‘Orange Is the New Black’: What the Cast Looks Like Without Prison Garb
Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman
It’s right there in black and white: Schilling cleans up real nice outside her tan prison outfit. The actress, whose Piper is based on the real-life Piper whose book of the same name chronicles her women’s prison experience, admits that, as many people have done with OITNB, she has binge-watched a TV show herself: She watched three seasons of Downton Abbey in a week. (Photo: Getty Images/Netflix)
Danielle Brooks as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson
Another of our favorite bits of OITNB trivia: Taystee’s best friend on the series is, sorry, was, Poussey, and before they even signed on for the Netflix series, Brooks and Poussey portrayer Samira Wiley were friends and classmates at The Juilliard School. Perhaps that’s a small part of the reason they had such fantastic charisma as the prison’s philosophers. Their Season 1 discourse on “white people politics” remains an Orange classic. (Photo: Getty Images/Netflix)
Laura Prepon as Alex Vause
She wears the tan outfit and her hair darkened, which is a good thing because her trademark red locks would definitely clash with that orange material. The That ’70s Show alum’s character was feeling pretty guilty in Season 4, over the death of Aydin, but Alex might have found a way to deal with it all in Season 5. And, we hear Prepon directed an episode in the new season, too.
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Uzo Aduba as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren
Aduba is lovely, and obviously very talented. We credit her with delivering — in a series full of great, memorable lines — one that will stick with us always, when she sincerely asks why she is nicknamed “Crazy Eyes.” We’re certainly not the only OITNB fans to be thrilled that the Broadway star has become a bigger part of the show with each season: She’s won two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe nominations for her fine performance.
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Laverne Cox as Sophia Burset
Sophia’s backstory, told in the Season 1 episode directed by Oscar winner Jodie Foster, is Orange at its best, as is the casting of Cox, the transgender actress whose brother — musician M. Lamar — played Sophia pre-operation when she was a New York City fireman named Marcus.
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Natasha Lyonne as Nicky Nichols
Lyonne has had her well-publicized share of problems in real life, including a life-threatening drug addiction (like Nicky), and heart surgery (like Nicky). But she’s looking fantastic on-screen and off these days, having survived a child actor past that began with her role as Opal on Pee-wee’s Playhouse in 1986.
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Selenis Leyva as Gloria Mendoza
Mendoza became the new queen bee, taking over as head cook when Red’s smuggling operation came under investigation, and has gone on to become Litchfield’s voice of reason, taking many a Litchfieldian under her down to earth wing. OITNB, meanwhile, is far from Leyva’s first experience in a crime-related TV role; she has previously starred on Law & Order, Blue Bloods, Elementary, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and The Good Wife.
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Adrienne C. Moore as Cindy “Black Cindy” Hayes
Black Cindy’s desire for better food led to a real religious conversion, and in Season 5, she is one of Taystee’s biggest supporters in the pursuit of justice in the death of Poussey. Moore, who skipped a planned career in marketing to pursue acting, has also appeared on Blue Bloods and 30 Rock, and makes a cameo appearance in the new season of another Netflix series, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
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Dascha Polanco as Dayanara “Daya” Diaz
Daya may have been grossed out by her interactions with Pornstache in the name of keeping her relationship with Bennett hush-hush, but Polanco had an altogether different take on the hairy-faced one. She told Vulture.com that, to amuse herself on set, she would doodle things like “Pornstache Penis,” a little penis with a mustache on it. Are we the only ones who think that would make an amazing, if not at all appropriate to wear outside the house, T-shirt? In Season 5, Daya has more pressing matters to attend to, of course, like that gun she pointed at Litchfield guard Humphrey in the Season 4 finale.
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Kate Mulgrew as Red Reznikov
Super OITNB trivia: Mulgrew, who many fans didn’t even initially recognize under the Red hair and make-up, co-starred on the short-lived 2009-10 NBC medical drama Mercy, in which she played… the mother of a nurse played by her Orange co-star Taylor Schilling.
