‘Orange Is the New Black’ Star Laura Gómez Talks Final Season: ‘We’re Leaving on a High Note’

It’s the end of an era for Orange Is the New Black fans, Netflix and actress Laura Gómez. The performer behind the enigmatic Blanca Flores has been a constant presence on the beloved dramedy series, starting out as an intimidating inmate talking to the devil in the bathroom and slowly becoming one of the show’s central characters.

Ahead of the premiere of the seventh and final season, Gómez spoke with PopCulture.com about reaching the end of the line and her feelings about growing alongside Blanca during production of the series.

“It’s been beautiful in many ways because you know, this was a show that became so iconic so soon and over time we had such a huge following. [OITNB] changed our lives in many ways” Gómez told PopCulture.com in a phone interview Monday, June 17. “It’s been interesting to have had the opportunity to be a part of that, but with a bit of a slower pace. I’ve had the opportunity to evolve with the character and learn some things slowly and still maintain a little of my anonymity because I wasn’t as recognized at the beginning and I appreciate that.”

Gómez was one of the many women in the show’s cast of recurring characters during the show’s first five seasons, with fans being able to learn pieces of Blanca’s story as the show went along.

The character was upped to series regular status in Season 6 when the show moved to the maximum security prison, and is set to play an even bigger role in Season 7 with the show exploring immigration after the big finale cliffhanger.

The series reaching its finish line with Season 7 feels like the right call for Gómez, saying it’s better when a television series wraps up while it’s still on top.

“I wouldn’t have wanted the show to have been this iconic and this important and then for people to say, ‘oh, that was such a good show once,’ you know?” she said. “I love that we’re leaving on a high note. And I love that we’re bringing important topics to the table, that we’re bringing this conversation, that we’re not ignoring it, but that we’re also saying goodbye.”

Looking back on filming Season 7, Gómez described production on her final scenes as a “surreal” experience. With the busy schedules of filming and cast and crew working swiftly, she said there was little time to digest the fact the Orange team would be going their separate ways after the last day.

“It was seven years of our lives, we became a family,” she said. “It was bittersweet because that’s the nature of our business, and actors know that jobs come and go, but you know, you get attached to people or even to to routines and it’s really nice. It’s still taking a minute. I think we’re really gonna kind of process it all on July 26th.”

Orange Is the New Black‘s final season is now streaming on Netflix.