Agencies, writers, producers: The time is now for Hollywood to do more in terms of diversity behind the scenes, Dascha Polanco said.
In front of the cameras, the Orange is the New Black co-star said the industry must stop thinking of her and so many of her co-stars on the recently wrapped Netflix series as non-traditional Hollywood types based on size, looks, race, age or sexual orientation.
"We are the tradition. We are the reality," Polanco said. "Hollywood has been very exclusive in who they consider an actor, who they want to depict on screens."
Polanco said diversity on screen is slowly lurching forward, but it's equally important to do the same off camera. Her struggles finding work are not without emotional scars.
"A lot of my life as a young girl and as a young adult has been influenced by how people will accept me or feeling that I am not enough to accomplish certain things because of how I look. I was very fearful of going out on auditions and being told, 'Well you have to lose weight, your hair is curly'," Polanco said.
