-in-a-bodysuit/), who plays Dayanara Diaz on _Orange Is the New Black_. The actress revealed to _Vogue_ last year that designers have denied dressing her because of her [curvy figure](http://people.com/bodies/oitnbs-dascha-polanco-says-shes-secure-in-herself-and-doesnt-care-if-you-call-her-fat/). Now, she talks about the hardships of being an afro-Latina in Hollywood. “We have to be ‘Fake Latinas,’” Polanco told [_Vivala_](http://www.vivala.com/inspirational-women/dascha-polanco-afo-latina-features/7124) about fitting in with stereotypes. “And here’s the thing about ‘Fake Latinas’ – when you look at Latinas who are succeeding in Hollywood, they’re super thin and you really can’t tell if she’s Latina or not.” She continued, “I was growing up and not thinking that I was good enough. I just thought, _‘_Oh my God, if only I had lighter eyes. If only I had lighter hair. If only I was skinny. Oh my God, if I was a size 0, I know I would get more work. I could play an Italian right now! This is why you’re not getting a job.’” Now proud with her features, the actress has embraced her diversity and wants to encourage her fans to do the same. “Something I’m working on is #SelfLovery. This is this whole project that I’m working on where we’re including men and women, to just take a moment to self-analyze and just say, ‘_I love myself_,’” she said. Last year, Polanco criticized the Univison show _El Gordo y La Flaca._ She took to social media to call them “tasteless” for body shaming her after wearing the same dress as Venezuelan television host **Daniela Di Giacomo** to _People en Español_’s “[50 Most Beautiful](http://people.com/chica/people-en-espanols-2017-most-beautiful/)” party in New York City. The 33-year-old later teamed up with Blink Fitness for the company’s campaign, “Every Body Happy,” where they chose finalists to be featured in an ad. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4820450/dascha-polanco-latina-pressure-hollywood/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4820450/dascha-polanco-latina-pressure-hollywood/"},"headline":"Orange Is the New Black’s Dascha Polanco on the Pressures on Being Latina in Hollywood","datePublished":"2017-06-15T18:17:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:43.914Z","description":"‘When you look at Latinas who are succeeding in Hollywood, they’re super thin’","url":"https://time.com/4820450/dascha-polanco-latina-pressure-hollywood/","keywords":["motto","gender","Stereotypes","sexism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b884c404b5a99e5/6988d1ebbc6cfcd29d3e1dd8/gettyimages-695360144.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Thatiana Diaz / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b884c404b5a99e5/6988d1ebbc6cfcd29d3e1dd8/gettyimages-695360144.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"gettyimages-695360144","caption":"","creditText":"CJ Rivera","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4820450/dascha-polanco-latina-pressure-hollywood/","name":"Orange Is the New Black’s Dascha Polanco on the Pressures on Being Latina in Hollywood"}}]}] ```