15 Things You Didn't Know About 'Orange Is The New Black'

The award-winning Netflix series Orange Is The New Black has a very large and diverse cast. The show, of course, takes place in a female prison, and each episode shows the backstory of a different inmate so every actress gets her chance to shine. But have you ever wondered about the backstories of these amazing actresses? For some of them, this was their break-out role, but others were pretty successful beforehand too. Either way, this great group of talented ladies all have super interesting pasts. Some things about them are even quite surprising! Whether it's a previous role or an interesting anecdote revealed in an interview, we are always learning something new about the cast. While their backstories might not involve criminal activity like their characters, some info about them can be equally as fascinating. Take a look at some things you might have never have guessed about the Litchfield Prison ladies!

15 Piper Made Out With Zac Efron

The main character, Piper Chapman, has some poor luck when she winds up in prison. In real life, actress Taylor Schilling starred in the Nicholas Sparks movie The Lucky One. And she is definitely pretty lucky: Zac Efron played her love interest! Who would mind playing alongside one of the sexiest men in Hollywood. She had many swoon-worthy scenes and played a girl who lost her brother in the war. Zac Efron's character knew of her brother and found a picture of Taylor's character Beth. He keeps Beth's picture as a good luck charm and eventually seeks her out, and, of course, they fall in deep, passionate love. This movie came out in 2012, a year before her different role in OITNB. Taylor has proven herself as an actress by portraying a variety of characters. Whether she's playing a leading lady in a romantic movie or a troubled prisoner learning the ropes, she is completely believable.

14 Alex Was On 'That '70's Show'

Piper's on-again-off-again girlfriend Alex is a surly, dark-haired beauty. However, actress Laura Prepon may be best remembered as a charming redhead from the '70's on That '70's Show. The hit television show aired from 1998 to 2006, so it had a pretty long run. The show was about a group of friends growing up in the 1970's. Laura played Donna Pinciotti, who is outspoken and strong like Alex, but definitely, doesn't share Alex's rough-and-tumble past. Donna was instead the high school sweetheart to the main character of the show, Eric Forman. It was pretty different from Alex's tumultuous relationship with Piper! Laura had red hair throughout the filming of the show, with blonde locks towards the end of the series. As Alex, she wears dramatic makeup and has long raven hair. Like Taylor, Laura has certainly shown her diversity as an actress by nailing both of these vastly different roles.

13 Taystee And Poussey Are Real Life BFFs

Taystee and Poussey's friendship brings light to the dark and dreary prison. Their chemistry is wonderful and seemingly natural… and that's because it is! The actresses who play Taystee and Poussey, Danielle Brooks and Samira Wiley respectively, attended the prestigious performing arts school Julliard together in the 2000s. They were already close friends before both being cast on Orange Is The New Black! Once she learned that Danielle acquired a role on the show, Samira immediately asked her to help her rehearse lines so she could audition to play Danielle's best friend. And it worked! “We've been friends for about six years,” Danielle told Essence in 2013. “It's fate. It's very easy to work with Samira and the chemistry is amazing and we don't have to work so hard. We speak a similar language because we both went to the same program.” It must be fun working with one of your closest friends!

12 Nicky's Scar Is Real

Natasha Lyonne, who plays the brass, spunky and unfortunately drug-addicted Nicky Nichols, is known for her roles in movies likes But I'm A Cheerleader! and American Pie. Natasha was able to play a darker role with the character Nicky, a heroin addict. Nicky has had near-death experiences prior to her becoming an inmate. In one of her first scenes, we see a scar on her chest while she is in the showers. We later find out in a backstory that the scar was from surgery she had to have after an overdose. We once again get a glimpse of the realistic-looking scar. The reason it looks so real? It is! Natasha had to really undergo open-heart surgery after a heart infection. It's just a funny coincidence that Natasha had the scar that her character Nicky was supposed to have. It must have been much less work for the make-up department!

