Orange Is The New Black aired for seven years and won countless awards. It was a show that tackled important issues and covered a lot of controversial topics in the most beautiful way. Each of the cast members managed to earn a place in the audience's hearts, and as the show came to an end many of them were overcome with emotion. It was truly the end of an era.
But what's been of them? Now, almost a year after the airing of the last episode, where are they today? This article will show you what's been of their lives outside the Litchfield Federal Prison.
10 Piper Is Enjoying Her Alone Time
Taylor Schilling, aka Piper Chapman, is known to be very charming and flirty, but apparently, that's completely unintentional. After Orange Is The New Black, she found herself enjoying being on her own and has decided to take a break from the dating world.
This is completely understandable after so many years of being in the spotlight. As an inside source explained to RadarOnline, “this is the first time in a long time she’s been able to enjoy the fruits of her labor and she just wants to be alone, shop, bake cookies and read.”
9 Alex Vause: Devoted Mother And Author
This year has definitely been intense for Laura Prepon. In February, she posted a beautiful picture on Instagram letting the world know about the birth of her second child. The photograph showed her holding her newborn with a heart-melting smile.
But as if that wasn't enough, only a couple of months later came the release of her new book, You & I, As Mothers. In it, she talks about her relationship with her mother and difficult moments in her life. She also shares advice based on her experiences with motherhood and pregnancy.
8 Executive Producer Nichols
Nicky was one of the most loved characters of the series, and Natasha Lyonne one of the most loved actors. Now, for her next project, she's taking a seat behind the scenes. In 2018, Natasha founded production company Animal Pictures with actress Maya Rudolph. Together, they decided to partner with producer Cirocco Dunlap and work on the animated series The Hospital.
“Cirocco is an incredibly gifted and hilarious talent and we can’t wait to share her irreverent and existential point of view: a sci-fi world so deep and so strange and so animated,” the actresses stated.
7 From Crazy Eyes To Mrs. America
Uzo Aduba's performance in OITNB was one of the most outstanding ones in the show. After watching her work no one can doubt her talent. What people might not know is how much she had to struggle to get to where she is today. This year, she attended the Rolling Stone event Women Shaping the Future and talked about the obstacles she had to overcome being a black woman in Hollywood.
But that's not all she's doing. Her new big role as politician Shirley Chisholm in Mrs. America will give her another chance to show her talent and commitment to her career and her beliefs.
6 Morello: Fighting Climate Change
Yael Stone couldn't be more different from the oblivious, superficial (but otherwise lovely) Lorna Morello. This year, Yael posted on her Instagram account that she was giving up her green card, which allowed her to work in the US, as a show of her commitment to the fight against climate change. She explained she was going to live in Australia and work from there to help protect the environment in any way she could.
“This is war, and we’ve only got 10 years. So let’s make these sacrifices. Let’s make these changes. Let’s put some skin in the game and say yeah, I care, and this is what I’m going to do about it. This is just the beginning from me.”
5 Taystee's Financial Advice
When OITNB ended, Taystee was helping inmates gain financial security for when they got out of prison. Danielle Brooks decided to help people that way too. This year, she joined Intuit in their Turbo Campaign to help people achieve their financial goals and learn to handle their money.
She says it's important for people to be informed before making decisions, and to do that there have to be honest conversations about money. “People can approach it in a very taboo way or feel intimidated to talk about money. And I think it’s a conversation that we don’t have enough when that’s what makes the world go ’round," said Danielle.
4 Poussey's Happily Ever After
The audience might have felt that Poussey's ending in the series was unfair, so here's the rest of the story. Just a little over three years ago, Samira Wiley married Lauren Morelli, OITNB screenwriter, and they celebrated their love with a short, sweet video on Instagram of the two of them dancing together.
Then Samira shared a post with a picture of their wedding day wishing her a happy anniversary and telling her life was unimaginable without her. Not even a pandemic is going to stop Poussey from getting her happy ending.
3 Ambassador Diaz
Things didn't look so good for Daya at the end of the series. Maybe that's why she never stopped fighting for justice. This year, Dascha Polanco became Ambassador for the Innocence Project and hopes to be actively involved in helping stop wrong convictions.
“We are not dealing with objects. We are dealing with human beings and there are so many issues in the world with violating human rights. I believe convictions should be supported by evidential proof and should have no margin of error,” said Dascha to the Innocence Project.
2 DIY Fly Flaca
Instead of a prison radio show, Jackie Cruz has now an Instagram live show called Live With Jackie. It goes live on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at exactly 11:11 a.m. She says she picked that specific time because it always felt like a very spiritual and special number.
With this show, she says she hopes to get to know her community and let them know that she supports them as much as they supported her. That's not all she's doing, however. She will also be starring the movie Tremors: Island Fury, which will be released in October this year.
1 Burset's Documentary
Ever since the ending of OITNB, Laverne Cox has been very busy. Being one of the stars of the show, she became an example of the representation of trans people in the mainstream media. Her new documentary, Disclosure, talks about exactly that. She discusses the importance of transgender representation in helping this group of people accept themselves and feel comfortable in the world they live in.
This documentary outlines the history of trans representation in the media and the struggles of these people along the way. It's available now on Netflix, and will surely be a very enjoyable and educative experience.
