If you’re anything like me, you’re obsessed with Orange Is the New Black. I absorbed the first season just as quickly as the second, leaving me with a sad, empty feeling once I realized that I had to wait a whole other year for season 3. Whether you’re just getting started, half way through, or going through withdrawals (like me), you’ll appreciate these 10 fun facts that you may or may not have known about Orange Is the New Black and its all-star cast.
photo courtesy of bbc.com
- Let’s go all the way back to those 90s Saturday morning cartoons. Likely, your first memory will be of the cartoon Doug with his wild fantasies and crazy adventures, but I bet you didn’t know that Constance Shulman who plays the peaceful and lovable Yoga Jones on OITNB was also the voice of Doug’s love interest, Patty Mayonnaise.
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- Natasha Lyonne, who plays the outspoken Nicky Nichols, can relate to her character in that they both overcame a major drug problem. In the first season, Lyonne’s character reveals a scar on her chest she received during open heart surgery as a result of her drug use. In reality, Lyonne’s had to have that same surgery for the same reason, and the scar revealed is real.
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- Matt McGorry who plays the doe-eyed security guard John Bennett is actually really, really into body building, like really into it.
- Speaking of security guards, George “pornshtache” Mendez, played by Pablo Schreiber also played a Russian mobster on Weeds and a dockworker on the show The Wire.
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- Speaking of Weeds, the two shows share the same creator, Jenji Kohan. In an ode to her previous show, Kohan had an episode of Weeds playing in the background during a flashback scene of Orange Is the New Black.
photo courtesy of vulture.com
- Laverne Cox, who plays the transgendered Sophia, has a twin brother who played her pre-transition self in one of the episode’s flashbacks.
photo courtesy of yahoo.com
- The real Larry actually did write a piece about Modern Love for the New York Times in reference to his unconventional relationship with Piper Kerman.
The Real Pipper and Larry photo courtesy of nymag.com
- Kohan threw in an American Pie reference in the first episode of OITNB.
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- Uza Aduba, the actress who plays Crazy Eyes, doesn’t really have crazy eyes and is also really talented as she had a stint on the Broadway musical Godspell.
photo courtesy of jezebel.com
- Laura Prepon, who plays the edgy Alex, actually auditioned for the role of Piper Chapman. “She set the bar, when she auditioned for Piper,” Kohan told Collider. “She’s such a great actress, but ultimately, I thought, ‘Laura Prepon in prison? I don’t worry about her.'” The role of Alex was then altered to fit Prepon.
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