11 Doggett Was In 'Crossroads'

Taryn Manning plays Tiffany Doggett, an unstable inmate who has a lot more to her than meets the eye. While this character has strong, defining characteristics (like the fact that she is not too bright), Taryn has been able to throw herself into roles completely different from Doggett. One such role? She was Mimi in the film Crossroads. Do you recognize her? The character's appearances are so different that many people do not realize it is the same actress! Taryn plays one of Britney Spears' character's best friends in this coming-of-age film about three girls taking a road trip together. If you remember the movie at all you know that it is far from resembling any plot that OITNB has. Well, Crossroads had as much drama as it did comedy, so Taryn had some serious plot points to act out in the movie. She must be no stranger to dark storylines at this point in her career. What a talent!

10 Morello Is An Australian Actress

Lorna Morello, the inmate with the bright red lipstick and the strong Boston accent, is actually Australian! Actress Yael Stone hails from the land down under, and not only nails putting on an American accent but a specific northern one as well! Seriously, she nails it: The New Republic dubbed her vocals as “the most amazing accent on television.” But that is not all that's fascinating about this chick. According to an interview, she did with HuffPost Live, she had a bedroom scene before she even slept with anyone for the first time in real life. This is interesting because her character Morello has some steamy scenes on the show. “It was a leap of imaginative faith,” she explained. “A lot of times we create roles and they're experiences we haven't had but we have to imagine it." Sounds like an artist who really is super devoted to her craft.

9 Red Was On 'Star Trek'

No doubt, Kate Mulgrew's role as Galina "Red" Reznikov is different from anything she's played before. And she's played a lot: she's been an actress for around 40 years now! But before she was Red, she was Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. Yep, if you recognize her that's where it's from! She was a bit younger and spoke with an American accent (unlike Red's strong Russian accent) but once you know, you can definitely tell it's her! Kate worked on Star Trek: Voyager from 1995 to 2001. She was the first female captain in a leading role in the Star Trek universe. She also won the Saturn Award for “Best TV Actress” in 1998 for her role on that show. “I'm proud of it. It was difficult; it was hard work. I'm proud of the work because I think I made some little difference in women in science,” Kate said of the role.

8 Soso Does Musicals

You knew Kimiko Glenn, who plays the quirky Brooke Soso, was adorable, but did you know she has a background in musical theater? She majored in musical theater at the Boston Conservatory before dropping out after scoring a role in the touring company for the musical Spring Awakening. Currently, you can catch Kimiko on Broadway as “Dawn” in the musical “Waitress.” This musical is pretty cool because it's based on the film from 2007, and because the music was written by singer Sara Bareilles! It has received rave reviews and has been nominated for many awards. According to The Daily Beast, Kimiko's character Dawn “must learn, through song, to let down her guard and believe in love.” Sounds a bit more optimistic than her storylines on this show! Especially when it comes to Broadway, even when the story is dark, it's hard to imagine it being anything but happy and light-hearted. She has been outspoken about her Broadway ambitions.

7 Flaca Is A Singer Who Kissed A Kardashian

Jackie Cruz, who plays Marisol “Flaca” Gonzales, is actually a musician in real life and attended the Hamilton Music Academy. She worked with will.i.am's producers in high school in a girl band called Krush Velvet, although the band did not take off. She released her solo EP in 2010. Her big break didn't come with music, however, but with her role on Orange is the New Black. However, that is not where she got her TV debut. She originally was seen as herself-on Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami! She was Kourtney's friend and they shared a kiss on the show. “I like the person whether it's a woman-we don't like to be labeled,” explained Jackie to afterellen.com “I'm in a relationship with a man right now, but I've liked women in the past. So I guess we don't want to be labeled.” Not many people can say they have smooched a Kardashian!

6 Maritza Fights For Immigration Reform

Diane Guerrero, who plays Maritza Ramos on the dramatic series, is a strong advocate for immigration reform. Why? She experienced the effects of deportation firsthand. She returned home from school one day at age 14 only to find that her parents and older brother had been deported back to Colombia. “Not a single person at any level of government took any note of me,” she wrote in an essay for The LA Times. “No one checked to see if I had a place to live or food to eat, and at 14, I found myself basically on my own.” She also mentions that her niece, the daughter of Diane's brother who was deported, now “is serving time in jail, living the reality that I act out on screen. I don't believe her life would have turned out this way if her father and my parents had been here to guide and support her.”

