Tag Archives: OITNB

Real-life Alex Vause of #OITNB Lands Book Deal

Cleary Wolters aka the real-life Alex Vause of ‘Orange is the New Black’ has a deal with HarperOne for the memoir ‘Out of Orange’.

In a statement, the publisher said that Wolters’ book would tell of her time in prison and her ‘complicated’ relationship with Piper Kerman (or as we know her Piper Chapman).

Kerman’s ‘Orange is the New Black’ was a best-selling prison memoir adapted into the TV series for Netflix.

Wolters said in a statement that her life was “an unbelievable saga” with a surprising new chapter.

On the Netflix show, Vause is played by Laura Prepon. Taylor Schilling stars as Piper Chapman, the stand-in for Kerman.

Watch the Alex and Piper love story unfold…

#OITNB – Orange is the New Black star Uzo Aduba aka Crazy Eyes wins #Emmy

Uzo Aduba has picked up an Emmy for her role in Orange is the New Black character. Abuba plays the lesbian character Crazy Eyes and took home the Best Guest Actress award at the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday Night, which was presented to her by actor Morgan Freeman.

Aduba’s character was first introduced in season one of OITNB, arching a popular storyline with her pie-throwing and crush on Piper Chapman. In Season two her role as Crazy Eyes expanded as the series continued.

“I don’t know how to say how incredibly impressed I am to be a part of this show day in, day out. I have never thought about where an Emmy should go in my home… now, I have to!”

Uzo Aduba

Backstage, the thirty-three year-old found herself on the verge of crying once again.

“I feel so full, that’s why the tears come out. I’m stuffed. My cup runneth over right now. Mission accomplished, thank you.

The thing I love most about working with Jenji is her want and this burning need to tell the truth, and it doesn’t really matter the cost, what it takes to go here,” she said. “She puts that and instills that in her writing and her writers, and it’s just incredible.

Her heart is just mama bear for everybody on that team, not only for the art that she makes, but she wants to create a family there for us. She really does everything in her power to make sure that energy — the love and the life that’s present — stay bright, and that makes it the perfect work environment.”

Uzo Aduba

Aduba also beat co-star Laverne Cox to take home this award. Cox was the first transgender woman to ever be nominated for an Emmy award for her role as inmate Sophia Burset on the show.

BK Beats & Eats – Watch Lea DeLaria Guest on the New Food and Music Series

Lea DeLaria is one of Orange Is the New Black’s stand out cast members, however last week she was the first guest on a new food and music web series called BK Beats & Eats.

Hosted Sheena Alexis Suarez, the BK Beats & Eats invites fellow creatives to put on an apron and exchange recipes, stories and drinks in her kitchen. Local bars, restaurants and venues are also featured, introducing the faces behind some of Brooklyn’s most creative and successful concepts.

The premiere episode features a flirty DeLaria and her family recipe for gravy.

Episode 1: Lea DeLaria & Darling Din

#OITNB Star Lea DeLaria to Lead Manchester Pride Parade

Lea DeLaria, star of Orange is the New Black, has been announced as this year’s Grand Marshal at Manchester Pride’s Parade.

Lea who has achieved stardom with her stand out role as Big Boo in the Netflix hit series, follows in the footsteps of the likes of Sir Ian McKellen, who has previously lead the parade.

The theme for the 2014 Manchester Pride Parade is LOVE, which is being rolled out across the festival, whether it be to honour the same sex marriage act, or challenge the final pieces of the legislation. The charity is calling for participants to celebrate and embrace their love with the city.

“We’re excited that Lea will be leading this year’s parade through Manchester City Centre. We’ve loved watching her in Orange is the New Black. Not only is she an incredible performer but she’s an inspiration for the global LGBT community. We know she’ll bring her unique charm and personality to really get the crowd going and kickstart the parade with a bang.”

Mark Fletcher, Chief Executive of Manchester Pride

As Grand Marshal of the parade, Lea will ride lead the parade through the streets of Manchester alongside patrons of Manchester Pride.

In 1993, DeLaria was the first openly gay comic to perform on television in America, after which she gained a reputation as a global gay icon. Prior to her success on Orange is the New Black, she appeared in numerous television series, including Will and Grace and Friends and had film roles in The First Wives Club, Edge Of Seventeen and Attack Of The Big Haired Lesbians.

Lea’s on and off Broadway highlights include a Drama Desk nomination and a Drama League Honoree for On The Town and portraying both Eddie and Dr. Scott in the Tony-nominated revival of The Rocky Horror Show.

“It’s an honour to be invited to marshal the Manchester Pride parade. I can’t wait to return to Manchester. The girls there are really hot!.”

Lea DeLaria

The August Bank Holiday sees the return of the vibrant Manchester Pride Parade, an integral part of the Manchester Pride festival, with a new loved-up twist.

This year’s parade is expected to consist of around 3,500 people from across Greater Manchester, with almost 100 entries, from small community groups, to large commercial organisations all expressing their support to the LGBT community. The procession will weave its way through the city centre, following a 1 mile route, as thousands of visitors are expected to line the streets of Manchester. Past themes have included Heroes, Through the Decades and last year’s Acceptable in the 80’s .

A host of big names including All Saints, Anastacia and Conchita Wurst will perform in Manchester during the Big Weekend, presented in partnership with G-A-Y They will be joined by Pixie Lott, Foxes, MNEK, Neon Jungle and many more.

easyJet and Manchester Airport are official sponsors of the Manchester Pride Big Weekend. Tens of thousands of people from across the UK and Europe flock to Manchester’s world-renowned Gay Village for the event and to watch the parade.

The Parade is a free event that is part of the wider Manchester Pride festival. Tickets for the Big Weekend are currently priced at £22 for a weekend ticket, day tickets are also on sale and start at £12.50. Child’s Day & Weekend tickets are now on sale too. A Big Weekend ticket provides guests with access to the event site, including the Main Arena, Sackville Gardens, the Gaydio Dance Arena and Expo plus it helps Manchester Pride raise money for LGBT and HIV charities and organisations in Greater Manchester. See here for more information manchesterpride.com/tickets

There’s more to Manchester Pride than the Big Weekend and, since 2003, the festival has grown to include Pride Fringe which encompasses a series of art, culture, heritage, debate, sport, music and film events celebrating the great diversity of the LGBT community. The Manchester Pride Festival 2104 kicks off on 1 August with Pride Fringe.

To find out more about Manchester Pride and this year’s festival you can follow the charity on Twitter @manchesterpride or visit the website at manchesterpride.com.

Image source: Sophy Holland

Laverne Cox to Feature in Bravo’s New Scripted Series

Is it Laverne Cox’s week? Let’s not get anything twisted here; as one of Orange is the New Black’s breakout performances as straight-talking, style shop running trans* inmate Sophia Burset, we may as well call 2014 the Year of Laverne.

While she impressed us yet again in season two of the Netflix original series (that became available from last month), the talented actress and activist has also racked up a bunch of other accolades including the Emmy nom she picked up last week for Outstanding Guest Actress (making her the first trans* performer to be nominated for an Emmy, which is one of the most prestigious TV awards) and she’s also putting together a memoir that’s due to be published sometime next year. Oh and she also made the cover of TIME magazine to boot.

However, does Laverne’s skyrocketing success stop there? It certainly doesn’t as she’s now been tapped to feature in Bravo’s upcoming scripted series.

Called ‘Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce’ the intriguingly titled show has yet to air but we have some idea of what it’s about. For one, it’s Bravo’s first scripted show and it will be based upon author Vicky Iovine’s ‘Girlfriends’ Guide’ books so there will be a huge weight on the network’s shoulders to do this right. Alongside House’s Lisa Edelstein who plays self-help author Abby who “reveals that her picturesque life is all a lie”, Cox will take on the role of Adele Northrop, “a Pulitzer Prize-winning war journalist and LGBT activist who presents an award at a marriage equality gala”.

Currently, we know that the character of Adele will feature in just one episode, which is sad news for those who have whizzed through both seasons of OITNB and are thirsty for more Laverne roles to watch on their TV screens. Of course there’s still the chance that she could return in more episodes of Girlfriends’ Guide but otherwise we’ll be able to see her in the docu-series that she’s working on with supermodel Tyra Banks that’s likely to air later this year.

Orange is the New Black Star on Front Cover of Bello Magazine

The gorgeous Samira Wiley, who plays the no-nonsense military brat Poussey in Orange is The New Black, has done a photo shoot for Bello Magazine. In the hit Netflix drama, Wiley is usually wearing a baggy sweater and khaki trousers, whereas she dons a number of fine couture outfits in this latest Bello appearance.

In the interview, the Julliard School-trained actress discusses how her life has changed since joining the cast of Orange is the New Black: ‘ The show got released on a Thursday and literally nothing was the same after that weekend’. Wiley started out in theatre in New York, gaining positive notices for her performance as Maria in Love’s Labours Lost. She is rumoured to have been offered the role of the Invisible Woman in the upcoming reboot of The Fantastic Four.

Based on a bestselling memoir, Orange is the New Black focuses on a bisexual lady called Piper Chapman who is sent to a federal prison for drug trafficking. While inside Piper is reunited with her ex-partner Alex and they start to re-examine the relationship they once had.

‘Orange Is The New Black’ Cast Support NYC Pride Parade – #OITNB

The cast of Orange Is The New Black took part NYC Pride Parade on Sunday. Laverne Cox was one of three grand marshals at this year’s Pride parade in New York City along with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Rea Carey and “Frozen” star Jonathan Goff.

The other cast members took a ride on the Litchfield Correctional Facility float, decked out with laundry baskets, balloon suds, and a giant washing machine.

There were plenty of famous faces at NYC’s 44th annual Pride Parade, but OITNB cast started trending all over Instagram (see below)…

NYC Pride Parade Marked 45th Anniversary Of Stonewall Inn Riots. With over 100,000 of people lining the parade route, the parade started at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue and ended at Greenwich and Christopher streets at the Stonewall Inn.

New York marchers were commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots, which are credited with launching the modern gay rights movement in 1969.

Laura Prepon Guaranteed to be in Every #OITNB Episode Next Season

Spoiler Alert, but sadly Laura Prepon character Alex only appears in four episodes this season. However we can breathe a sigh of relief as her character will appear in every episode of season three of Orange Is the New Black.

I totally fell in love with Prepon in the first season of OITNB, as she played former lover of Piper (Taylor Schilling), but felt very disheartened to see that she would be making only a few appearances in season two. But she will be back in full force for season three.

“It sucked because [show creator] Jenji Kohan and I wanted me to be in it more, but with the schedule, it didn’t happen. I was so bummed out. But I handled it, so I’m in every [episode] in season three. It is so good.”

Laura Prepon -Us Weekly

Lea Delaria, The Go-to Girl for Unorthodox Orgasms

Orange Is the New Black has legitimised Netflix as a formidable source of original programming. However, the prison drama, has also showcased one of television’s most diverse female casts in recent TV history, and included a number of LGBTQ standouts. And one of the cast members to real standout from the crowd is Lea Delaria.

She began her career billing herself as “That Fucking Dyke”.

“I called myself that because I would walk down the street and people would yell (it) at me. But after two years of performing I would walk down the street and people would yell (it) at me and I wouldn’t know if they were a fan or not!”

Lea Delaria

The “famously controversial” DeLaria was “the first openly gay comic to break the late-night talk-show barrier” with her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show. She has performed stand-up comedy for over 25 years and is a prominent figure in the world of LGBT comedy.

“In the showbiz world, if you’re like me — short hair, fat, butch, Italian, loud — you’re up against a lot of obstacles. So it’s a good idea to know how to do a lot of things…because you’re going to need all of them to pay your rent. …[Teenage boys] used to stop me on the street to spit at me. Now they come up and hug me and say, ‘Big Boo is my favorite character.’ She’s kind of like a teenage boy. So am I. A teenager in a suit.”

Lea Delaria

She is now treading the boards playing Big Boo in Orange Is the New Black, where Delaria is quickly becoming go-to girl for unorthodox orgasms – and the actress isn’t complaining.

In the first season of the Netflix comedy, no one could stop talking about Big Boo’s creative use of a stolen screwdriver. But for anyone who thought that was too provocative, you might want to stay away from the second episode of Orange’s second season.

In season 2, Big Boo once again proves that she can turn anything into a tool for sexual pleasure. Though this time, she might have definitely gone a bit too far…

When asked how Big Boo’s latest unexpected sexual escapade compares to the now-infamous screwdriver scene, Delaria says they can only be equated in terms of surprise.

“I don’t think anyone’s going to expect it, just like nobody was going to expect it with the screwdriver. But I’m curious to see how people will respond to it. Mostly the [reaction to the] screwdriver’s quite positive, but there are people who think that went too far. I just don’t party with them. They’re not my kind of people.”

Lea Delaria

Lea Delaria 01 Lea Delaria 02

I *Heart* Taylor Schilling – The Golden Girl in Orange

Taylor Schilling brought the steel and fire to the heroine Dagny Taggart in the 2011 film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s classic, influential novel Atlas Shrugged. Schilling brought the vulnerability of an abused housewife and mother to the film version of The Lucky One, both the novel and the screenplay written by bestselling romance author Nicholas Sparks. Whatever role she takes, Schilling radiates the golden warmth of a master of her craft.

We could hope for no better actress to embody the groundbreaking lead role of Piper Chapman in the Orange Is The New Black, a television series adaptation of the memoirs of Piper Kerman’s year in prison.

In the series, the character of Piper was a seemingly ordinary middle-class woman, who made and sold homemade bath soaps for a living, and was preparing to settle down with a man she loved named Larry. Then, one day, her past came back to haunt her and she was tried, convicted, and sentenced to serve time in prison for her participation in a drug ring a decade earlier with her then-girlfriend, Alex.

The series sheds some light, humor and humanity, to a story that represents an intersection of marginalized people: women, lesbians, people of color (as a statistically accurate fraction of the cast) and prison convicts.

In an interview with Nicolas Kazamia from Daily Xtra, Shilling stated:

“I wasn’t concerned about, like, the lesbian stuff. It really was—I thought that those—both the relationships, I thought Piper’s relationship with Larry and I thought Piper’s relationship with Alex were really beautifully drawn out. So, for me, both of those love stories felt very justified, and it didn’t—it wasn’t ‘a lesbian thing’ for me, it was more of just a love story. The nudity, for me, was something new.”

Schilling studied acting at Fordham University, where she attained a Bachelor of Arts degree.

A Sneaky Peak at ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Season 2 To Get You in the Mood

Need a quick fix of ‘Orange Is The New Black’ before you head to Netflix and download the whole series – then take a look here. Its time to start #OITNB Season 2 binging pleasure.

Here are some new clips to get you through the final hours.

Piper and Alex Flashback

A flashback to Alex (Laura Prepon) and Piper’s past

Alex and Piper

Woooooo… another flashback to Alex and Piper’s past

Present Larry can’t Live on Hope

Larry (Jason Biggs) and Piper see each other for the first time since they broke up.

I Want to be Fierce

We love Red (Kate Mulgrew) – and here she is demanding to look Fierce.

Crazy Eyes and Watson

Need we say more…

Piper’s Fight Aftermath

An final Pipers fight aftermath…

 

I *Heart* Kate Mulgrew – The Vision of the World

Star Trek: Voyager, unlike its predecessors and successors in the long-running science fiction space opera television series, was less explorative and philosophical. Rather than the crew of a luxury space ship journeying through a galaxy and having adventures that thinly veiled commentary on the human condition, The Voyager had found itself caught in a quadrant of outer space by accident. The setting sparked a shift in focus to more urgent and immediate goals of fending off the monstrously unfriendly denizens of the quarter, and the crew members of The Voyager tended to have dodgier character histories than the crews of other Starfleet ships—prompting another unique focus, that of character development.

The captain of this particular lineage of adventuring was Admiral Kathryn Janeway, who has the distinction of playing the most morally-ambiguous captain in the Star Trek franchise, as well as the first and only female captain in the franchise to date.

In a 2002 interview with Andrew Scahill from Out In America, Mulgrew testified to having approached show producer Rick Berman “many, many times over the years about getting a gay character on the show—one whom we could really love, not just a guest star.” The show ran for seven years without a regular character who was gay. “I’m suspecting that on Enterprise—” a spinoff of Star Trek succeeding Voyager “—they will do something to this effect. I couldn’t get it done on mine,” said Mulgrew. “And I am sorry for that.”

Mulgrew returned to earth and to television in her role of Galina Reznikov, nicknamed “Red”, from Orange Is The New Black, a comedy-drama about women’s prison life that is groundbreaking in its portrayal of incarcerated women and lesbian relationships.

Mulgrew has also acted in a number of stageplays, from Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello, to the one-woman show that is Tea At Five (in which she played Katharine Hepburn), to Hester Saloman in Equus. She has lent her voice to animated series Batman and Gargoyles, as well as the Dragon Age video games.

I *Heart* Laura Prepon

Laura Prepon is an American actress, an alumna of Caroline Thomas’ Total Theater Lab in New York City. While her star-making role was that of an ordinary girl-next-door in the sit-com That 70’s Show, she has not shied away from more challenging roles in potentially controversial productions.

She played a Goth girl love interest by the name of Angevin Duvet in the 2004 film Lightning Bug, which was a visual autobiography of Robert Hall’s troubled childhood. Prepon even stepped up to be executive producer for the film. In 2005, Prepon starred in Karla, a psychological thriller in which she played the eponymous role of a kidnapper and murderer.

While Prepon has guest-starred on occasion in some popular television series such as How I Met Your Mother and Castle, her popularity revived when she was cast as a series regular in Orange Is The New Black. This television series focuses on women’s prison life. The main character, Piper Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling) is a bisexual drug dealer who lives in New York.

Chapman’s journalist fiancée tries to make the relationship work despite Chapman’s arrest and imprisonment for drug trafficking charges. Prepon plays Alex Vause, a drug-dealing ex-girlfriend of Piper Chapman who reunites with her in prison.

“There is a big gay and lesbian community out there and it’s good to have more relationships on television that they can relate to,” Prepon said. “I’m glad we could be a part of that.”

Prepon identifies as a supporter of the gay and lesbian community. About the role itself, she spoke on The Arsenio Hall show of the comfortable chemistry that she had with her co-star, Taylor Schilling.

“Making out with a girl on camera, they’re beautiful and soft and—I get why you guys are into it. They’re just so beautiful, you know?”

image source

‘Orange Is The New Black’ Writer Lauren Morelli Comes Out

Lauren Morelli, a key writer for Orange in the New Black, came out yesterday in a touching personal piece, entitled ‘While Writing for ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ I Realized I Am Gay‘.

The article was then tweeted to her 5000 twitter follower with the following message…

“This is probably the most personal thing I will ever write, so the internet seemed like a good place for it.”

via @lomorelli

In this touching article, Lauren candidly reveals her very personal journey, which started around the time she started writing for OITNB.

“In Piper and Alex, I’d found a mouthpiece for my own desires and a glimmer of what my future could look like.”

Lauren Morelli

Morelli started writing for Season 1 only five months after her own wedding, and therefore the discovery about herself and her sexuality, came at a heavy emotional cost.

“In any story worth telling, there’s conflict. And so, while it certainly would have been disorienting to begin to question my sexuality after three decades of knowing myself, it was particularly blinding because I’d gotten married only a few months before. It was the sort of wedding that makes you believe in absolute partnership and the strength that can come from facing obstacles, like the life-threatening illness that my new husband had battled for the majority of our relationship. But he was healthy again, so we danced under strings of Christmas lights and drank fancy cocktails that were served in mason jars, all while being surrounded by the friends and family who had held us up over the previous six years.”

She not only had to mourn the loss of her own marriage, but the identity she had known all her life. She says:

“After lugging around a basket full of shame and guilt for the last year, there was a lightness that came with realizing that I could choose to replace my negative framing with honesty and grace.”

And when she wrote one of the most beloved scenes in OITNB, with Piper and Alex’s journey together; the “I heart you” scene in Season 1. It would turn out to be an important moment of self-acceptance for the writer. She continues:

Lauren Morelli 02

“…I was nervous about the first love scene I’d written for Alex and Piper. I’d loved writing it, loved watching a tenderness emerge in their relationship where passion always seemed to be the ruling principle, but by that time, I was so deep in my own self-doubt that I constantly felt like a fraud…”

“As I watched Taylor Schilling and Laura film the scene, one of our producers (as it happened, a gay woman) tapped me on the shoulder. She pointed at the screen and gave me a thumb’s up. It was a small gesture, but my first step toward feeling accepted and quietly accepting myself. In Piper and Alex, I’d found a mouthpiece for my own desires and a glimmer of what my future could look like.”

Read the full essay here.

Another Teasers From Orange Is the New Black For You to Watch

Another teasers, curtesy of Entertainment Weekly of Orange Is the New Black.

Season one focused on our favourite bisexual-identified drug mule (Piper), as she learnt that prison was not all spice-based lotions, and homemade soaps, but season two is set to loosen the reigns. By enlisting new cast members and focusing on some of our quieter favourites, there’s plenty to learn about the upcoming batch of episodes.

Here We Go Guys – Orange Is The New Black – NEW Trailer!!

Its here, another Orange Is The New Black trailer, which was released today by Netflix. Take a closer look at Season 2 and your favourite ladies – Nicky, Alex, Crazy Eyes, Piper and more. I can’t wait for the new season, coming June 6th 2014. 

Orange Is The New Black – Jungle Trailer

Orange Is The New Black – Season 2 – Three Words

Behind the scenes bonus video of the actresses who play the fearless, funny and unforgettable inmates of Litchfield prison. Watch the cast of #OITNB describe Season 2 in three words.

Spotlight | Natasha Lyonne’s New Shot at the Spotlight

In the early 2000s Natasha Lyonne was a former movie celebrity and actress prodigy, deeply addicted to alcohol and heroin. She didn’t seem to have any future. But she did.

Read her story – it’s one with a happy ending.

Lyonne’s initial success

Lyonne’s first big role was in Woody Allen’s musical comedy Everyone Says I Love You (1996). Still, from the ’90s we best remember her comedy film performances such as American Pie (1999) and But I’m A Cheerleader (1999). She starred in the latter, playing a high school cheerleader, who is suspected of homosexuality and forced to a conversion therapy camp. You have to love the absurd scene where she bursts in tears and wails ”I’m a homosexual, I’m a homosexual!”

Then everything went awry

Unfortunately, Lyonne’s promising career came quickly crashing down. In the 2000s she was reportedly wandering the streets of New York unwashed, milking her fans to get money for the next dose. She got caught for drunk driving and was kicked out of her rental apartment after trashing it.

For years Lyonne’s physical and mental health deteriorated, until by 2008 she had suffered a heart infection, collapsed lung and long periods of homelessness on the streets of New York. She went into treatment to get rid of her addictions and indeed got back on her two feet.

In 2012 Lyonne even gave up cigarettes after going through a successful open-heart surgery.

Her health, sanity and career now revived, Lyonne is working again in both films and television, and continuing her work for greater acceptance of sexual minorities.

New career: Orange is the New Black and G.B.F.

In the 2013 movie G.B.F. (= Gay Best Friends) Lyonne was cast as a teacher who tries to make her students understand that it’s OK to be gay.

Still, you might know Natasha Lyonne better as the witty lesbian inmate Nicky Nichols of the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. It is not a coincidence that the character is a former junkie who has gone through an open-heart surgery…

With all these lesbian and deviant characters under her belt, it is almost a surprise that Lyonne is not into girls. She does humorously invite her gay friends to hit on her, though. Keep that in mind if you ever get to befriend her.

 

Photo by Annabel Mehran