Orange Is the New Black - cast and characters
Orange Is the New Black (abbreviated OITNB) is an American drama-comedy television show created for Netflix by Jenji Kohan. The show premiered in July 2013 and aired for seven seasons before its season finale in July 2019. The show is based on a memoir by Piper Kerman titled Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. The memoir describes Piper’s experiences at a minimum-security prison (FCI Danbury).
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Fans waiting for a possible Orange Is the New Black new season were disappointed. The show has had a substantially massive cast through the seven seasons. These include series regulars as well as minor cast members. Several actors and actresses have been on the show for more than five seasons. We take a look at the main cast members and the characters they portrayed on the show.
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Orange Is the New Black cast
Here are the main OITNB cast members and the characters they portrayed on the show.
Taylor Schilling
Taylor joined the cast in 2013 playing the role of Piper Chapman. On the show, she was imprisoned for helping her girlfriend (Alex Vause) smuggle drug money during their vacation in Europe. She is the show’s main protagonist and was a former inmate at the Litchfield Penitentiary. She was later sent to maximum security after the riot that took place on the show’s fifth season.
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Her character, Piper is spoiled and cruel despite seeming innocent initially. Piper is one of the central Orange Is the New Black characters.
Laura Prepon
Laura Prepon joined the cast of Orange Is the New Black to portray the character, Alex Vause. Before getting into prison, she was drug smuggler working for a famous cartel. She used another inmate (Piper Chapman) as a pawn in her drug smuggling operations. Years after the criminal activities, she names Piper as one of her accomplices. The two end up in prison. Prepon has been a series regular since season three. She missed some season two episodes due to a scheduling conflict. Besides acting, she also helps out with director duties at the show.
Michael Harney
Michael plays the role of Sam Healy, a cruel and livid homophobic man. He is a counsellor at the Litchfield Prison. Harney is an old-timer in the television industry. He has made appearances in other shows such as Weeds, True Detectives, NYPD Blue and Deadwood. The actor’s ability to adapt to different roles and characters has made him a fan favourite. He is currently working on a new movie, Bad Hurt.
Michelle Hurst
Michelle plays Claudette Pelage on the show. She was introduced at the Litchfield Penitentiary and is currently in Maximum Security. Pelage is an ageing woman of Haitian descent who is very strict with the look of her cubicle. She is often portrayed as a loner who wants nothing to do with the drama associated with inmates. As she forms a bond with Piper, she begins to portray a lesser-known motherly side towards her.
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Kate Mulgrew
Kate has played the character Galina Reznikov since 2013. Her outstanding performance on the show got her nominated for the OFTA Television Award. She won the Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014 as well as the Critic’s Choice TV Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
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In 2016, she won the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series together with co-actor, Michael Harney. It is not clear why Galina is in prison, but she got involved with Russian Mafia before she was jailed.
Jason Biggs
Jason was part of the OITNB cast for two seasons before leaving in 2015. He portrayed Larry Bloom, a self-centred man who was widely despised by fans. During his two seasons at the show, he was engaged to Piper Chapman. His character’s importance waned in the second seasons before being written off. He appeared during a flashback moment in season five.
Uzo Aduba
Uzo plays Suzanne Warren in the television show Orange Is the New Black. The actress’s full name is Uzoamaka Nwaneka. Suzanne was jailed after she allegedly killed one of her sons in an attempt to keep him from leaving the house. The actress is nicknamed "crazy eyes” and is a worldwide fan favourite. In 2014, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. One year later, she won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.
Danielle Brooks
Danielle portrays Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson in OITNB. Tasha is portrayed as a loyal and fierce character. She is well known for her periodic heartbreaking speeches as well as being the voice of reason during heated situations. Taystee initially manages to get an early release from prison. However, she finds the outside world too overwhelming and intentionally violates her probation to get sent back to prison. In 2014, Brooks received a Young Hollywood Award for Breakthrough Actress.
Natasha Lyonne
Natasha plays Nicky Nichols, one of the inmates at the Litchfield Penitentiary. She had a drug addiction, which led her to have a surgical procedure. Nichols was imprisoned for stealing a car so that she could get to her drug dealer in time. She was getting her weekend supplies. Nichol’s story was told in seasons three of the show shedding some light into how she ended up in prison.
Taryn Manning
Manning joined OITNB as Tiffany Doggett. She is commonly known as Pennsatucky on the show. Taryn has been part of the cast for seven seasons until her death on the penultimate episode of the show titled The Big House. Tiffany is portrayed as a racist, homophobe, meth addict and rape victim to still struggles to pass her GED. She eventually dies of a drug overdose at the end of Orange Is the New Black.
Yael Stone
Yael plays the role of Morello, one of Litchfield Penitentiary’s inmates. When she is introduced to the show, she is shown to be planning a wedding to Christopher, her alleged fiancé. However, viewers soon find out that Christopher was a man she was stalking.
