3 questions with Latina actress Gloria Laino

The first time I saw Puerto Rican actress Gloria Laino was at 2012’s ‘Paranormal Activity 4’ post-credits teaser trailer of the Paranormal Latino spinoff. Her brief appearance freaked me out for days as it did the rest of the audience in the theater. Regrettably, the horror film is in development hell and who knows if it’s ever going to see the light of day.

What we can say is that she is very busy working in television and film with American Horror Story: Asylum and A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III starring Charlie Sheen, respectively. 

Laino was born in the small beach town of Guanica, Puerto Rico, of a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father. She was raised in Puerto Rico and New York and spent her early adulthood in the Middle East, where she learned to speak fluent Arabic.

We had a chance to talk to her recently about what it was like to speak to Charlie Sheen completely in Spanish and a surprise revelation that has to do with Jack Black.

ShowBizCafe (SBC): You’ve had a prosperous and enduring career in the theater, TV and film. What is the best thing about being a Latina actress?

Gloria Laino (GL): I love being able to show my heritage to the audience.   Performing roles in Spanish, I often get the chance to show the spunk we Latinas are known for.  You can see and hear the pizzazz on the screen.  I have a look that gives me the versatility to play a broad range of character roles.   Whether it’s comedic or dramatic, I love to put everything I’ve got into the role. It’s all very exciting.

SBC: We hear you spoke only Spanish with Charlie Sheen in his new movie “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III”. Who’s idea was it to do that and how did it come out?

GL: Roman Coppola wrote our scenes in Spanish.  Charlie was prepared, and I especially enjoyed working in my native language with his great talent.  Charlie and I made an instant connection when we first met on the set.  So when we shot our scenes it all felt natural.  When I saw Charlie at the first screening he hugged me and said, “Our scenes came out great, really great, didn’t they!”

SBC: What are you doing next and will we seeing you doing anymore Spanish language roles in the future?

GL: I just finished working in a project produced by Jack Black. And I recently had a recurring role in “American Horror Story: Asylum” as an insane asylum lunatic, “The Mexican.” Season 3 is coming up and working with Ryan Murphy again could be a great thing. You never know.

To know more about Gloria Laino, check out her Facebook and IMDB pages:

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gloria-Laino/144462072377838?ref=hl

IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1157315/?ref_=sr_1