Lolita Foster was born in Farmville, Virginia. She attended the University of Virginia to earn her English major with the intention of becoming a writer, but in her final year she explored her love of drama and was hooked. Following graduation, she was accepted as an acting fellow at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.After completing the program, Lolita moved to Manhattan and performed in several theatrical productions throughout New York to critical acclaim. In 2013, she became known to a global audience as CO Maxwell on the hit Netflix series Orange Is the New Black (2013). Originally only hired to appear in the series premiere, the show was so impressed by Lolita's performance that she became a recurring character.In 2015, she stayed busy filming Katie Holmes' directorial debut All We Had (2016), performing in the much-anticipated remake of Going in Style (2017) and returning to the stage to play Catherine in "Proof" alongside Broadway veteran Count Stovall.