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Lea DeLaria as Carrie “Big Boo” Black
We love tough chick Big Boo, whether she’s busting a move, proving she’s really a big softie, or being the best BFF ever to Pennsatucky. But both Boo and DeLaria look younger than DeLaria’s — 55 — especially when the comedienne/actress/jazz musician is dressed up in her suit and tie.
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Yael Stone as Lorna Morello
The Australian actress moved to the United States in 2012, married her boyfriend (Australian actor Dan Spielman), and the next day auditioned for and won her role on OITNB. In Season 5, Morello’s obsession with love takes a new, and potentially dangerous, turn.
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Taryn Manning as Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett
Pennsatucky has turned out to be one of the most compelling characters of the series, even though she initially seemed cartoonishly one-note. Manning, of course, is no stranger to playing tough characters, or to getting soundly thrashed on TV; in a season one episode of Sons of Anarchy, Manning played Cherry, a girl whose dalliance with Gemma’s husband Clay earned her a skateboard to the face by Gemma.
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Jessica Pimentel as Maria Ruiz
Pimentel is, unsurprisingly, way more glamorous sans those drab prison duds. What may surprise some fans of the actress, who has appeared on Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent: She’s also the lead vocalist for a heavy metal band called Alekhine’s Gun.
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Elizabeth Rodriguez as Aleida Diaz
Aleida’s one bad mama, but Rodriguez is one terrific actress; a veteran of All My Children and the HBO prison drama Oz, she was nominated for a Tony in 2011 for the play The Motherf**ker with the Hat, in which she co-starred with Chris Rock and Bobby Cannavale. She also played Liza, the doomed ex-wife of Cliff Curtis’s Travis on Fear the Walking Dead, and currently plays Paz on Power, along with continuing to play Aleida on OITNB Season 5.
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Diane Guerrero as Maritza Ramos
Flaca’s BFF Maritza still has our sympathy after being made to swallow a live baby mouse by sadistic guard Humphrey. Guerrero, who’s definitely more glam in her OITNB premiere pic, has also appeared on Blue Bloods, Are We There Yet? and Jane the Virgin, playing Jane’s BFF, Lina.
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Jackie Cruz as Flaca Gonzales
Cruz, who’s also a singer, will also be familiar to Kardashian fans, as she’s the Kourtney Kardashian friend who once made out with Kourtney and appeared on Kourtney & Kim Take Miami to help make Kourtney’s babydaddy Scott Disick jealous. Look for Flaca, and her BFF Maritza, to have beefed up roles in OITNB Season 5.
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Vicky Jeudy as Janae Watson
Watson is the former high school track star whose involvement with a shady boyfriend ended her potential career and landed her in jail. Jeudy is the former beauty pageant contestant whose drama major in college led to her first major role — OITNB — despite the fact that her parents originally hoped she would tire of her interest in acting.
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Nick Sandow as Joe Caputo
Caputo’s hands are often tied, though deep down he actually has the desire to improve prison life for the women of Litchfield. Sandow’s a far more laidback guy than his on-screen counterpart, and clearly cares about his work; the actor has appeared in everything from New York Undercover, Law & Order, and Third Watch to CSI: Miami, Nurse Jackie, and Boardwalk Empire. He also directed the Season 5 OITNB episode titled “Litchfield’s Got Talent.”
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Blair Brown as Judy King
Domestic doyenne and TV star Judy has certainly livened up Litchfield during her stint in the hoosegow, and despite some diva tendencies, she won us over when she befriended Poussey and offered to help her restart her life on the outside. Oh, OK, and we like her diva ways, too. Brown, known for her work in films and the theater, too, is a five-time Emmy nominee as star of the 1987-91 comedy The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.
