Orange Is The New Black Star Pablo Schreiber Happy To Ditch Pornstache For Good Guy On Ironside

Pablo Schreiber plays dirty (and that’s putting it mildly) corrections officer George “Pornstache” Mendez on the Netflix original series, “Orange Is the New Black.”

In addition to “OITNB,” the actor played a major part in “Law & Order: SVU’s” recent Season 14 cliff-hanger finale as terrifying sociopath Dan Kozlowski/William Lewis, who took Mariska Hargitay’s Det. Olivia Benson hostage.

Given his two most recent two roles, Pablo is relieved to be joining the good guys on his next show, “Ironside.”

“[‘Pornstache’] is a sadistic mo-fo,” he told Access Hollywood during a visit to the “Ironside” set on Tuesday. “It’s great to go from that to this. He’s a villain, real bad guy. I’m also on ‘Law & Order: SVU,’ where I play another psychotic rapist.

“So, it’s nice to get to come into the fold and be a good guy, be on the right side of the law for once,” he added, laughing. “It’s fantastic.”

On “Ironside,” Pablo plays Virgil, part of a team of specialists handpicked by fearless cop Robert Ironside (Blair Underwood) to help solve crimes, and the actor said he hopes fans will enjoy seeing him in a more relatable, uplifting role.

“The last two characters I’ve played is the guy you must hate. It’s crucial to the storyline,” he said.
“In this one, I hope you’ll like me more!”

Pablo, who hails from Canada, also enjoyed stripping off George Mendez’s signature mustache to film the NBC drama – especially since “OITNB” fans don’t seem to recognize him without the facial hair, which is a good thing given the nature of Pornstache’s vile ways.

“Porny’s rollin’ incognito these days. I took the hair off the lip – makes a big difference,” he said. “Nine times out of 10 I don’t get recognized, which is fantastic, because who wants to be known as that guy in public in real life?!”

“Ironside” premieres on October 2 at 10 PM on NBC; “Law & Order: SVU” returns with its fifteenth season premiere on September 25 at 9/8c.

“Orange Is the New Black” is currently filming its second season. A premiere date has yet to be announced.

— Erin O’Sullivan

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