Alysia Reiner is an American actress. She is best known for playing Natalie "Fig" Figueroa in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

comedy drama series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama 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 Women's Pr ...

'' (2013–2019), for which she won a

Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

for her role as part of the ensemble cast. Reiner starred in and produced the financial drama '' Equity'', which was bought at Sundance by Sony Pictures Classics and released nationwide. It is now being developed into a TV series by Tri-Star and ABC. Reiner has appeared in several

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

plays and won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

for her performance in '' An Oak Tree''. In ''

Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond ( Paul Giamatti), a de ...

'', the critically acclaimed comedy–drama film, Reiner played Christine Ergarian, where she won her first ensemble cast SAG award. She played District Attorney Wendy Parks in the ABC

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

legal drama Legal drama, also called courtroom drama, is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in wh ...

TV series ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal drama thriller television series that premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk and pro ...

'' and Sunny in the FX comedy '' Better Things''. In 2014, she also appeared in Season 4 of '' Masters of Sex'' on Showtime, as Lilian Izikoff on ''

Rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

'', and Trina in Michael Showalter's TBS series '' Search Party''.

Early life

Reiner was born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1970. She graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

and studied acting at the British American Drama Academy and the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Reiner is Jewish.

Career

Theatre

She joined Tim Crouch in the

–winning '' An Oak Tree'' at The Barrow Street and ''Jayson with a Y'' with The New Group. At The Beckett, she played roles in '' Anaïs Nin: One of Her Lives'' and ''Wasps in Bed''. She has been deemed "Off-Broadway Favorite" by Theatremania and was called "priceless" by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Film and television

Reiner has appeared in several films, including '' Kissing Jessica Stein'', '' The Vicious Kind'', '' Arranged'', ''Schooled'', '' That Awkward Moment'', and '' 5 Flights Up''. In 2004, she played the role of Christine Erganian, Thomas Haden Church's character's fiancée, in the film ''

'', which won

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (or Ensemble) in a Motion Picture is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest acting achievements in film. It is the final award presented during the ceremon ...

. She also had roles in several independent films. On television, Reiner has appeared on more than 50 shows as series regular, guest star or in recurring roles, including Natalie Figueroa in the

comedy–drama series ''

''. In 2014 she joined the cast of ABC legal drama series, ''

'' produced by

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television producer and screenwriter, and founder of the production company Shondaland. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Rhimes became known ...

, in a recurring role of D.A. Wendy Parks, a prosecutor who goes up against

Viola Davis Viola Davis ( ; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. List of awards and nominations received by Viola Davis, Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. ''Time (magazine), Time'' named her one of ...

' character. In 2018 Reiner joined the cast of '' The Deuce'' as agent Kiki Rains. In 2014, Reiner announced that she would be launching Broad Street Pictures to produce films with strong female roles.

Personal life

Reiner has been married to actor David Alan Basche since 1997. The couple have a daughter, Livia, and reside in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, New York City. Reiner is involved with many nonprofit organizations and charities, including the Cancer Support Community, Actors for

Autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

, SAY: The

Stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

Association for the Young, Bent on Learning, Safe Kids Worldwide, The Young Women's Leadership Network,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, Cool Effect, and Election Defenders. Before the 2022 midterm elections, Reiner posted on Instagram using the #IDCHECK hashtag, asking voters to check their IDs to make sure they meet local requirements and citing VoteRiders as a resource for voter ID information and assistance.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reiner, Alysia Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Gainesville, Florida American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Jewish American actresses Vassar College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)