The Walking Dead: Dead City is the fourth spinoff of AMC's The Walking Dead, which continues the stories of Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), two characters originally introduced in the flagship series. The upcoming season will see many new faces including Orange is the New Black actress Dascha Polanco.
In July, AMC announced several new cast members to the second season of Dead City at SDCC. These actor include Polanco, Jake Weary, Keir Gilchrist, and Pooya Mohseni. Previously, Sons of Anarchy actor Kim Coates was announced as joining the cast as a character named Bruegel who is a leader of the toughest gang in Manhattan.
Polanco will portray Lucia Narvaez, who is either a Major or a Colonel. During the NYCC Panel for Dead City, she shared that she used what she learned from her days in ROTC in high school for this role. She was trained to use a gun to gain power and states that this is her favorite role she has played thus far.
Moderator Chris Jericho asked Polanco what surprised her most about joining TWDU. She was quite surprised by all the walkers on set but mostly that the series isn't just about the undead but focuses on the survival aspect, the loyalty in the relationships, and the history between the established characters. She gives a little insight into her character, stating that she is goal driven and there is a purpose behind her actions. She also reveals that her loyalty is to New Babylon, the community that Pearlie Armstrong (Gauis Charles) belongs to.
Check out the clip of Polanco from NYCC. You can view the Dead City and Daryl Dixon panels from NYCC 2024 courtesy of Popverse.
Dascha Polanco roles
Polanco was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to American at a young age. She began her acting career with small roles in the CBS series Unforgettable and NYC 22, both are police procedural dramas. In 2012, she was cast in the Netflix original Orange is the New Black portraying Dayanara "Daya" Diaz, an inmate in the woman's prison.
Next, she appeared in Gimme Shelter and The Cobbler. Then, she appeared in the Jennifer Lawrence-led biographical film Joy, a film about self-made millionaire Joy Mangano. Polanco played Jackie, Joy's best friend.
She has also had roles in Russian Doll, When They See Us, American Crime Story, Evil, and Poker Face. In 2021, she starred in the musical drama film In the Heights with Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins (fellow TWDU actor), Leslie Grace in her film debut, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, and Jimmy Smits.
She most recently voiced La Reina in the Dora animated series, Vice President Hansen in Air Force One Down, and Dana in Junction.
Welcome to TWD Family Dascha Polanco, we can't wait to meet Lucia Narvaez in season 2 of The Walking Dead: Dead City in 2025.
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