'OITNB' 's Dascha Polanco Says She's Secure in Herself and Doesn't Care If You Call Her Fat

"I'm not your size 0, but I still look good in a size 8," said Dascha Polanco

Photo: Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty

Dascha Polanco is used to people critiquing her appearance – but she doesn’t let if faze her.

“I’m secure in myself,” the Orange Is the New Black star, 33, told RollingOut TV. “You could not agree with how I look – I’m too curvaceous or some people say I’m fat.”

Polanco says even though some people may call her “fat,” others love the way she looks.

“People have opinions,” she said. “For many I can be fat, but for many I can be voluptuous, for many I could be a nice chicken thigh to steak to filet mignon. To each his own.”

The actress doesn’t have your typical Hollywood body, but says she is perfectly happy at the size she is.

“I’m definitely breaking the mold,” said Polanco. “I’m not your size 0, but I still look good in a size 8.”

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Polanco never gave a second thought to her curvy physique until she moved from the Dominican Republic to the United States.

“I never knew that I couldn’t fit into a size 0 because culturally I was the right type,” she said in the interview. “Once you come to America and you see what the standard is in the media, then that’s when you start questioning, ‘Am I the same as everybody else? Is this acceptable?’ ”

While Polanco is happy with her shape, some fashion designers are not as accepting.

“There’s brands that don’t want to dress me because I’m not sample size,” she said. “I have a decision as well – I don’t have to dress with your clothing. I choose who I want to be dressed by.”

She believes the entertainment and fashion industries will eventually be more open to people of all shapes and sizes.

“Times are changing, and little by little the barriers will be broken,” she said. “It’s a process, step by step. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one [in the industry] who feels that way.”