Samira Wiley revealed one of her “Orange Is the New Black” cast members outed her as gay as she discussed having such a thing taken away from her during an interview with WNYC’s Nancy podcast.
The 31-year-old, who plays Poussey Washington in the hit Netflix show, married her partner, Lauren Morelli, a writer on “OITNB” last year. Despite openly talking about her sexuality now, she insisted this wasn’t always the case.
Wiley explained, “First season [of Orange is the New Black] I wasn’t out at all.”
“Someone from my cast actually, doing an interview they were talking about out gay actors in the cast… and they mentioned my name and I saw it in print, and I cried. I cried a lot.”
Not ending the chat there, the actress continued: “I tried to get it taken down, I had a journey you guys.”
“That’s something somebody took from me. Everyone’s journey is their own. You should be able to come out on your own terms.”
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Wiley, who recently won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role in “The Handmaid’s Tale”, also chatted about fans loving her “OITNB” character, as well as saying she wouldn’t have learned to accept herself if it wasn’t for Poussey.
The star shared: “I wasn’t out in the beginning and I think falling in love with Poussey, which is a real thing that happened to me, helped me fall in love with myself as well.”
