Video Interview: Bridgewater Local Stars In 'Orange Is The New Black'

Bridgewater, NJ - Crime, murder and violence surrounded Bridgewater local Christina Castellanos for most of her childhood.

She recalls ducking in her bedroom as bullets whizzed through her window, seeing dead bodies and gang violence.

Instead of ending up behind bars, Castellanos is now sporting an orange jumpsuit for a whole different reason.

She is starring in Netflix's season four of Orange Is The New Black, which was released Friday, June 17.

"I could've easily went the wrong way with my life," Castellanos told Patch in an exclusive interview. "Many of my friends are in prison."

Growing Up

Castellanos grew up in the South Bronx. Her street actually was featured on the History Channel's documentary series called "Gangland," that explored the history of some of America's more notorious gangs.

"It wasn't always so sweet, I went through a lot of struggles that made me who I am," Castellanos said. "I have seen a lot of things that people wouldn't ordinarily see. Stuff you see in movies but I witnessed in real life."

"I would see people go through drug wars and shoot outs, Castellanos said. "I've dodged bullets as a kid. My window was right on the corner so I had bullets fly through my bedroom window. Until thank God, I moved to Bridgewater where there was pretty trees and grass."

"But I wouldn't trade it for the world because it made me who I am. Made me well rounded. All of those experiences helped me with my acting," Castellanos said.

Music

Castellanos moved with her family when she was about 9 years old into the Finderne Heights section of Bridgewater. As luck would find it, she moved right next to Keisha Spivey - who was part of the R&B group Total, which was signed by Puff Daddy.

She hung around with Keisha and Da Brat, a rapper, who helped influence Castellanos' music career.

While in study hall one day at Bridgewater-Raritan, she wrote down lyrics to a song. After school, she went to her friend's house, popped in a cassette tape and her music career began at 11 years old.

She continued to rap growing up, even rapping in the hallways at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. She did find herself in the Superintendent's Office a lot for getting into trouble, but she laughs it off now.

Castellanos was known as U_niqe The Boss Lady, which she has since shortened to U_niqe and released an album, "Sucks To Be You."

She made music for about 15 years, but once she hit 30 her life truly changed.

Acting

Her friend Gabriel Rodriguez, who has been in movies such as "American Gangster" and "Private Glory," invited Castellanos to be an extra in a movie called Exposed with Keanu Reeves.

"I fell in love with it once I stared acting," Castellanos said.

She was told she was a natural, even though she never took an acting class in her life.

Everything snowballed from there.

She landed a role in a series called "City Inside The City," as the character called Shots, who is part of a drug dealers entourage. It's filmed in the Washington Heights area of New York and focuses on corrupt politicians and drugs.

Orange Is The New Black

From there she was told she would make a great fit for Orange Is The New Black.

She applied and within six days she was called to be in the series.

"I couldn't believe it... I got the call and thought 'Wow this is really happening,'" Castellanos said. "I just finished watching this show on Netflix a couple of days ago and here I am tomorrow going to be around these people. It's kind of surreal but such a great feeling."

Castellanos stars in episodes six through 13 and is contracted to be on the show through season 8.

In season four, she plays a troubled inmate and was cast as an extra but things changed quickly.

Her natural ability to act and her personality shined through.

"I was chosen to play in a special scene that gave me a lot of camera time," Castellanos said. "And the producers placed me with the (main actors) all the time. You have Piper right here and Alex right here and I'm right there with them. They saw something in me so I got a lot of camera time."

Her one special scene actually helped get Castellanos recognized by the Screen Actors Guild as a professional actress.

And it also catapulted her career to where now she auditioning to play a main character in season five's OITNB.

Other Roles

After filming Orange, Castellanos has not stopped. You can catch her on "Law and Order SVU," episode 21, season 17 where she plays an inmate named Monique with Brad Garrett from Everybody Loves Raymond.

She also is starring in a new series called Chase Street as a Correctional Officer with Clifton Powell from the movie Friday.

In the summer not only will Castellanos be filming season 5 of OITNB, but she is also filming a bio-film TV series on her life and her father's,who was a professional boxer who trained with Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.

Despite not having a support system growing up, Castellanos kept pushing forward and is happy and grateful for where she is now and what the future will hold.

"I tell people don't doubt me," Castellanos said. "The worst thing people can do is doubt me because that's like fuel to my fire. And I'm like I will prove you wrong. And I did."

Follow Christina Castellanos "U_niqe" and her career on Facebook or IMDB.

(Photos, provided: Christina Castellanos in Orange Is The New Black; filming Chase Street)

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