10 Things You Didn’t Know About Lea DeLaria
If you don’t love Orange is the New Black, it’s time to start loving it; even if it’s only to see Lea DeLaria in her spectacular role as Big Boo. She is seriously the most amazing, and it’s nearly impossible not to love her. I will admit my husband and I resisted the urge to watch this Netflix series for years. We just were not interested, and we also didn’t think the show looked all that interesting. However, on a whim we decided to watch, and we are kind of hooked on it now. I mean, we tend to fade out after a season or so, so we will see how it goes and whether or not we are able to get through more, but at the moment we love it. We really love Lea DeLaria. She’s fantastic.
However, what we love most about her is not her acting ability. It’s her actual personality, and her real life. She is pretty inspiring, and pretty amazing when you get down to business. She’s an actress who has had everything against her time and time again, and she’s come through more times than we can count. What isn’t to love about that? It certainly makes me want to get to know her a bit better.
She’s a Midwestern girl
Lea DeLaria is not a big city girl, which his sometimes a surprise to her fans. You see, so many people think that because she is so openly gay and so openly herself that she must have grown up in a city where it’s widely accepted and she was not considered an outsider. However, she was born in the 50s in the middle of the country in a small town that isn’t exactly LA or New York City.
She was the first comedian to come out on late night television
When you think of comedians who are gay, you might think of famous faces such as Ellen DeGeneres and Wanda Sykes. They are both fantastic, and we love them. However, they don’t have the same claim to fame as Lea DeLaria. She was the first open gay comic to appear on late night with Arsenio, and she was not shy about her sexuality when she appeared on television.
She’s Catholic
While we know that not everyone who is religious is against those who are part of the LGBT community, there are many who are. It’s unfortunate, but it probably gives her a bit of entertainment every time someone finds out that this very talented, very openly gay actress was brought up in the Catholic church. It makes me smile, to be quite honest.
She doesn’t believe in the best year ever
Every single year on my birthday I reflect over the past year and how it really was the best year ever, and I look forward to making yet another one. Lea DeLaria does not do that. She actually believes that is the best way to set yourself up for failure. She’s got a point, though.
She lives for the moment
Lea DeLaria is not a person who thinks too much about the future so much as she thinks about the moment. It’s easier for her to sit back and enjoy what’s happening right now in her life than it is to go forth and actually think about the future. She knows right now is where it’s at since it’s all she’s got; and we love that about her.
Big Boo was written for her
Lea DeLaria is so talented in the art of acting that the creators and writers for OITNB decided to actually create Big Boo for her. They wrote the character with her in mind so that she could play the character and make the most of her role on television. How many actresses can say that they’ve had a part written just for them? Nice going, DeLaria.
She’s actually been in jail
If you’re wondering why Big Boo is so awesome, perhaps it’s because Lea DeLaria is able to channel her inner prison inmate for the role. She’s been in jail before, but she’s never actually been in prison. In fact, she’s never actually done anything really wrong – or dangerous or actually bad. She’s been in jail for protesting, of course, but she’s not a hardened criminal. She’d make a great one, though.
She’s got killer confidence
You know how people are always saying that people with confidence are the best people? They really are; that’s not a fib. Lea DeLaria has the most amazing sense of confidence, and she’s not afraid to talk about how amazing she is, how funny she is and just how good she is at what she does. It might be a turn off for some, but we appreciate her being open and honest about herself. Modesty is nice, sure; but it’s also so false most of the time and that makes it dumb. Let’s just stand up and say, “Thanks, I am amazing and I’m glad you recognize that, too,”
She sees the good in life
In light of the recent shooting, the worst mass casualty shooting in American history, at an Orlando nightclub that caters to the gay community, the world is on edge. Particularly those who are part of the LGBT community; they no longer feel safe. No one feels safe. Lea DeLaria feels that she should mourn the dead, pray for their families and respect those who lost their lives, but she also feels that she should focus on the good that came out of that night. The good in that people are apologizing for things they’ve said, changing their hearts and deciding that the hate they feel for people they perceive as different is useless.
She doesn’t like guns for sale
Here’s where we differ, but it’s a fun fact about Lea DeLaria. She stated that “If we could just stop selling weapons of war, we would have a much better society,” after the Orlando shooting. I disagree – we’ve made plenty of things illegal and people still find a way to do them, acquire them and have them. Why disarm the good people since the bad ones aren’t going to stop being bad because something is no longer so readily available? We have to stop hate and hope that people stop breeding and teaching people to be bad if we ever hope to have a safer community.
Photo by Getty Images