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Kimiko Glenn as Brook Soso
Endearing or pretentious? One of your favorites, or one of the most annoying characters on TV? You make the call, though even Soso’s biggest detractors have to feel bad for her after the loss of girlfriend Poussey. In addition to OITNB, Glenn also played waitress Dawn in Sara Bareilles’s Broadway adaptation of the movie Waitress.
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Laura Gómez as Blanca Flores
Fierce Blanca could definitely take some hair and eyebrow grooming lessons from her portrayer, Gomez, who’s the glamour look down. Gomez, who has appeared on Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU, also played a reporter in a Cookie Monster-intense Sesame Street episode titled “Me Am What Me Am.”
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Michael Torpey as Thomas “Humps” Humphrey
Things weren’t looking so good for rotten guard Humps at the end of Season 4, and things are not looking up for him in Season 5. But Torpey does have a more fun character on Netflix this season: He plays a hurricane-predicting weatherman — Drench Thunderman — on the new season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
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Amanda Stephen as Alison Abdullah
She and Black Cindy tussled before finally becoming friends in Season 4, and in Season 5, Alison not only bonds more deeply with Cindy and Taystee’s crew, but we also get backstory on her and her family. Playing Muslim inmate Alison is Stephen’s first TV role.
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Julie Lake as Angie Rice
Leanne’s BFF Angie — revealed as the “Shower Pooper” in Season 4, is a TV fan who often talks about her favorite hobby — after securing drugs — with her pal. Lake, who says the key to her makeunder as Angie is a set of (fake) hideous teeth, made out with her real-life husband, who’s not an actor, on screen in Season 4, when producers told her she could choose the person Angie made out with to pass her drugs inside Litchfield.
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Emma Myles as Leanne Taylor
Leanne and Angie have their biggest adventure yet in Season 5. And while Angie is her best pal on camera, in real-life, Myles is close with co-star Dascha Polanco, after the two met during an audition for a role on Law & Order: SVU. Myles has played two different characters on SVU, and won her role on Orange after showing up at her audition with hair that went unwashed for four days and a dirty white tank top.
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James McMenamin as Charlie “Donuts” Coates
All we’re saying is, despite what happened between him and Pennsatucky, don’t count Donuts out of her life just yet. As for McMenamin, like co-star Alan Aisenberg, he has guest starred on Inside Amy Schumer, as well as everything from Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU to The Good Wife and Nurse Jackie.
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Abigail Savage as Gina Murphy
Despite some tough times with Red, Gina remains a loyal member of Red’s crew, and has proven herself to be quite the handywoman around Litchfield. Savage, who also works as a TV and movie sound editor, has had on-screen roles in Precious, Law & Order: SVU, and Amy Sherman-Palladino’s post-Gilmore Girls comedy The Return of Jezebel James.
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Jolene Purdy as Stephanie Hapakuka
A transfer from a prison in Hawaii, Hapakuka became the bunkmate and business associate of Piper during her panty business era. It ended badly for Piper, but Hapakuka retired mostly unscathed… save those bad knees of hers. Purdy, who has had roles in Breaking Bad, Donnie Darko, and Raising Hope, told InStyle that when new cast members join Orange, they get a welcome kit just like what real-life prisoners get, including a toothbrush, pillow, blanket, a roll of toilet paper, and a travel-size bottle of liquid that serves as shampoo, conditioner, soap, and lotion in one.
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Emily Althaus as Maureen Kukudio
Suzanne’s girlfriend-turned-assault victim is back in Season 5, and may even interact with her former flame once again. In addition to roles on Blue Bloods and Law & Order: SVU, Althaus is also half of the comedy duo the Venzin-Althaus Explosion!
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Dale Soules as Frieda Berlin
One of the feistiest, most fun members of Litchfield’s “Golden Girls” crew, Frieda has a wonderful surprise in store for her friends — and viewers — in Season 5. A member of the original cast of Hair on Broadway, Soules, and her Orange castmates, have won three Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
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Brad William Henke as Desi Piscatella
The sadistic head of the guards may have been allowed to run amuck in Season 4, but things change — and we get some backstory explaining his wicked ways — in Season 5. Former NFL and Arena Football League pro Henke, who has had roles on The Office, Justified, Dexter, and Lost, retired from football because of ankle injuries, but not before he played in Super Bowl XXIV with the Denver Broncos.
