Lana Parrilla

By Bryan Reesman

Who Is She?
The dark-haired, 30-year-old Brooklyn native plays hot swinger Trina Decker on CBS's racy Swingtown. Sweet and smart with an undercurrent of sensuality, the half-Italian, half-Puerto Rican Parrilla (that's pronounced "Pa-ree-yah") is the kind of sizzling babe who doesn't need to show tons of skin to make us melt.

What Has She Done?
She first caught our eye playing Angie Ordonez opposite Martin Sheen on Spin City. Since then, Parrilla has appeared in movies like Spiders and Frozen Stars and on Lost, 24 and Boomtown, in which she played virtuous and tough EMT Teresa Ortiz. As Parrilla notes, Teresa's experience with handcuffs has crossed over to the "fun, fuzzy kind" of cuffs that Trina wields.

Why Do We Care?
Parrilla is charming, engaging and seductive. She's also adventurous, shedding her good girl image for the role of an explorative 1970s housewife. We wish all the swingers next door looked like Lana.

---

PLAYBOY: How did you land the role of Trina Decker?

PARRILLA: I walked in with this sweet, fun-loving, liberated-soul energy because I had just come back from spending five months in Spain and was in the whole siesta, wine-at-three-o'clock-in-the-afternoon place. I greeted my producers with three kisses and then sat down to play the very conservative housewife. Within five minutes of walking out of that office, my agents called me and said, "They want to see you for the role of Trina Decker." I guess they saw me more as the distributor of the Quaaludes than the recipient.

PLAYBOY: How much of Trina do you find in yourself?

PARRILLA: I'm constantly surprised. There's this openness and honesty that she fights for, this moral belief that she lives by and that she also presents to everyone else in her life. And I live by that. One of the notes that I made from the pilot, when Trina is talking about open marriage, is here I am, Lana Parrilla, single woman, never been married. I don't know what it's like to have this open marriage. What do I believe in? I believe in being open and honest with your partner, so I actually substituted that, which was the only way to play that scene convincingly.

PLAYBOY: Swinging is reportedly on the rise again. Did you do any research for the part?

PARRILLA: I branched out and asked some friends and found out that there are people in my life that actually partake in these events. I asked if I could crash a party and see what it's like, so I did. It was quite interesting. There was a lot of stuff that I was able to draw from and bring to the role.

PLAYBOY: Did that experience startle you in the beginning?

PARRILLA: I went in with an open mind, so people really started touching me very sensually. I grew up with a very strict father, so I was a very good girl growing up. My instincts and impulses were, "Excuse me, don't touch me there!" [Laughs] But then I had to remember I'm playing Trina and to use this as an opportunity to get into character and be method for the night and see where it leads. I found that the sensuality that filtered in throughout the party was something I could bring to the show. Trina is very touchy-feely, which I can relate to because I'm Latin. My family is very loving. We're very kissy and huggy, so that was an easy transition for me. I would say that I'm still one of the most sensual, loving, affectionate cast members.

PLAYBOY: Beyond playing Trina in Swingtown, you were a counter-terrorist agent on 24 and a cult member on Lost. And your dad taught you to box when you were 12. Do men find your tough side intimidating?

PARRILLA: They do. And some men are extremely turned on by it. I think the ones that are very secure embrace it. I tend to pick the ones that love that side of me and who aren't threatened by it. Trina does have this extreme masculine power, and Tom loves that in her. She's chosen him because he sees it, embraces it and supports it, and it turns him on. I think women really need to find that man that isn't threatened by them, who could really embrace that masculine quality.

PLAYBOY: If Swingtown had been on HBO and had had nudity, do you think that would have altered the show, and would you have been comfortable with that?

PARRILLA: You know, I can say that I am very pleased I don't have to show full frontal, and I know that many of the other cast members and the producers feel the same. We're very happy to be on CBS. It forces us to open up other doors and to be much more creative because we can't show so much. That makes it a better show.

PLAYBOY: How much are you going to be able to push things on a network show?

PARRILLA: I think enough to where people are stimulated. The show definitely leaves everything open to the imagination, which I think is best. If everything is put out there, there's no surprise, and you walk away completely satisfied. When you show less, people's imaginations just go wild.

Photo: Courtesy of CBS