Laura Gómez (actress)

Laura Gómez is a Dominican actress, writer, and director. Gómez is known for her role as Blanca Flores in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019).

Laura Gómez
Gómez attending the 38th Goya Awards
Born
OccupationActress
Years active1998–present

Early years

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Born in the Dominican Republic, Gómez grew up in Santo Domingo working as an actress and reporter.[1] She moved to New York at the age of 21 to study acting and filmmaking at the New York University.[2] After three years in the United States, she made her entry into theater and voice work.

Career

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Gómez began her career appearing in Dominican film Víctimas del poder (1998) and later worked on Mexican telenovela Por tu amor. She made her American television debut appearing in an episode of Law & Order in 2008. In 2011, Gómez was awarded an IX Screenwriting Developing Grant by the Spanish Fundación Carolina. She wrote, directed and produced the short films To Kill A Roach—for which she received the NYU Fall 2012 Technisphere Award for Outstanding Achievement—and Hallelujah. She is a member of Spanish Repertory Theater,[3] with which she has appeared in critically acclaimed theatrical productions such as Doña Flor y sus dos maridos and La casa de los espíritus. Her voice-over work includes Spanish-language announcer for CoverGirl and Suave, and audiobooks including How the García Girls Lost Their Accent, by Julia Álvarez, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. She directed and co-produced The Iron Warehouse (2015), written by the playwright Hilary Bettis.

In 2013, Gómez was cast as Blanca Flores in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black. She was a recurring character during the first five seasons and was promoted to regular for season 6 and 7. As a part of the cast, Gómez received Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2016.[4] From 2014 to 2015 she also had a recurring role in the NBC series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and in 2015 appeared in the HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero.[5] In 2016, she starred in the Dominican sports drama film Sambá receiving La Silla Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[6][7] Also in 2016, Gómez co-starred in the American thriller film, Exposed.[8]

In 2020, Gómez appeared in the Dutch drama series, Anne .[9] In 2022 she starred in the Spanish drama film Upon Entry. The film received positive reviews from critics.[10] In 2024 she appeared in the drama film La cocina, it had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival.[11]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1998 Víctimas del poder
2000 Provocación
2008 Pinchos y Rolos Elizabeth Short film
2008 Crimen Dedé Mirabal
2009 Cleaning Law Laura Short film
2009 Nueva York Puerto Rican Mom Short film
2012 To Kill a Roach Alicia Short film, also writer and director
2012 Cheesecake and Tango Diana Short film
2013 Truth Will Out Mamacita Short film
2014 Yo, la peor de todas Paula Short film
2014 Hallelujah Natalia Short film, also writer and director
2015 Trabajo Lilí Short film
2015 Uniform Nadine Short film
2016 Exposed Eva De La Cruz
2016 America Adrift Wilma
2017 Sambá Luna Torres Nominated — La Silla Award for Best Supporting Actress
2017 Maggie Black Kim
2022 Upon Entry Agent Vásquez
2024 Safari
2024 La Cocina Laura

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2008 Law & Order Claudia Episode: "Challenged"
2013-2019 Orange Is the New Black Blanca Flores Recurring character (seasons 1-5) Series Regular (seasons 6-7)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2016)[12]
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2017)
2014–15 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Selena Cruz 3 episodes
2015 Show Me a Hero Dama Montero 4 episodes
2020 Anne Cecilia 3 episodes
The Last O.G. Valerie Episode: "Come Clean"

References

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  1. ^ Stern, Claire (July 22, 2016). "Orange Is the New Black's Laura Gómez on Her Faux Unibrow and That NSFW Flashback Scene". Yahoo! Life.
  2. ^ DeLong, Karen (July 25, 2016). "The Transformations of Laura Gómez". Television Academy.
  3. ^ "About me – Laura Gómez".
  4. ^ "Laura Gomez". TVGuide.com.
  5. ^ Orozco, Gisela (July 22, 2015). "Laura Gómez en Orange is the New Black: Ni loca, ni habla con el diablo". Chicago Tribune.
  6. ^ "Laura Gomez On Helping Develop Her Role in 'Sambá' & What's Next on 'Orange is the New Black'".
  7. ^ "Sambá (2017) - Awards - IMDb". IMDb.
  8. ^ "'Daughter of God', starring Keanu Reeves, spotted filming in Brooklyn - on Location Vacations". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.
  9. ^ "Cast & Crew – ANNE ".
  10. ^ "Upon Entry | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
  11. ^ "La CocinaLa Cocina - Competition 2024". www.berlinale.de.
  12. ^ Heath, Paul (30 January 2017). "Screen Actors Guild awards winners in full | THN". Retrieved 2019-03-14.
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