Anything You Love Works, Right?

Actress Taylor Schilling on the importance of friends, her unlikely bond with Meryl Streep, and the Netflix series Orange is the New Black...

Taylor Schilling, 35, made a name for herself as prison inmate Piper Chapman in the hit Netflix Originals series Orange is the New Black (OITNB). The show is based on real-life US writer Piper Kerman’s memoir about her time spent in a women’s prison for money laundering and drug trafficking. The series launched in 2013 and has since become the most-watched Netflix Originals show to date.

Taylor and her brother Sam grew up in Boston, and split their time between their divorced parents Patricia and Robert. She’s also appeared in films like The Lucky One and Argo, and is now in the seventh and final season of OITNB. Taylor is single and lives in New York with her French bulldog, Tank.

I have to say, I loved wearing the orange jumpsuit in Orange is the New Black. Initially, people were a bit negative about it, wondering how I could wear the same thing for seven months straight, but I thought it was great. To me, it’s as exciting as wearing an elaborate costume in a period drama, because it’s so far removed from my life.

When we started with OITNB in 2013, no one had any idea that it would be such a success. Back then, Netflix was almost unheard of, and people weren’t sure what TV-streaming services were all about. One of the only assurances we had to go on was that the team behind House of Cards was doing it, so it must be good. The show was definitely worth the risk.