Illustration: Lauren Tamaki Dascha Polanco was managing a hospital operating room, on track to becoming a nurse, when her mom died. “I was disenchanted,” she says. “I started feeling like, ‘Damn, this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life, when I know and I feel in my heart that I’m an artist?’” So with the help of her partner, the actress sought acting classes that eventually helped her land the role of inmate Dayanara “Daya” Diaz on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black.
I do enjoy working out. I like weight lifting. I like high-intensity interval training. I enjoy walking. I like to dance. Sometimes I’m like, “You know what? Fuck it. I’m gonna do my cardio. I’m gonna go up and down my staircase.” I live on the 30th floor. I go up and down three times, and I’m out of breath.