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Beth Dover as Linda Ferguson
Caputo’s co-worker and girlfriend had little sympathy for the Litchfield inmates in Season 4, but a new experience in Season 5 might just change all that. Dover, a scene stealer all the way back to shows like Burning Love, Childrens Hospital, and Another Period, will also see her character get a pretty over-the-top backstory in Season 5, too.
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Asia Kate Dillon as Brandy Epps
White supremacist Brandy, like some of her racist Litchfield cohorts, finds some new friends amidst the chaos of Season 5. Non-binary actor Dillon, who prefers to be referred to as “they” instead of “her” or “him,” also stars on Showtime’s Billions, where they have been promoted to series regular status for the show’s third season.
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Annie Golden as Norma Romano
Norma’s a loyal friend to Red, and the woman who doesn’t speak… until she blows everyone away with her beautiful voice at the prison Christmas pageant. Golden, a Broadway vet and new wave band singer who has appeared in three different adaptations of Hair, also memorably played Cliff Claven’s girlfriend, Margaret, on Cheers.
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Matt Peters as Joel Luschek
We’re not sure if the prison’s electrical manager is even really qualified to do his job, what with his near constant focus on drugs, instead. As for Peters, his role on OITNB came on the heels of his performance on Orange creator Jenji Kohan’s other series, Weeds, where he played a pro-life supporter who stalked a character played by pop star Alanis Morissette.
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Alan Aisenberg as Baxter “Gerber” Bayley
Though it’s of no comfort to Taystee and the rest of Poussey’s loved ones, na?ve guard Bayley truly didn’t intend to harm Poussey, and we’d argue those who put him in his job in a poorly trained state are at least as responsible for her death as he is. Aisenberg is not only an improve comic himself, but, as the Instagram photo where he “blue” himself proves, he’s also a fan of comedies like Arrested Development.
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Constance Shulman as Erica “Yoga” Jones
Her prison hobby is right there in her name, as being the Litchfield yoga instructor is part of how she keeps herself calm (especially in the face of having to deal with roommate Judy King). If Schulman’s voice sounds familiar, perhaps you remember her work as Patti Mayonnaise on the Nickelodeon classic Doug?
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Lin Tucci as Anita De Marco
De Marco’s the tough-talkin’ (make that, tough-tawkin’), no-nonsense inmate who begrudgingly helped Piper get up to speed on the rules of prison life. By the way, if you think Tucci looks dramatically different outside her drab prison clothes, you have probably forgotten what she looked like in the big-screen cheesefest Showgirls, where she played the aptly-named performer known as Henrietta “Mama” Bazoom. Need a video refresher? We thought you might.
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Lori Tan Chinn as Mei Chang
A woman of few words, Chang is one of the few Litchfieldians who avoids beefs with her fellow inmates. She’s also one of the few whose cause for imprisonment has yet to be revealed. As for Chinn, pre-Orange, she gave a memorable performance as Roseanne’s beauty salon co-worker Iris on Roseanne.
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Evan Arthur Hall as Stratman
Let’s just say guard Stratman has what will be one of the most talked about scenes of Orange’s fifth season (skip to Episode 4, “Litchfield’s Got Talent” now if you don’t believe us). Hall, meanwhile, had role in Elementary, The Following, and The Mysteries of Laura, pre-OITNB.
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Orange may be the new black when you’re in lockdown, but it’s certainly not the most flattering of hues on everyone. As these comparison pics prove, Orange Is the New Black cast members rock their prison frocks, but they look dramatically different — and quite stylish — in their non-orange/tan finery. (Warning: Character and storyline spoilers ahead.)
Orange Is the New Black Season 5 is currently streaming on Netflix.