Jailhouse rocker:
Orange Is The New Black star reveals her true colours.
All Blacks fan. Heavy metal musician. Buddhist. There are many sides to Orange Is The New
Black actress Jessica Pimentel. On the Netflix prison drama she plays tough-talking Latina prisoner Maria Ruiz, a character who had a particularly chilling scene last season when she branded fellow prisoner Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) with a swastika.
“I thought it was really ironic that the person who is a real-life Buddhist burns a swastika into someone as an act of violence,” says Pimentel.
“A swastika is like a really holy religious (Buddhist) symbol for unity of the world.”
Pimentel, who is in her mid-30s, visited New Zealand this year with her Swedish drummer boyfriend Tomas Haake when he was touring Australasia with his heavy metal band Meshuggah.
While she was in Auckland, Pimentel, who loves rugby, had the chance to meet All Blacks player Sonny Bill Williams and discuss her interest in the sport during an All Blacks podcast.
The actress’ fascination with rugby started when she was attending university. “A friend of mine at college who’s an Aussie would play rugby on the weekends and would show up in class completely demolished and brutalised and we would wonder what he was up to,” says Pimentel. “He let us know he had joined some local rugby team. I really loved the sport. I thought it was amazing – really fast-paced and passionate.
“Being a metal head and a New Yorker who is into heavy black metal and is always in black, he thought I would really enjoy watching the All Blacks play. So that’s one of my favourite teams on Earth.”
Pimentel is the daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and learned to play the violin at age three.
When she was about 12, a school friend gave her a CD of a heavy metal band which piqued her interest in the genre.
She studied music and acting and is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist for the New York heavy metal band Alekhine’s Gun.
At age 16 she pretended she was 18 to work as an extra on the film The Last Days Of Disco.
“I learned my lesson that I would never be an extra,” she says.
“It’s really thankless work and I have to give a shout out to our extras on our show (Orange Is The New Black).
“We’re not hiding behind the fancy costume with fake hair, fake lashes. You have to really use what you have to make a scene fly.” – Jessica Pimentel
“We have hundreds of extras on our show who have to endure rain and sleet and snow and monsoons and heat waves and freezing waves. They do it graciously and help us tell the story.” Before her Orange Is The New
Black role, she had guest stints on shows such as Third Watch and Law And Order.
When she landed the part of Maria on Orange Is The New Black, Pimentel was at a low point. She had been turned down for several acting jobs and wanted to take a break from auditioning.
“It’s really kind of tolling on your spirit,” she says. “You keep getting your hopes up and then things keep falling through. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue living that way.”
Pimentel has been part of Orange Is The New Black’s
ensemble cast since it began.
During its four seasons the drama, which is set in a fictional women’s prison, has tackled a range of topics from drug addiction, pregnancy, alcoholism, corruption, rape and racism.
The show has been praised for its diverse cast which includes transgender actress Laverne Cox.
Most of the time, the inmate characters are dressed in drab and unflattering prisoner uniforms which makes you wonder if this is, in some way, liberating for cast members like Pimentel.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s liberating as a woman, but as an actor ... we’re not hiding behind anything,” says Pimentel.
“We really have to tell the story. We’re not hiding behind the fancy costume with fake hair, fake lashes. You have to really use what you have to make a scene fly.”
When asked how her life has changed since starting on Orange
Is The New Black, Pimentel says: “I get paid which is nice. Being able to do what you love for a living has been the greatest change. There is no side hustle any more. Any side hustle will be one of pure pleasure for fun.”