Why You Recognize Law & Order Guest Star Selenis Leyva, Who Played a Defense Attorney
Selenis Leyva may have played a defense attorney on the latest Law & Order, but she's also portrayed a criminal in a past role and currently stars on an NBC sitcom.
Actress Selenis Leyva may have played a defense attorney on the latest episode of Law & Order — fighting to keep her client from serving hard time — but she once portrayed a character all too familiar with what goes on inside a prison’s walls on another show.
In Season 24's “In God We Trust” episode, Leyva took on the role of defense attorney Patricia Kaplan, a lawyer on a mission to keep her sheltered young client, who grew up in an isolated religious community, from a long sentence after he killed the man his fiancée was having an affair with.
But fans may remember Leyva for her role as a savvy inmate herself, back when she was on a prison-set show. And currently, she stars in a much different role in a family-centered NBC sitcom.
Read on to find out more about where you may know Leyva from, and what happened on the latest episode of Law & Order.
What TV shows and movies has Selenis Leyva been in?
Many may recognize Leyva from her current role as Rosie on the NBC comedy Lopez vs Lopez, in which she co-stars as the ex-wife of George Lopez's character.
Before that, for seven seasons, Leyva played Gloria Mendoza on the prison drama, Orange is the New Black. The imprisoned mom knew just how to wield her power in the facility's kitchen as she served out her time alongside fellow inmates Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), Galina “Red” Reznikov (Kate Mulgrew), and Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren (Uzo Aduba).
The seasoned actress also starred as Gabi Cañero-Reed on the TV series Diary of a Future President, and has appeared in numerous films including Crater, Creed III, Breaking, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Her acting credits also include guest-starring roles on Peacock's Saved by the Bell revival, the Murphy Brown revival, Dietland, Veep, Madam Secretary, Elementary, and Blue Bloods.
“I like playing every type of role, but I like being a strong woman,” she told Backstage in 2020 of her diverse career. “I love that as an Afro-Latina, I can portray someone with strength.”
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Who did Selenis Leyva play on Law & Order Season 24?
As defense attorney Patricia Kaplan in Season 24’s “In God We Trust" episode of Law & Order, Leyva represented Jacob Albrecht (Luke Slattery), a young member of a conservative religious group that shunned technology. When Jacob murdered a former member of the group who was having an affair with his fiancée, Kaplan pushed to get Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) and District Attorney Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn) to consider letting the defendant atone for the act by working to improve his community.
Price and Baxter didn’t go for that, but did agree to a deal that allowed Jacob to plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a reduced sentence of 15 years behind bars.
Selenis Leyva has had other Law & Order roles in the past
Leyva is no stranger to the Law & Order universe, having played different characters on Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent over the course of her career.
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“I always joke [that] I started out as a prostitute and then moved my way up the ranks,” she told Backstage in 2020 of her numerous Law & Order gigs. “So it was like a prostitute, a defendant, and then it went from a cop to a detective. Dick Wolf did wonders for us New York actors for so many years and continues to do so.”
To find out what other complex cases the detectives and prosecutors will take on this season, watch Law & Order on Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream the episodes once they hit Peacock.
