Dascha Polanco Thought Her 'Orange Is the New Black' Time Was Over
Dascha Polanco's eyes are as big as saucers. We've been discussing family histories, and I'm telling her about how my parents met-in a country neither of them were originally from. "That's so amazing," she says, attentive and focused on all the details. And when I tell her I have two packets of chips because I couldn't decide which flavor to have, she enthusiastically says, "I love that."
I'm baffled. Polanco is the star of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, one of TV's most unpredictable shows - as Dayanara Diaz, she's become one of the most important, pivotal, and beloved characters in the drama of Litchfield Penitentiary. I'm not surprised that she's kind; I'm surprised that she cares about the minutiae of my life, since her day-job is to surf high-stakes twists and turns and, hopefully, come out the other side.
When we left Daya at the end of OITNB's fourth season, she was holding a gun to the head of a correctional officer just as a prison-wide riot was breaking out. The cliffhanger left audiences wondering whether she really would shoot, having lost the man she loved, her daughter, and her mother's presence by her side. And now that the new season is bingeable on Netflix, we know what happened next. We spoke to Polanco about Daya's breaking point, whether she thinks Bennett will be back, and why she thought this would be her last season on the hit show.
Daya has a huge story this season. What were your feelings when you discovered what would be happening to her?
We don't get the scripts in advance. We get the scripts a week before, and enjoy the process as it goes. It's not, 'Let's sit down and talk about what's going to happen, this is where your character is going.' You're living as the character in the moment. I love my character. Daya has had such a storyline and it's relatable-especially with relationship dynamics. She falls in love in there, she becomes a mother in there, she becomes incarcerated with her mother. She's in there because of being raised by her mother in the circumstances that her mother was dealt. It's a cycle that keeps repeating itself and it's so relevant to what really happens.
One of the enduring images from the last season and for the beginning of this season was Daya holding a gun at the officer's head. How did you feel in that moment?
A lot of thoughts cross my mind when I'm working on her and her experience-how do I bring those emotions vividly [to the performance]? Metaphorically, Daya has been suppressing a lot of her emotions. In that moment, you see her decision of taking a risk, of not caring about the consequences...of wanting to feel free. It was so liberating for her. Everything else that has happened to her was not because of her choices she made, but because she consulted everybody else and didn't intuitively follow what was best for her.
Had you ever held a gun before?
That was the first time. It was a prop gun, but you do actually shoot. It's not as powerful as a real gun, but it shoots blanks and they fall. I could see that in order for you to be able to do that, you have to be at a certain emotional point. To shoot it is one thing-to shoot it at someone is another thing. I don't see it in a positive way, but it takes a lot.
To actually cause harm...it's not in me. I don't like harming people and I don't like people to harm each other. We all have our moments when we're pushed to our limit, but for the most part there are other ways to go about that. Gun laws are such a big issue. People in power abuse it and use it wrongfully. It's such an important topic to speak about. Each character exposes different traits throughout the season in trying to get the gun, and to get the power. That to me was interesting. There are people who manipulate the situation to get the gun for their own benefit.
Were there any characters whose behavior surprised you?
Daya herself. Picking up that gun and shooting it. I didn't think she was going to. I thought she would freak out or someone would convince her not to do it or she would say, "What should I do?" and consult like she did before. That goes to show how genius these writers are-they want you to think a certain way, and then they flip it on you. I thought someone was going to grab it from her before she hurt another inmate or herself. I thought, "I'm dead, this is the last season I'm in."
I thought, "I'm dead, this is the last season I'm in."
She's lost it all. Everyone's grieving about Poussey; she's grieving about her daughter. She's seen people die, and when you're a mother and you've just had a child...she might be going through post-partum depression. It's something that has happened not only on the show, but every day. I'm a mother, and to give up your child and not know their whereabouts would be something so delicate, that not many could understand. A child grows inside of you, it's part of you. And for you to not be able to see the growth and not have a relationship, is tragic. Daya has lost it all. So it was sad to see her shoot, but it was also understandable. I feel that Dayanara is going through something serious mentally, and that was her breaking point.
I'm wondering if we'll see Bennett again.
I would love that. I would love for Jenji and the writers to bring him back, just to close that chapter. At this point, it would be so great to see Bennett come back and speak to Daya and support her. When these women are incarcerated, all they have is low and up. They're at the low, so all they're doing is looking up. When we keep oppressing people because of a mistake they've made, and antagonizing them and keeping them confined, what you're doing is encouraging the individual to think that's what they're worth and that's where they belong.
Daya becomes an important part of the inmates' negotiations with the authorities. How did you feel about what happened to her at the end of the season?
I had no idea. It was a big surprise. I can only hope that she gets an opportunity to know where her daughter is, and speak to her daughter's father, and cope for herself and the choices she's made, and establish a balance in her mother-daughter relationship. She doesn't have to change for it, but I think she has to find a balance where they have a neutral ground of communication and understand that they are victims of circumstance. At the end of the day, family is family.
Jenji Kohan herself said she wished for a kind of "do-over" of the season after the election. I'm curious whether what was happening politically affected your performance.
Originally, we didn't know how the show was going to affect pop culture and be part of current events. Going back into it, there is a sense of pride and respect, and a sense of dedication to not only bring the character to life but to do right by the things that are being spoken about. That being said, whatever Jenji puts in front of you, you don't treat it as work, but as if it will be part of our history. People will use it as a way to express their frustration and their buildup and concerns.
I feel like I shouldn't judge Daya. What I should do is make an example of her by bringing true emotions to her circumstances. People have compassion, and the show raises awareness in the audience that there are incarcerated women going through this. A serious conversation has to happen where we unite as citizens, find reliable sources, and pool resources to help each other. We can't expect it to change just because we want it to change. We really have to take some responsibility in that.
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