Gloria Laino was born of a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father in the beach town of Guanica, Puerto Rico and was raised there and in New York City. Her young adult years were spent in Jordan, where she learned to speak fluent Arabic.
Laino started on the stage. Her career leaped forward when a line in a play seen by a casting director got her cast in her first TV show. Her understanding of multifaceted characters springs from her rich cultural heritage and has led to numerous roles on Spanish language TV and American television, as well as film and theater.
Known for bringing depth, emotion and comedy to a variety of scene-stealing roles, Laino appears in a recurring role as "The Mexican," an insane asylum lunatic in the FX award-winning hit drama series "American Horror Story: Asylum."
Gloria Laino also appears in Roman Coppola's feature, "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III," starring Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray. Her scenes with Sheen are unique in that their entire dialogue is in Spanish. She also has a recurring role in the acclaimed series "Weeds" alongside Kevin Nealon.
Also an accomplished screenwriter, she has many screenplays in various stages of development