5 Poussey Is Dating A Writer

Poussey is one of the most beloved characters on the show, and it definitely took her a while to find love with one of the other inmates. But in real life, the actress who portrays her, Samara Wiley, found love right on the set… with a writer from the show. One of the writers Lauren Morelli attributes her experience writing for OITNB with helping her come to terms with her true self. When the series began, she was married to a man, but she eventually realized she had to be true to who she is. She has said that as the writers debated Piper and her romantic feelings, they all talked about gender and what they had each gone through. She wrote in an essay for Mic.com that she went to therapy after that and started to open up about who she really was. "I went through it all on set," she wrote. "I fell in love with a woman, and I watched my life play out on screen."

4 Suzanne Has A Theatre Background

Before her breakout role as “Crazy Eyes” Suzanne, Uzo Aduba mostly was stuck to theater. Remember that scene in Season 1 where the inmates had to “scare teenagers straight” and into making the right choices? Suzanne did a whole Shakespearean monologue with her teenager, and it garnered a big laugh. But that monolog came naturally to Uzo as her past in the theater helped prepare her for that scene. “I thank goodness that we have Nick Jones on the writing staff, who is a playwright and a Julliard grad. He knew I am from the theater, and I was just so glad that he incorporated that into the show, which was another jaw-dropping moment,” she told Entertainment Weekly. Although her focus right now is on Orange is the New Black, Uzo took time in 2015 to play “Othello” in in Public Forum's “Drama Club: An Evening with Desdemona and Emilia.”

3 Nicky Likes Musicians In Real Life!

While her character Nicky only has eyes for Morello on the show, in real life Natasha Lyonne is cuddled up with a familiar face: Fred Armisen! Fred is best known for his tenure on Saturday Night Live and his television show Portlandia. He's also the bandleader on Late Night with Seth Meyers, so he's a musician too! Natasha seems to get along well with musicians. After all, the famous Rufus Wainwright even wrote the song “Natasha” about her in 2003! The song was featured on an episode of Nip/Tuck, and it has a beautiful, sad melody. It's unclear whether Natasha actually dated Rufus, however, or if they were just friends. As for Fred, there is no doubt that these two lovebirds are a couple. Look at one picture of them and you will see the happiness radiating off of the two of them from being together. How cute are they?

2 Sophia Is A Trans Advocate

Sophia Burset is a groundbreaking character on the series, and Laverne Cox, who portrays her, is a groundbreaking actress. Laverne Cox is transgender like her character and was the first transgender person to be featured on the cover of TIME magazine. She's a huge advocate for the transgender community. “The reality of trans people's lives is that so often we are targets of violence. We experience discrimination disproportionately to the rest of the community,” she told Katie Couric. “Our unemployment rate is twice the national average; if you are a trans person of color, that rate is four times the national average. The homicide rate is highest among trans women.” Laverne is being brave by not only being herself but speaking out about injustices and fighting for what she believes in. In that way, one could argue that she is very similar to her character Sophia, who is headstrong and will never apologize for being who she is.

1 Boo Broke Barriers For The LGBT Community

Laverne Cox is not the only one who has broken ground for the LGBT community. Actress Lea DeLaria, who plays the sarcastic Big Boo on the show, hit an impressive milestone: she was the first openly gay comedian to perform on a late-night talk show when she appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993. This milestone, along with her work on Orange Is The New Black, has not gone unnoticed, as she was given the Equality Illinois Freedom Award for being “a cutting-edge performer who has used her talent to entertain and enlighten millions of Americans," according to the CEO of Equality Illinois. "As an out performer for over 33 years who has made it her life's work to change people's perception of butch, queer, and LGBT, it is an honor for me to receive such recognition from my home state,” Lea said upon receiving the award.