13 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About OITNB

Season 5 of Orange is the New Black is almost upon us and it looks like it's going to be a riot - literally! Judging from the recently released trailers, the inmates at Litchfield Penitentiary will rise up against the man in the eagerly anticipated new season and we can't wait to see what goes down.

So in honor of season 5, we decided to put together a list of fascinating facts about the hit Netflix show and the stars that feature in it. You may have binge-watched the show intently, but we have the insider tidbits from behind the scenes and everything that went into making the Orange is the New Black the amazing show that it is today.

It is an amazing show. The writing is brilliant and hilarious. Practically every actor on the show gives an incredible performance. And of course it's brilliant to see a cast of diverse and strong women at the forefront of a TV show. So, who wouldn't want to know everything that goes into making Orange is the New Black so great?

Here are 13 things you didn't know about the phenomenon that is Orange is the New Black:

13 The Real Story Behind OITNB

You probably already know that the show is based on the memoir of Piper Kerman and her real-life experiences as someone who went to jail for being an associate of a drug smuggling ring. But without having read her book you won't know some of the finer details. After college Kerman fell in love with a woman who was part of an international drug ring called Nora (Alex in the show). While she was with Nora she ended up smuggling $10,000 from Chicago to Brussels, Belgium. It wasn't until ten years later that the law caught up with her. Even though she resented Nora for some time, while she was in prison, she accepted her own responsibility for what happened, admitting "It was a reckless and selfish time in my life." Kerman really did have a fiancé called Larry who wrote a Modern Love piece entitled, "A Life to Live, This Side of the Bars". And all of that is obviously the jump-off point for the series.

12 The Real-Life Alex Claps Back

Catherine Cleary Wolters is the real woman that Piper Kerman called Nora in her book. After the show aired Wolters went public and wanted to clear a few things up, explaining how their real life experiences were much different to what is depicted in the show. Wolters says their was no sex and no rekindling of the romance between she and Piper. They only ever spent five weeks in the same prison while they were in Chicago to testify on their case. And according to Wolters the pair weren't romantically involved until after they had smuggled drugs or money and says, “I was not Piper's first, and I certainly did not seduce her.” So clearly Wolters was keen to dismiss the idea that she used seductive means to persuade Piper to smuggle for her as depicted in the show.

11 Uzo Aduba Nearly Quit Acting

Oh man, where would OITNB be without Uzo Aduba's character Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren, she's one of the funniest and most interesting characters on the show. It turns out that Aduba actually decided to quit acting the day she got her role on OITNB. After a ton of rejection, she made the decision to drop acting for good and go to law school.  Just one hour later, she got a call from her agent to say she had gotten the part of Suzanne. She didn't even audition for that part - she originally tried out to be Janae Watson, the track runner played by Vicky Jeudy. So we need to give our thanks to OITNB for snapping up Uzo Aduba. If they hadn't, we may never have gotten to experience her talents ever and that would have been a travesty.

10 Katie Holmes Nearly Played Piper

The creator of OITNB Jenji Kohan revealed a couple of years ago that she actually met with Katie Holmes to discuss her playing the role of Piper. We obviously know that didn't work out because Piper is played by Taylor Schilling. Kohan said that Holmes "had other things to do,"  and "in the beginning, no one knew what this was." So you can understand why Holmes may have passed on the part, not knowing what a huge phenomenon OITNB was going to be. It seems as though the cast still like the idea of having Holmes on the show, Taylor Schilling told E!, " I'm a big fan of Katie Holmes. She could be friends with Lorna or like Lorna's Boston sister." Kate Mulgrew (Red) issued a comical warning to Holmes, "She better watch herself. Pretty girls have to watch out in that prison."

9 The Casting Director Chose Unknown Actors On Purpose

The diverse cast of OITNB is a major contributing factor as to why the show is so great. And it was lovely to see that when the show started to become successful, its relatively unknown actors got the praise and popularity they deserved. Obviously there are some well-known actors on the show like Kate Mulgrew who was a big part of Star Trek, and Laura Prepon who was recognizable from That 70's Show. But others not so much. OITNB's casting director, Jen Euston, says this was a decision they made and they continue to make deliberately. "I never want someone in Litchfield who is recognizable," she told BuzzFeed. "As soon as you do that, you cross the line and you're not in prison anymore." That's fascinating and makes a lot of sense! Throwing Katie Holmes in Litchfield now doesn't seem like such a good idea.

8 Flaca Once Made Out With Kourtney Kardashian

You may be surprised to find out that Jackie Cruz who plays the emo-esque character of Flaca on the show was once chummy with the Kardashians. She even featured on a 2009 episode of Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami, in which she had a hot makeout sesh with Kourtney up in the club. Gasp! Cruz doesn't identify as straight in real life, and the pair were flirty making the smooch inevitable. Obviously not much happened between them after that, it's not like they started dating or something (though that would be cool). Jackie Cruz isn't really bothered, she told Wetpaint,  “I just kissed a girl, whatever. It was a long time ago. Now I'm focusing more on my music and my acting and we're really not in touch anymore. She's doing her thing, I'm doing my thing.”

