If Orange is the New Black sounds like another new fashion show, it’s actually quite the opposite. The new Netflix series, which premieres July 11, is based on the real-life prison experiences of Piper Kerman – check out her book, Orange Is The New Black: My Year In a Women’s Prison.
Wearing the “orange”; on the show is Argo star, Taylor Schilling, who plays Piper, as well as Laura Prepon of That ’70s Show and Natasha Lyonne of American Pie and Slums of Beverly Hills fame.
Written and created by Weeds founder, Jenji Kohan, the cast is all abuzz about the strength and grittiness of the show.
Taylor raves, “To have such an incredible cast – some people you’ve heard of, some people you’ve never heard of – every element of this ensemble is extraordinary. It’s sort of this motley crue of ladies getting to know each other and learning to trust each other and learning to trust themselves.
While Laura adds, “There’s nothing like this on television – it’s so authentic and so different from anything that’s on or anything that I watch”;.
Preparing for the role was perhaps easiest for Natasha, who admittedly has had her own brushes with the law: “I am actually in the sort of very lucky position where, as a result of having so much life experience in sort of hairier situations, that I’ve actually gone down a bunch of dark avenues myself as a youngster… So I had significantly less research to do than most of the other cast members – I’ve actually done a little bit of prison in Canada!”;
Past troubles aside, Natasha is clear that there’s a lot of positivity surrounding the new show. “This is the first thing in a long time that I can say I’m just really genuinely excited about – I felt really proud to be a part of this show.”;
Watch the set visit tonight on ET Canada!
~ By Jonathan Knox