Jessica Pimentel (born September 20, 1982) is an American actress and musician. She is best known for her role as Maria Ruiz on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

original series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a ...

.'' She is also the lead singer of the

metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...

band Alekhine's Gun and backing vocalist in the band Brujeria.

Early life

Pimentel was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Both of her parents, originally from La Romana, Dominican Republic, immigrated to New York as teenagers. Pimentel was the couple's only child. Her parents divorced when she was six years old, after which she became estranged from her father. Pimentel graduated from New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played violin. She focused on acting more after high school, playing

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist ...

in a touring production of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'', and landing small roles in movies and TV shows.

Acting career

After a series of bit parts, Pimentel played the role of Angelique Domenguez in the 2008 film '' Pride and Glory''. In 2014, she was cast as Floyd in four episodes of ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no le ...

''. Pimentel's breakout role came in 2013, when she was cast as Maria Ruiz on the Netflix comedy-drama ''Orange Is the New Black''. Pimentel was credited as a guest star for the first four seasons, before finally being made a part of the regular cast for Season 5.

Music career

Pimentel began playing music at the age of two and trained as classical violinist and concert master who has played at Carnegie hall. In her teens she began learning the guitar, electric bass, percussion and keyboards and joined several New York Hardcore bands. She was the bassist for New York heavy metal and hardcore band Desolate from 2010 to 2014. Since 2010, Pimentel has been the lead vocalist and a recording guitarist for the New York-based death metal band Alekhine's Gun. Pimentel has also recorded several songs with the band Black Heart Sutra, and sings in the Los Angeles and Tijuana-based metal band Brujeria, performing under the name La Bruja Encabronada. Pimentel is a featured artist for Spector basses, Halo guitars, and Krank Amps.

Personal life

Pimentel has been dating

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1985. Originally, the band's name was Metallien. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer To ...

drummer Tomas Haake since 2013 and lives with him in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. Pimentel was raised

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

, but became a practicing

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

as an adult.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pimentel, Jessica 1982 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York (state) Hispanic and Latino American women singers American expatriates in Sweden American singers of Dominican Republic descent American television actresses American women heavy metal singers Hispanic and Latino American actresses Living people 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers