Watch as the inmates get in the holiday spirit with their own version of the 12 Days of Christmas. Yes, this is the ‘Orange is the New Black’ stars sing ‘Holidays at Litchfield’.
With all your favourites Piper, Alex, and Crazy Eyes laying down this festive ’12 Days of Christmas’ type tune to you during this time of year.
LGBT people often worry about the ramifications of coming out to their families, friendships, work-places, and in their relationships. However, when you live your life in the spotlight the consequences of coming out can be harder. While coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) in the entertainment world, sports or politics has become increasingly less taboo, these experiences are still extremely personal and not met without backlash.
This year we have seen a number of women celebrities step forward, and tell the world they are queer. So here is a list of prominent individuals who came out publicly this year.
Actress Ellen Page, best known for her role as a pregnant teen in Juno, came out as a lesbian during a speech at Human Rights Campaign ‘Time to Thrive’ youth conference in February 2014.
“I am here today because I am gay… and because maybe I can make a difference to help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless for me I feel a personal obligation and a personal responsibility. I also do it selfishly because I’m tired of hiding and I’m tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered, and my relationship suffered. And I’m standing here today with all of you on the other side of that pain.
I am young yes. But what I have learned is that love — the beauty of it, the joy of it and yes even the pain of it — is the most incredible gift to give and to receive as a human being. And we deserve to experience love, fully, equally, without shame and without compromise. There are too many kids out there suffering from bullying, rejection or simply being mistreated for who they are. Too many dropouts. Too much abuse. Too many homeless. Too many suicides. You can change that and you are changing it. But you never needed me to tell you that.”
Ellen Page
Canadian actress Zoie Palmer revealed for the first time publicly that she is gay at the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards in March when she thanked her partner Alex Lalonde as she accepted her “Fan Choice Award for Favourite Canadian Screen Star”.
Palmer plays Dr. Lauren Lewis in the Showcase Canadian TV supernatural drama Lost Girl.
Reigning Miss Spain Patricia Yurena came out of the closet via an intimate photo of her and her girlfriend Vanesa Cortes which she posted to Instagram. She is now the first openly gay national pageant queen in the world.
“I published the picture completely spontaneously and in an impulsive manner. Thank you for all your support.”
Said Yurena
Ireland and Angel first sparked romance rumours when they posted pictures on Instagram. The rapper then confirmed their relationship in June, but admitted some people were still struggling to accept them as a couple.
“There are still certain limitations for women. If we were two guys, it’d be insane, negatively insane with the attention. With us it’s all being very positive, the media are like, ‘Oh they’re so cute, they’re best friends.’
An interracial gay couple, I mean that’s just weird for America right now. We f**k and friends don’t f**k. I have never f**ked one of my friends. Once I see you in that way, it doesn’t happen. But we do f**k and it’s crazy and that’s weird to say because I think about it in terms of an audience reading it and them thinking, ‘What the hell?’ But it happens.”
Angel Haze
Actress Emily Rios (The Bridge, Friday Night Lights, Men of a Certain Age and Breaking Bad) has came out as gay in 2014.
“I’m gay, personally, so being Mexican and a lesbian – this is why I love the character because I deal with the same type of things with my own family. Mexican-Americans especially — because this generation, we come into America and your family wants to be proud.
Emily Rios
The Rose of Tralee is an international competition started in 1959 and open to women of Irish descent from all over the world. It’s held in Kerry County, Ireland and each year a woman who best matches the attributes “lovely and fair” as described in the nineteenth century ballad. This year, the winner was Philadelphia Rose Maria Walsh, and she’s gay, a fact she revealed shortly after winning in August.
“I’m confident in who I am as a person. The Rose of Tralee is about celebrating women’s intelligence, careers, their volunteer work. The question of sexuality never came up. To me, being gay is normal. It’s natural.”
Maria Walsh
It was footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger and Tom Daley who inspired Casey Stoney, a defensive player for both the England women’s football and Arsenal Ladies teams, to say she is gay after years of speculation by fans.
“I’ve never hidden it within football circles because it is accepted. But to the outside world, I’ve never spoken about my sexuality I feel it’s really important for me to speak out as a gay player because there are so many young people struggling with being gay.
You hear about people taking their own lives because they’re homosexual, now that should never happen. They should never feel those pressures. How can I expect other people to come out and speak about themselves if I’m not willing to do that myself?”
Casey Stoney
Djuan Trent, Miss Kentucky 2010, came out of the closet in March shortly after a federal judge ruled that Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages from other states.
“For months, I have been contemplating how I would write this post, how I would position it, when would be the right time to post it. Should I make it funny? Should I make it mysterious? Should I make it serious? Should I pick a special date to do it? Should I build some kind of anticipation around it? Hmmm…ain’t nobody got time for that. I have written and re-written and deleted and restarted this post more times than I care to share, and after all of that I have finally realized: “There ain’t nothin’ to it, but to do it.” So, here we go folks… I am queer.”
Djuan Trent
Monica Raymund, who plays paramedic/firefighter-in-training ‘Gabriela Dawson’ on Chicago Fire, came out publicly as bisexual via a tweet in January in support of efforts to protest Russia’s anti-gay laws during the Olympic Games.
https://twitter.com/monicaraymund/status/432669348281729024
When Vicky Beeching was diagnosed by with an auto-immune disease triggered by the years of stress, caused by being in the closet, she decided to reject the years of desolation the church, and decided to live her own truth. Beeching, the UK star of the American Christian rock scene, whose music is sung at mega-churches across the heartland, had had enough. In August she choose to come out.
“I increasingly began to feel like I was living behind an invisible wall. The inner secrecy of holding that inside was divorcing me from reality – I was living in my own head. Anybody I was in a friendship with, or anything I was doing in the church, was accompanied by an internal mantra: ‘What if they knew?’ It felt like all of my relationships were built on this ice that would break if I stepped out on to it.
When I [told a priest] that I had feelings for the same sex he prayed the prayer of absolution, for me to be forgiven. And that was it….I felt there was something really wrong with me, that maybe I was so sinful and awful I couldn’t be healed.
I felt like it was ripping me in half. I knew I couldn’t carry on. I was trying to align the loving God I knew and believed in with this horrendous reality of what was going on inside me….I remember kneeling down and absolutely sobbing into the carpet. I said to God, ‘You have to either take my life or take this attraction away because I cannot do both.'”
Vicky Beeching
In one of the best revelations of the year, was ‘Orange is the New Black’ lead writer Lauren Morelli, who back in May wrote an article for Policy Mic describing how working on the Netflix series helped her come to terms with her sexual orientation.
In September, Morelli appeared hand-in-hand at the Emmy Awards with Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey Washington on the show.
“I went through it all on set: I fell in love with a woman, and I watched my life play out on screen….And now, as we are gearing up for the release of season 2, it feels liberating and appropriate to live my life in front of you.”
Lauren Morelli
Meet the Dudleys! There’s Mrs. Dudley, Mr. Dudley, and their two loving daughters. Actually its Mr. Dudley, Mr. Dudley, and their two loving daughters. No, now it Mr. Dudley, a new alternative Mr. Dudley (this is getting confusing). Oh and is that Crazy Eyes from ‘Orange is the New Black’?
Guest starring Woody Harrelson, Uzo Aduba, and Saturday Night Live team, the sketch takes the Mickey out Twitter feedback and token representation. Parodying the network changes to a traditional sitcom to appeal to online complaints. The sketch lampoons stereotypical sitcoms, cynical business decisions, Twitter, and even snail mail.
However, when it receives so many makeovers that it is completely unrecognisable as the show it started out as, it then receives complaints from narrow-minded, homophobic idiots, and we are back to square one.
Watch below:
Our favourite lesbian comedian and star of Orange Is The New Black, Lea DeLaria was seriously not in the mood when she took the M train, a line in the New York City subway system.
According to the site Jezebel, the actress led passengers in a rendition of 99 Bottles when a street preacher came on board to hawk his vision.
http://vimeo.com/110909320
Not to be de-railed Mr. Preacher continued with his rant, until he and DeLaria got into a ‘friendly disagreement’ over liberals and LGBTI sexuality.
‘You’re part of the reason America’s in trouble. Religious fanatics are the reason America’s in trouble,’
Lea DeLaria
http://vimeo.com/110910795
Finally, the ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel we deserve. Michael Keaton is out, but ‘Funny Or Die’ has found a replacement.
Watch this clip starring Tim Burton’s ‘brother’ pitching Beetlejuice 2, with OITNB’s Natasha Lyonne as the infamous ghost.
The ‘Orange is the New Black‘ star shows us she’s spooky as hell. Watch as the new Beetlejuice finds her-self in new situations, and be thankful this isn’t actually a real pitch.
On Thursday 16th October, millions of Americans will wear purple on Spirit Day in a stand against bullying and to show their support for lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.
Spirit Day began in 2010 as a way to show support for LGBT youth and take a stand against bullying. Following a string of high-profile suicide deaths of gay teens in 2010, GLAAD worked to involve millions of teachers, workplaces, celebrities, media outlets and students in going purple on social media or wearing purple, a color that symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag. Spirit Day now occurs every year on the third Thursday in October, during National Bullying Prevention Month, and has become the most visible day of support for LGBT youth.
In recognition of this, “Orange Is The New Black” stars Selenis Leyva and Yael Stone have recorded a message encouraging people to join the thousands of people taking part in Spirit Day this year.
Also backing this cause is the cast of The Fosters and Faking It
Over its two seasons, Orange Is the New Black, set as it is in a women’s prison, has flirted with all the old women-behind-bars stereotypes just long enough to flip them on their backs.
However, not all sex scenes in the show are sexy. Netflix’s “Orange Is The New Black” enjoys a lot of freedom in how it shows its characters’ relationships progressing between the sheets.
The below video argues, what really makes #OITNB provocative is the unshrinking honesty when it comes to sex scenes.
“While other shows that focus on relationships between women show them ecstatically engaging in mysteriously mind-blowing sex, or making out in a way that seems designed to titillate male viewers, here the sex and affection between women is complicated, messy and wonderfully believable,”
BE WARNED – there are Season 2 spoilers and lesbian nakedness.
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.
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.
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
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
The Today Show‘s Tamron Hall went behind the scenes of Orange is the New Black to talk to all our favourites – Taylor Schilling, Uzo Aduba, Kate Mulgrew, Laura Prepon and other Litchfield ladies.
The hit show has successfully earned 12 nominations, with Schilling being nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category, Kate Mulgrewwas nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and Natasha Lyonne, Uzo Aduba, and Laverne Cox were all nominated in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category.
Laverne Cox’s nomination marks the first time an openly transgender actress has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
What’s @TamronHall‘s prison name? Watch her FULL behind-the-scenes intv w/the cast of @OITNB: http://t.co/HVhqAyz9qapic.twitter.com/sW1RskSsi9
— NewsNation (@newsnation) August 4, 2014
Here! queer! And stealing awards from straight people! Conservative news outlets would probably run with that headline like a steam train, when in actual fact some brilliant LGBT-themed TV shows have this year scooped up awards at the prestigious TCA Awards (Television Critics Association Awards) to signify that they were amongst the best things on our telly boxes/mobile devices or laptops (if you were watching on Netflix) in the past year.
The TCA are a wise old bunch and so their deemed quality of TV shows amounts to more than the ratings and what the majority of us are spending times vegging out on our couches watching, which means that anyone worth it has a chance at winning and it also really tells you what the good stuff is.
This year, the two big LGBT winners were RuPaul’s Drag Race and Orange is the New Black. Two shows that couldn’t be further from each other on the telly spectrum.
While OITNB’s award for Outstanding New Program is undoubtedly deserved for the way that the Netflix-only prison drama portrays the lives of its incredibly diverse prisoners (many characters are LGBT and/or of colour too) with empathetic realness.
Whereas RuPaul’s drag-based competition was often peppered with transphobic language that is distinctly unlike its network (Logo TV) which has been a long time supporter of LGBT projects.
Luckily though, another wonderful show was kicking ass and taking names (and TCA Awards too!) to offset RuPaul’s sometimes-grossness and to back up OITNB in fantastic shows with fantastic LGBT characters.
The Fosters, whose two lead characters are an interracial queer couple with an interracial family on a channel (ABC Family) that originally launched in an effort to promote conservative TV shows. So a triple win of sorts? Absolutely and we can only hope that the next year is as great for LGBT-related TV shows too.
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.
This week Lea Delaria shared some intimate shots on her Istagram page from behind the season of Orange is the New Black, and they included snap of Jodie Foster – back on set and directing.
Jodie Foster is carving out a nice, new career as a TV director, and Orange Is the New Black is arguably the first time that Foster as a director has dealt with the subject of lesbianism on screen.
“As a director, dramedy is what I do. It’s not who I am as an actor. The genre requires a very specific skill in terms of recognizing what is quirky and perverse, and to be moved by it. The female prisoners on Orange Is The New Black have a very spiritual journey that’s so complex. They’re all soul-searching and they change through each other”
Jodie Foster
Delaria with Kate Mulgrew
Behind the scenes with Taylor Schilling
Delaria with our favourite Uzo Aduba
‘Orange is the New Black’ (#OITNB) has earned 12 nominations, behind Game of Thrones’ 19 nominations and fellow Netflix hit House of Cards’ 16.
Taylor Schilling was nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category, Kate Mulgrew was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and Natasha Lyonne, Uzo Aduba, and Laverne Cox were all nominated in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category.
The show received a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, Liz Friedman and Jenji Kohan earned a nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Jodie Foster was nominated in the Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.
Laverne Cox’s nomination marks the first time an openly transgender actress has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
In a statement to The Huffington Post, Laverne Cox said…
Today is truly a dream come true for me. Working on such an incredible show with such talented professionals has truly been the reward for me since we started shooting Oitnb 2 years ago. But this Emmy Nomination today is very welcomed and delicious icing on an already sumptuous cake. Thanks to the cast and crew of Orange for all the love and support, for your professionalism. Special shout out to Jodie Foster who directed the episode where we leaned Sophia’s back story and Sian Heder who wrote it and to all our writers, especially to Jenji Kohan. This recognition of 12 #EmmyNoms for your genius today is beyond well deserved. You are everything Jenji.
For my trans siblings, I love you so much. I share this nomination with you. May all of our stories be told with the depth of humanity the brilliant writers, cast, crew and our creator Jenji Kohan have shown with the portrayal of Sophia Burset. As I celebrate this day I can’t help but remember it is still a state of emergency for far too many trans people across this country right now. We need love, and support. We need public policy and our fellow citizens to value our lives and our humanity. Most of all we, ourselves need to value our lives. The more I treat my life as if it has value, the more the universe has been saying, “Yes Girl”
Laverne Cox
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.
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.
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
Last Thursday, America’s Critics Choice Television Awards showed plenty of support to the LGBTQ TV community, as several of the top awards went to queer-centric shows and out actors.
Orange Is the New Black, the Netflix series won Best Comedy Series, Best Supporting Actress In a Comedy Series for Kate Mulgrew, who plays “Red,” and Best Guest Performer In a Comedy Series for Uzo Abuda. Abuda, who plays “Crazy Eyes,” was up-graded to series regular on season 2 of the series, which debuted on June 6.
Other LGBTQ winners included Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons. Bomer took home the prize for Best Supporting Actor In a Movie or Mini-series for The Normal Heart. The HBO film also won Best Movie. Parsons won Best Actor In a Comedy Series, a prize he lost to Louis CK last year.
Archer, Orphan Black, Scandal, and American Horror Story: Coven also took home prizes during the ceremony.
This fantastically cute viral video arrives in time for the second series of the Netflix hit Orange Is The New Black.
Titled Tabby is the new Cat, and uploaded by The Pet Collective the video features main character Piper Catman who has been sentenced for nine lives.
Watch the video above for more of the same and get on over to Netflix to watch the new series.
Based on the memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, by Piper Kerman, the programme’s cast – featuring the likes of Taylor Schilling as Chapman and Laura Prepon as Alex Vause – has proven a hit with fans.
“I heart you,” says the cat version of Alex.
“What is that?” replies Piper.
“I don’t know, I love you for pussies?” the tabby quips.
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
“Women Ruling TV” was hosted by Netflix, and for the event they pulled together an impressive panel of stars and directors, to talk about their experiences in television. Jodie Foster, Taylor Schilling and Kate Mulgrew (from Orange is the New Black), Robin Wright (representing “House of Cards”) and Jehane Noujaim (director of “The Square”) answered questions.
For a full breakdown of the event read IndieWire’s recap.
“When I blend a comedy and drama, as a director, I have to have something quirky. I read the book and I called my agent and was like I need to be a part of that.”
Jodie Foster.
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.
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.
A flashback to Alex (Laura Prepon) and Piper’s past
Woooooo… another flashback to Alex and Piper’s past
Larry (Jason Biggs) and Piper see each other for the first time since they broke up.
We love Red (Kate Mulgrew) – and here she is demanding to look Fierce.
Need we say more…
An final Pipers fight aftermath…
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.
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?”
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:
“…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.
GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, honored George Takei and the best in film and television at the 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Waldorf Astoria New York. Naomi Watts, Kylie Minogue, Emmy Rossum, Boy George, Laura Prepon, Laverne Cox, Swoosie Kurtz, Tamron Hall, and country star Kacey Musgraves were among the special guests.
The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD’s work to amplify stories of LGBT people and issues that build support for equality.
At the ceremony, long-time LGBT advocate David Mixner introduced GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, who received two standing ovations from the capacity audience. In her remarks she said, “We are a team – focused on advocating and educating – and we have added a new component to our arsenal: we have to protect the phenomenal progress we have made over the past quarter of a century. There are some who say ‘our work is done.’ I say we have twice as much work to do.”
Also at the ceremony, George Takei received the Vito Russo Award, which is named after one of GLAAD’s co-founders and the author of The Celluloid Closet. The award is presented to an out media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality. Previous Vito Russo Award honorees include Anderson Cooper, Ricky Martin, Rosie O’Donnell, Alan Cumming, Cynthia Nixon, Nathan Lane, Cherry Jones, Elton John, k.d. lang, and Tom Ford. The award was presented to Takei by Broadway director Stafford Arima who is directing Allegiance, a new Broadway musical starring Takei, Telly Leung, and Lea Salonga.
“I am so glad to be with all you GLAAD people to receive this important recognition. The Vito Russo Award is charged with meaning and potency. In the twenty-five years since its founding, GLAAD has dramatically changed American society for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. I know, because as a closeted kid growing up in Los Angeles…all I saw of gays and lesbians in movies and television or heard on radio were caricatures of people who were mocked and laughed at, or pitied, or hated. The media stripped us of all humanity and made us into pathetic stereotypes. The media then was a soul-crushing monster. GLAAD took on this formidable beast with its media savvy, political acumen and the power of its advocacy and transformed the media into a powerful force for change. GLAAD inspired and galvanized others into action to join with in the great 21st century civil rights movement.”
George Takei
“But as long as LGBT people can be fired from their job for simply being who they are, our work isn’t done yet. As long as young people are kicked out of their families just for being who they are, our work is not done yet. As long as people are be bullied into feeling that their lives are so hopeless that they are driven to self-destructive acts, our work is not done. Working in concert with GLAAD, with its history of achievement and the legacy of Vito Russo, we will make this a better world, a more equal society of all people…I accept the GLAAD Vito Russo Award with pride, and with humility and with resolve.”
George Takei
Boy George introduced global superstar Kylie Minogue, who performed “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” Grammy Award-winning country music artist Kacey Musgraves performed her LGBT empowering anthem “Follow Your Arrow.”
Naomi Watts presented the award for Outstanding Comedy Series to the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black. Cast members Laverne Cox, Laura Prepon, Natasha Lyonne, Samira Wiley, Dascha Polanco, Selenis Leyva, Yael Stone, Taryn Manning, Emma Myles, Alysia Reiner accepted the award on behalf of the show.
Emmy Rossum presented the award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release to director Stacie Passon and star Robin Weigert for the film Concussion. Looking cast members Raúl Castillo and Frankie J. Álvarez presented the award for Outstanding Individual Episode to the Elementary episode “Snow Angels.” This category recognizes LGBT storylines shows which do not have a regular LGBT character. Transgender actress Candis Cayne, who played Ms. Hudson in the episode, accepted the award on behalf of the show.
Following is a complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in New York.
Additional awards were presented at the Los Angeles GLAAD Media Awards on April 12 at the Beverly Hilton. For video, photos, and more, visit: glaad.org/mediaawards/recap To receive the latest updates on the GLAAD Media Awards, follow @glaad on Twitter and use the hashtag #glaadawards.
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.
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