Introduction
Alysia Reiner (born July 21, 1970) is an American actress and producer. Reiner is best known for playing Natalie "Fig" Figueroa in the Netflix comedy drama series, Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019) for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award 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 was released nationwide. It is now being developed into a TV series by Tri-Star and ABC. Reiner has appeared in several Off-Broadway plays and won an Obie Award for her performance in An Oak Tree. In Sideways,the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film, Reiner played Christine Ergarian, where she won her first ensemble cast SAG award. She plays D.A. Wendy Parks in the ABC crime-legal drama TV series, How to Get Away with Murder and Sunny in the F/X comedy Better Things.
In 2016, she also appeared in Season 4 of Masters of Sex on Showtime, as Lilian Izikoff on Rosewood, and Fiona in Michael Showalter's TBS series Search Party.
Early life
Reiner was born in Gainesville, Florida in 1970. She graduated from Vassar College and studied acting at the British American Drama Academy and the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.
Career
Theatre
She joined Tim Crouch in the Obie Award–winning An Oak Tree at The Barrow Street, andJayson 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.
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 fiancee, in the film Sideways, which won Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. She also had roles in the number of independent films.
On television, Reiner has appeared on over 50 different shows as series regular, guest star or in recurring roles, including Natalie Figueroa in the Netflix comedy drama series, Orange Is the New Black. In 2014 she joined the cast of ABC legal drama series, How to Get Away with Murder produced by Shonda Rhimes, in a recurring role of D.A. Wendy Parks, a prosecutor who goes up against Viola Davis' character. In 2018 Reiner joined the cast of The Deuce as agent Kiki Rains.
In 2014, Reiner announced that she will be launching Broad Street Pictures to produce films with strong female roles.
Personal life
Reiner is married to actor David Alan Basche since 1997. The couple have a daughter, Livia, who was born on December 5, 2008.
Reiner is involved with many non-profits and charities, including The Cancer Support Community, Actors for Autism, PEN International, SAY: The Stuttering Association for the Young, Bent on Learning, Safe Kids Worldwide, The Young Women’s Leadership Network, Amnesty International,and Cool Effect.
Reiner is Jewish.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Row Your Boat | Scenes deleted | |
| The Stand-In | Soap opera nurse | ||
| 2000 | Little Pieces | Casting director | |
| 2001 | Kissing Jessica Stein | Schuller Gallery Artist | |
| 2002 | Hourly Rates | Gail | |
| 2004 | Sideways | Christine Erganian | |
| The Three Body Problem | Nina | Short film | |
| 2005 | One Last Thing... | Tai Uhlmann | |
| 2006 | A-List | Reporter | |
| Cycle Unknown | Marie | Short film | |
| The Narrow Gate | Rachel | ||
| 2007 | Arranged | Leah | |
| Schooled | Miss Luna Hill | ||
| 2008 | The Peppermint Tree | Laura | |
| 2009 | The Vicious Kind | Samantha | |
| The Jacket | Joan | Short film | |
| Speed Grieving | Malia | Short film | |
| 2012 | Backwards | Meghan | |
| Delivering the Goods | New Head Chef | ||
| 2013 | King Theodore Live | Jordyn | Short film |
| 2014 | That Awkward Moment | Amanda | |
| The Story of Milo & Annie | Mercedes | Short film | |
| Kelly & Cal | Trish | ||
| Fort Tilden | Cobble Hill Mom | ||
| The Story of Milo & Annie | Mercedes | Short film | |
| Revenge of the Green Dragons | TV News Reporter | ||
| 5 Flights Up | Blue Leggings | ||
| Primrose Lane | Theodocia | ||
| The Girl in the Book | Interviewer | ||
| No Letting Go | Lisa | ||
| 2015 | Ava's Possessions | Noelle | |
| The Networker | Beth | ||
| The Other Side | Rivka | ||
| 2016 | Equity | public attorney Samantha Ryan | Also producer |
| 2017 | The Female Brain | Erin | |
| 2018 | Egg | Tina |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Law & Order | Gretchen Stewart | Episode: "Sundown" |
| 2000 | Family Law | Ms. Holland | Episode: "Echoes" |
| 2002 | The Drew Carey Show | Sally | Episode: "What Women Don't Want" |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Cindy Kerber | Episode: "Juvenile" | |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Leslie Hurst | Episode: "Stray" |
| 2004 | The Jury | Dr. Ainsley Solomon | Episode: "The Boxer" |
| 2006 | The Sopranos | Linda Vaughn | Episode: "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request..." |
| Love Monkey | Megan | Episode: "Coming Out" | |
| 2008 | The Starter Wife | Cindy | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Paula O'Keefe | Episode: "Lady's Man" |
| White Collar | Manager | Episode: "Free Fall" | |
| 30 Rock | Real Estate Agent | Episode: "Sun Tea" | |
| 2010 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Michelle Linden | Episode: "Lost Children of the Blood" |
| Law & Order | Amy Felner | Episode: "Love Eternal" | |
| 2011 | Blue Bloods | Hannah | Episode: "Model Behavior" |
| 2012 | The Exes | Cindy | Episode: "The Party" |
| 2013–19 | Orange Is the New Black | Natalie "Fig" Figueroa | 47 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series |
| 2014 | Hawaii Five-O | Special Agent Chapman | Episode: "Ka No'eau" |
| How to Get Away with Murder | D.A. Wendy Parks | 5 episodes | |
| 2015 | Bones | Amelia Minchin | Episode: "The Lost in the Found" |
| 2016 | Unforgettable | Joyce Chen | Episode: "Breathing Space" |
| The Mysteries of Laura | Liz Walters | Episode: "The Mystery of the Political Operation" | |
| Rosewood | Lilian Izikoff | 2 episodes | |
| Masters of Sex | Anita | Episode: "Freefall" | |
| Search Party | Trina | 2 episodes | |
| 2016–19 | Better Things | Sunny | 10 episodes |
| 2017 | Chopped | Herself | Episode: "Star Power: Screen Sensations!" |
| Younger | Louise | Episode: "A Novel Marriage" | |
| 2018 | The Blacklist | Judge Sonia Fisher | Episode: "The Informant (No. 118)" |
| 2018–present | The Deuce | Kiki Rains | 10 episodes |
| 2018–present | Butterbean's Cafe | Ms. Marmalady (voice) | 14 episodes |