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After the two go on a date, Morello plants an explosive device under Christopher’s girlfriend’s car in an attempt to murder her. She is a religion-centric and level-headed character.
Dascha Polanco
Polanco is a Dominican-American actress who appears in OITNB as Dayanara Diaz. It is not known why Diaz is in prison. The closest guess is that she is serving time for drug-related charges due to her background. Diaz grew up in an abusive family environment. She once slept with a drug dealer (her mother’s boyfriend). Diaz was one of the television show’s deuteragonists for six seasons before she became one of its antagonists on the seventh season.
Samira Wiley
Samira is an American actress well known for her role as Poussey Washington in OITNB. In a flashback on season four, Poussey is shown visiting her friends. She later gets separated from them and experiences a wild night out. At the end of the fourth season, viewers learn that Poussey was imprisoned for being in possession of a small amount of marijuana.
Selenis Leyva
Selenis plays the role of Gloria Mendoza, a woman with complicated family background. She grew up witnessing domestic violence. We learn that Gloria was arrested for food stamp fraud. Selenis made her acting debut on the show Law and Order.
Adrienne C. Moore
Adrienne joined the show’s cast playing the role of Cindy, a former airport employee. Adrienne has won the hearts of numerous fans with her outstanding performance. Before she was imprisoned, Cindy worked as an airport security employee who would regularly pester and steal from travellers using the airport. While it is not unequivocally mentioned that her behaviour led to her arrest, it can be presumed.
Nick Sandow
Sandow plays the character, Joe Caputo. In season three, viewers got a peek into Caputo’s childhood when he was a teenage wrestler. In his early adulthood, he worked with to take care of his then girlfriend’s child.
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Caputo’s girlfriend would later leave him to be with her child’s biological father. He was the former director of human activities at the Litchfield prison.
Jackie Cruz
Jackie is a renowned actress, former model and singer. She plays the role of Marisol Flaca on OITNB. Before her acting career, Jackie worked as a waitress in a New York restaurant. Before being sent to prison, Marisol used to sell fake drugs to other kids in school. One day, one of her customers committed suicide after thinking she was high. Marisol was arrested and sent to prison on charges of endangerment and fraud.
Lea DeLaria
Lea is an American musician, actress and comedian. She is best known for her role as Carrie’ Big Boo’ Black on OITNB. The exact reason for her imprisonment is not apparent. It is known that she operated a gambling ring before being locked up. She also referred to herself as a ‘thieving dyke’ on the show’s third season possibly suggesting that her charges might have been stealing-related. Her character is based on Big Boo Clemmons in the famous chronicle Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.
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Jessica Pimentel
Jessica joined the show to play Maria Ruiz. She began as a minor character before rising to prominence on the fourth season. She is the force behind a panty business that rivals that of Piper. Maria is in prison after the authorities caught on to her scam involving counterfeit jeans. The plot to switch True Religion jeans with fakes was hatched by a man she was cheating on her boyfriend with. The plan was to split the extra money.
Alysia Reiner
Alysia plays Natalie ‘FIG’ Figueroa, a confident and arrogant assistant warden. Natalie is one of the main characters and is the former executive assistant to the prison’s warden. She is portrayed as cold, mean and highly manipulative.
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She is more concerned with the reputation of the penitentiary than the welfare of the inmates. Her initial optimism when she started her job quickly faded under the pressure of the prison system.
Laura Gómez
Laura plays the role of Blanca Flores, a former caretaker to a mean older woman. Flores fell in love with her employer’s gardener, a relationship which her employer did not approve. One day, her employer bumps on her gardener and Flores making love. This makes her very terrified. There are barely any details of how Flores ended up in prison. Laura is part of the TV Actress list and has appeared in HBO’s series, Show Me a Hero.
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Matt Peters
Matt played Joel Luschek in OITNB and had appeared in 51 episodes as of December 2018. Joel Luschek is the electrician at the Litchfield Penitentiary. His character is usually portrayed as anti-villain up until season 7 when he became one of the antagonists. Luschek is an apathetic, sarcastic and unmotivated character. He does not enjoy his job and often abuses women inmates by making sexual comments about them.
Dale Soules
Dale is a producer and actress who portrays Frieda Berlin on the show. There is no mention of how she ended up in prison. However, it can be presumed that she was charged with murder judging from her comments regarding previous crimes. She confessed to killing four people, including a police officer. She also chopped off her husband’s private parts with a butcher’s knife. She does not mention which of those crimes landed her in jail.
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When the last episode of Orange Is the New Black aired in July 2019, it certainly stirred some emotions within the show’s fans. The show has earned millions of followers throughout its seven-season run and will remain in viewers’ minds for quite some time. Some characters will be missed while others will be quickly forgotten. Who was your favourite cast member from OITNB?
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