Spend a morning speaking with the incomparable and passionate Alysia Reiner and you are sure to start your day inspired. A powerhouse, the actress, producer, activist and mother is unstoppable and looking to make a difference in all that she does.
While she is perhaps best known for her role as “Fig” in the Netflix series, “Orange is the New Black,” for which she won a SAG ensemble award, Alysia’s credits as an actress and producer run deep. She just wrapped the final season of the FX comedy-drama series, “Better Things,” and her portrayal of “Sunny.” Of the Peabody Award-winning show, Alysia says she will miss both the cast and her character.
“I will miss the friendships I've made. We’ve become one delightful, dysfunctional family,” she said. “One of the best compliments we receive really often is when people ask us how long we’ve all known each other. We have gone on such a journey together.”
Alysia says she has loved exploring the character of Sunny and being on her journey, which includes living with an addict. Alysia credits show creator Pamela Adlon in creating this wonderful character for her to play.
“I feel so blessed that Pamela wrote such a great character,” she said. “It speaks to Pamela's talent, as she wrote, directed, and starred in every episode.”
The classically-trained actress has also held other TV roles in HBO’s “The Deuce,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Broad City,” “Search Party,” and “Masters of Sex,” among many others. Alysia’s roles on the movie screen as well as onstage are also impressive and include the critically-acclaimed movie “Sideways.”
Alysia’s first work as a producer was for a film about cancer that came with a discussion booklet—an early example of Alysia using her talents for good. She produced the financial drama, “Equity,” which she conceived, produced, and starred in. It was bought by Sony Pictures Classics. She also produced and starred in “Egg” with Christina Hendricks and Anna Camp.
Alysia is excited about her current project, “Shining Vale,” which aired in March on Starz. In this comedy series, she stars alongside Courteney Cox, Greg Kinnear and Mira Sorvino and plays “Kathryn,” Kinnear’s “work wife” and potential crush. When asked about the storyline, Alysia asked, “What’s scarier: being possessed by a demon or your husband having an affair?” She mentions that Courteney Cox portrays a haunted woman who is assumed to be crazy, providing interesting insight into how women are sometimes perceived.
Alysia will also star in Stampede Ventures' feature film “Going Places,” a dark action comedy. She plays “Maya,” a woman living two separate lives as a mother who is running an underground criminal enterprise. This will be actor/producer Max Chernov’s directorial debut.
While we can go on at length about Alysia’s career success, she believes there’s more to life than work.
“Life lessons come when you're not working,” she said. “That's the truth. Life is best and worst when real life hits.”
Alysia says this has been especially true during the pandemic, which she jokingly refers to as “the meditation retreat we all didn’t sign up for.” Yet, in typical fashion, she finds a way to put a positive spin on these trying months, though she admits she works daily at being positive.
“Those times when we get to pause are precious,” she said. “Who are we? What do we want to do? I'm particularly asking myself ‘What story am I telling in my head? What am I believing?’.” She added, “Focusing on not believing the lies in our head is important. Not comparing ourselves to others is important too. We should be inspired by others, uplift each other rather than compare.” Alysia feels that it’s her responsibility to use her platform in a positive way, and that’s evident with one glance at her social media. There, she promotes and discusses important causes, empowering messages, and overall well being.
“That is what social media is about. Let me share what is possible on this planet,” she said. “If I can share the good stories and ways we can support important causes, that is what it's about.”
She advocates fiercely on her platforms for the causes she believes in and is a staunch activist for many organizations spanning environmentalism, women’s reproductive rights, women empowerment, education for young people, cancer research, and racial justice, just to name a few.
For her work, she’s received the Acclaimed Collaborator Award from Women in Arts and Media, the Voice of a Woman Award, and the Pioneer in Filmmaking Award.
She is an ambassador and on the board of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, as well as the zero waste eco emissary of Izzy Beauty. Alysia has also created an eco-friendly fashion line, Livari, that is driven by women and is going to be part of a multi-platform women’s reproductive health campaign.
In 2021, Alysia moderated an Actors Roundtable at the Power Women’s Summit. Those in the roundtable included Lily Rabe, Regina Hall, and Alexandra Daddario, among others. That same year, she was a panelist for Good Housekeeping and Made Safe’s Raise the Green Bar Sustainability Summit and was also featured at the 2021 Earth Day Summit. She is such an advocate of sustainability that she and her husband, fellow actor David Alan Basche, transformed their Harlem brownstone into an eco-friendly living space that they now use to teach others about living green. In typical Alysia fashion, sharing an empowering message is never far from her mind.
Her participation with the Resistance Revival Chorus, a group comprised of more than 60 women and non-binary singers from many different backgrounds, gives her another means to share what’s important to her. As a forum for “musicians exploring activism and activists exploring music,” the choir is centered around uplifting women’s voices and using them to bring attention to social activism. Its debut album is appropriately named “Joy.”
Another aspect of Alysia’s advocacy is education. Learning, for her, not only helps her grow but also provides a form of therapy.
“I love learning new things. Managing my mind and silencing that voice in my head that can creep up at times is vital,” she explained. “Finding tools to continue your growth is important in life.”
She especially believes in the power of reading. She says she loves spending time reading with and to her teenage daughter Livia.
“I feel so deeply and strongly about education and reading books,” she said. “Books are great for mental health. Literacy gives so many gifts to an imaginative world, and teaches humans to think for themselves, not just to learn facts and figures. Plus, it’s important to learn multiple stories—there are different ways to look at stories, to see different sides of these stories.”
Alysia’s story as an actress continues with her recent role in Ms. Marvel, where she plays Agent Sadie Deever, DODC – Department of Damage Control. She is also writing something with writer/producer Emmy Lou Diaz of “Station 19,” “Charmed,” and “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.” She’s also conquering other personal goals on her path to healing and bettering herself—she just completed and passed a rigorous training program to become a firefighter. She explained, “My family spent the first eight months of COVID in Saltaire, Fire Island. Our village of Saltaire has no cars, no police, no doctor, no hospital, just volunteer fire! I felt so grateful for this safe place, I wanted to give back to this community. I felt like it saved my life and wanted to return the favor. It has been one of the hardest things I have done in my adult life, but I am so grateful to serve.”
While she one day might fight a fire, nobody is putting out Alysia’s fire. Look for more from this fierce actress and activist soon.
Creative credits
- Written by
- Elizabeth Hazard
- Guest edited by
- Jessica Catignani
- Photography
- Anabella Casanova
- Photography
- Sage Price
- Photography studio
- Felix & Pearl
- Production
- Vacation Theory
- Styling
- Celeste Khosravanlou
- Hair & Makeup
- Valerie Star
- First photo assistant
- Ash Bean