7 Morello Is Really Australian

That Brooklyn accent though! It's one of the things that makes Morello so endearing. Turns out that the accent isn't even real because the actor who plays Morello on OITNB, Yael Stone, is actually Australian in real life. Stone who hails from Sydney had only been in the US a few months before she auditioned for the show. Previously she had been a theater actor but she just went for it with her OITNB audition. In fact, she first auditioned for the part of Nicky Nichols, a role that went to Natasha Lyonne. Stone told The Daily Beast that she got her inspiration for the accent from the way in which words were spelled phonetically on the script i.e. "ya" instead of "you". She also new that her character would be a bit over the top because the notes said she was wearing makeup, “At the lowest of the low, why are you making yourself up every day? Because maybe you're putting on a little show. You take one idea that the writers give you, a gift, and tease it out.”

6 The Silent Norma Was The Lead Singer Of A Punk Rock Band

Is this not the best thing you've ever heard? The character or Norma is mute, yet still manages to be entertaining as Red's right-hand woman. Though we do find out in the show that she can sure sing, when she breaks her silence to burst out into song on stage. And that wouldn't be the first time singing on stage for Annie Golden, the actor who plays Norma as she used to be a punk rocker back in the 70s. She was the lead singer of a NYC-based band called The Shirts. You can even watch her perform with The Shirts on YouTube and Golden is a bad ass! It's unexpected, but awesome. And though Golden may not be a super recognizable face, she is rather an accomplished actor with many film and theater credits to her name.

5 We've Seen Sister Ingalls Before

Beth Fowler is the name of the actor who plays Litchfield's resident nun, Sister Ingalls. But what you may not have realized is that you've probably seen her before because she's been cast to play a nun again and again in movies and TV. In the 70s she was a signing nun in a Kleenex commercial. Then in the 80s she was in a musical called Nunsense the Musical. And what's really cool is that she played one of the nuns in both of the Sister Act movies. Fowler was brought up Catholic and went to Catholic school and then a Catholic college. So she said that for her role as Sister Ingalls, "I'm channeling some of the nuns from my upbringing." Obviously she was perfect for the part as she is able to draw on her real life experiences to make the role super believable.

4 Laverne Cox Was The First Trans Person To Be Nominated For An Emmy

Laverne Cox plays the feisty hairdresser Sophia Burset on the show. As an LGBT advocate she has done so much for trans visibility and LGBT rights since she became famous for her role. Her performance on OITNB led to her becoming the first trans person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, which is amazing. That's not the only time she has made history since rising to fame. She was also the first trans person to have a wax figure at Madame Tussauds. And this year she became the first trans person to play a transgender sereis regular on broadcast  TV. That obviously isn't her role on OITNB but her playing Cameron Wirth on CBS's Doubt. Oh yeah and she was also the first transgender person to feature on the cover of Time magazine. Yass!

3 American Horror Story's Ryan Murphy Nearly Made OITNB

Can you imagine how different Orange would be if it was made by Ryan Murphy? We don't know if it would be any darker though, because the show already is pretty damn dark! It nearly happened as Murphy originally had the rights to turn the book into a TV show. But Murphy said, "I just could never figure out how to do it." That's when Jenji Kohan who created Weeds ended up getting the show. In interviews she's said that she begged Piper Kerman for the rights to the show because she was so passionate about the project, "I read the book and then I called Lionsgate [Television, which produced the show] and said, “You have to get me this book.” Other people wanted it, so I begged Piper and she gave it to me, she trusted me with it, for which I was grateful." We're glad she did get it because she has done an incredible job.

2 Natasha Lyonne Had a Real-Life Struggle With Drugs

When you saw Natasha Lyonne on OITNB you probably remembered her from the movie American Pie. Well, Lyonne was actually a child star, modelling and acting from the age of six. And similarly to other child stars, the biz took its toll on Lyonne, meaning that she has more in common with her Orange character Nicky Nicholls than you may have realized. Her disillusionment with Hollywood led to her taking hard drugs. Nicholls' chest scar that you see on the show is real. Lyonne had heart surgery in 2012 due to a past infection caused by drug use. Though Lyonne never spent time in prison like Nicholls, she has been arrested a few times over the years. These experiences clealry influence her work on OITNB now that's she clean. In an interview with Vulture she said,  “my well-publicized drug problem, there was many years I couldn't get work." And we're super glad that she's back on our screens now.

1 Several Of The Stars Have Tragic Pasts And Use It As Their Inspiration

Lyonne isn't the only actor have faced hardships in her past. Vicky Jeudy who plays Janae Watson was once homeless and stranded in California. She borrowed money to go home to Atlanta and got herself back on track before eventually bagging her role on OITNB. Jackie Cruz was in a car accident when she was younger that was so bad she had to have brain surgery and learn to walk and talk again. Diane Guerrero who plays Maritza, came home from school one day, at just 14, to find that her parents had been deported from the US. Her neighbors supported her afterwards. These are some strong-ass women with real experiences. This is probably another reason why they're so good in the show. They bring an authenticity to the hardships that their characters face because they've had hardships too.