Actor, Producer, and Activist
“I felt an immediate connection to Geena and the institute because their commitment to making change for women in the entertainment industry so aligned with my own passions: using a research and statistic-based system of change that is education-based, calling in, instead of using shame or blame. I love being a board member now as we expand our lens to help the industry become more and more equitable and inclusive.”
Award-winning actress Alysia Reiner recently originated the role of #DODC Agent Sadie Deever in the much-anticipated and critically acclaimed 2023 Emmy & Critics Choice Award-winning Disney+/Marvel TV series, “Ms. Marvel.” She is best known as “FIG” on all seven seasons of “Orange Is the New Black,” for which she won a SAG AWARD. Additionally, in the last few years, she completed five seasons as Sunny on Peabody Award-winning “Better Things” (FX/HULU), two seasons as Kiki on “The Deuce” (HBO), and two seasons as Kathryn in “Shining Vale” with Courtney Cox & Greg Kinnear on STARZ. Films currently making the circuit: “The Feeling That The Time for Doing Something Has Passed” (Cannes, TIFF, NYFF 2023), Stampede Ventures’ feature film, “Going Places” (Cinequest), & “Ramona At Midlife” (BFF, Woodstock, Berlin Women, etc). A few other filmed adventures include getting married in the Oscar-winning film “Sideways,” getting naked in an Emmy Award-winning episode of “Broad City,” and going head-to-head against Viola Davis on “How To Get Away with Murder,” and she just starred in “O HORIZON” with David Strathairn and Maria Bakalova.
As a producer, Alysia produced and stars in the motherhood dark comedy “EGG” with Christina Hendricks and Anna Camp. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, is 100% FRESH on Rotten Tomatoes, and available on iTunes, Amazon & VOD Now. Additionally, Alysia conceived of, developed, produced, and starred in the feature film “EQUITY,” bought/distributed by Sony Pictures Classics at Sundance 2016. Equity was Alysia’s first feature as both actress and producer, but she has acted in countless critically acclaimed and award-winning films and shows, working with film masters like “Sideways” director Alexander Payne, Jodie Foster, Richard Loncraine, Matt Weiner, and of course, Jenji Kohan and Pamela Adlon. You may also know her from feature films like “Sideways, “5 Flights up,” “Kelly and Cal,” “Shine,” “Fort Tilden,” “Kissing Jessica Stein,” or countless other indie films and TV shows (and yes you have seen her on all of the “Law & Orders” multiple times).
A classically trained theatre actor, Alysia has appeared on stages around the world; from the Sundance Filmmakers Lab in Utah to The Royal Court Theatre in London; from the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem NYC to The Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. She starred in the NY premiere of “Pentecost” by Tony-winning playwright David Edgar, and the provocative two-character play “An Oak Tree” with Tim Crouch, which won a Special Obie Award. Her portrayal of June Miller in “Anais Nin: One Of Her Lives” was critically acclaimed, as was her turn in “Wasps in Bed” of which The New York Times wrote “Alysia Reiner is priceless.” As a voice actress, Alysia just finished her second season as the voice of Ms. Marmalady on “Butterbean’s Cafe” on Nickelodeon, has voiced many other animated series, as well as books on tape, video games, scripted podcasts for audible, as well as many national commercial campaigns, including the award-winning brand change for Campbell’s Soup.
She loves working as a changemaker for women and an advocate for women’s rights and climate change initiatives. Along with being an active volunteer firefighter (YES REALLY) and singing in the Revival Resistance Chorus, she is on the board for The Geena Davis Institute, on the advisory board of EARTH DAY INITIATIVE, SERIESFEST, and AIR PROTEIN, she is an ambassador for Fossil Fuel Treaty, The Dandelion Project, and Plastic Pollution Coalition. Alysia is the face and zero-waste eco-emissary for IZZY BEAUTY and started an eco-fashion zero-waste initiative, Livari. As a champion of all things eco-friendly, she and her husband used their home as a way to share information about building green. Their brownstone eco-renovation in Harlem was featured on television’s “World’s Greenest Homes” and “Renovation Nation”; in various magazines like Dwell, Gotham, Origin, and The Nest; and they allowed the environmentally friendly construction process to be chronicled on websites such as Dwell.com and Kohler.com. Alysia has been invited to speak and keynote at The White House, The United Nations, Google, Cannes Lion, Women’s Media Summit, Collision, and countless film festivals and events about breaking barriers for women in all fields, specifically the entertainment industry.
