[MUSIC - REGINA SPEKTOR, "YOU'VE GOT TIME"]
[MUSIC - JAMIE N. COMMONS AND X AMBASSADORS, "JUNGLE"]
SAM: I like what you've done with the place.
PIPER: Sadly, it's starting to feel like home in here.
CRAZY EYES: Three, two, one, go!
[CHEER]
BROOKE: This is not how I imagined prison to be at all.
CINDY: [SINGING] Oh!
TIFFANY AND PIPER: Yay!
GALINA: A woman I knew a long time ago
came back in yesterday.
CRAZY EYES: Ooh.
VEE: I know.
CRAZY EYES: Who are you?
VEE: I'm Vee.
ROSA: You've got something to say to me?
PIPER: This place is bull--
SISTER INGALLS: There's a storm coming.
BOTH: What!
VEE: Boom, boom, boom!
BIG BOO: Ooh!
PIPER: I am lone wolf.
And a vicious one.
Don't make me rip your throat out.
CINDY: That's what I'm talking about!
CHELSEY KANTOR: Hi, everyone.
I'm Chelsey Kantor from the Google+ team.
And I'm here with three of the amazing cast members
from the recently Critic Choice-nominated for Best
Comedy Series, "Orange is the New Black."
Let's give it up.
NATASHA LYONNE: Thank you.
UZO ADOBA: Thank you.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Starting on the end,
we have the lovely Miss Uzo Adoba, Suzanne "Crazy Eyes"
Warren.
And in the middle, we have Natasha Lyonne, Miss Nicky
Nichols.
And to my right, the one and only Yael Stone, Morello.
So I'm going to kick it ff here with a few questions for each
of you, and then a few for the group.
And then we'll open it up to people
in the room that have burning questions they want answered.
But I'm going to start with you.
And first congrats on your nomination for the Critics
Choice Award for what?
Featured Comedic Performer in a Series.
UZO ADOBA: Yes.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Did you know you were in a comedy series?
UZO ADOBA: Good question.
You know, no-- yeah, I think there was this great balance
that Jenji-- Jenji Kohan who created our show--
has managed to keep with the show.
And I personally feel that in order for the world of comedy,
as I've heard Natasha say and countless others say,
that in order for that world to really exist,
you have to balance it well with the drama.
And the circumstance of where we are, that in itself
helps to set the tone of the drama.
But you know, tampons in a McMuffin are funny.
And peeing on the floor is funny.
NATASHA LYONNE: And tragic.
UZO ADOBA: And tragic.
Exactly.
It's a balance there.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Tragically funny.
UZO ADOBA: That's right.
It's tragically funny.
That's exactly right.
CHELSEY KANTOR: So the world got to know you as Crazy Eyes,
but I first knew you through "Godspell" on Broadway .
And then because of that, on "Project Runway All Stars."
So tell me about the transition from Broadway
and fashion to prison.
UZO ADOBA: Well, there is a very clear fashion statement
in prison.
And it is that there is none.
No, but even in the fashion though,
Jenn Rogien, who's our costume designer,
does a really amazing job with something
that's so uniform and singular and finding unique touches
and nuances when you look at everyone's costume,
to display an individuality and personality within that.
But I think it's really interesting whether it's
Poussey with the sweatshirt, or if you
have my own costume with the thumbs,
or Nicky with the rolled-up sleeves,
everybody has a touch of their outer self appearing
in their inner prison self, which is kind of cool.
But going from theater to television,
I thought it was going to be this massive leap of a world
that I didn't understand, just because
of the technical elements of the medium.
But what I really learned doing the show
was that good stories are good stories.
If the story is good, my job as the actor is made pretty easy.
And thankfully, the writers on our show
have made my job easier with their words
and have just been so phenomenally brilliant
at crafting a story that I could understand whether it's
on a stage of a theater or on a sound stage of a studio.
CHELSEY KANTOR: So I heard a story
that you went in to audition for another part,
but then they offered you Crazy Eyes.
So can you tell us one, what part
that was, and what about your audition, what they saw in you
made you perfect for Miss Suzanne Warren?
UZO ADOBA: So sorry.
That's a good question that I too would like the answer for.
I went in originally, I went in and I auditioned
for the role of Janae, who's played brilliantly
by Vicky Jeudy on our show.
She's done a phenomenal job with it, and it's completely right
and makes sense for it.
I went and I read for that part, and then I got a phone call
from my representation.
And they said, we have really great news for you.
I said, OK, what?
What is it?
And they said, you remember that audition
you went on for "Orange is the New Black" this summer?
I said, yes, absolutely.
Because I remember reading that script
and thinking to myself of the things
that I had read that summer, wow, that was really good.
I would love if I could be a part of something like that.
That would be great.
And then continued on.
So when I got the call, and they said,
you remember that audition you went on for "Orange
is the New Black" this summer?
I said, yes!
Totally.
I absolutely remember.
They said, well, you didn't get it.
I said, OK, what's the good news that you--
you said there was good news?
And they said, but they'd like to offer you another part.
And I said, amazing!
What's the other part?
And they were like Crazy Eyes.
And I was still like, um, chicken and waffles,
like I don't know what that means, you know,
like what is that?
But when I read the script, it really
did feel like the right fit.
That just felt right.
CHELSEY KANTOR: So what about her was already on the page,
and what do you think you brought to that character?
UZO ADOBA: What was already on the page?
I think, definitely the essence of her truest essence,
which for me, I think, is the innocence,
and her want and need to give and get love
at it's fullest, was certainly there.
There's a line in the second episode of the script when
they're introducing Crazy Eyes.
Piper's coming into the cafeteria in
and I'm paraphrasing it now, It was written by Marco Ramirez,
but she's walking into the cafeteria
and she's looking for a place to sit.
And then she looks right and there sitting
there is-- turn the page-- Crazy Eyes.
And he had described her as someone
who is innocent like a child, except children aren't scary.
[LAUGHTER]
And I thought that felt like the key
to the door that might open this character,
because someone who is innocent like a child,
to me meant that somebody who operates out
of impulse, who operates, who acts and then thinks.
Children don't have agendas.
They're not calculating.
They're not trying to do something for gai.
They're just doing it for the purity of it.
That animalistic survival instinct of quality
within them.
So that was something.
But then whatever it is that she's
doing though is not responded to with the same affection
that it is when it is a child is very clear.
And so I just started having this vision
of that sort of-- she's a [INAUDIBLE] adult woman
with a sledgehammer and a pacifier.
That picture really came to my brain, I said,
but that made sense to me.
But somebody who's just trying to give and get
love-- it felt like a love story.
That's all I could see when I was reading it.
I said, of this is somebody in the deepest
and most honest pursuit of love.
CHELSEY KANTOR: What do you learn about her
in Season Two that you didn't know is Season One.
UZO ADOBA: Hmm.
CHELSEY KANTOR: And you can be as
specific or vague as you want.
UZO ADOBA: I will choose the vague route.
No.
What did I learned about her in Season Two
that I didn't know about her in Season One?
How far she'll go for love.
I think I asked the question of myself,
because when we're doing Season One,
I was really interested in the experiment of answering
how far does someone go for love.
Would someone go for love.
In Season Two, I have a piece or certainly
a scope of that answer.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Hmm.
Nice, little tease.
[LAUGHTER]
So one of the many things that makes this show so viral role
and shareable is its quotable nature.
And the one liners and the scenes and memes
that they spawn go across the web.
So I'd love to know what your favorite Crazy Eyes quotable
quote is from Season One.
And if you can, one of your favorites from Season Two.
So I know my favorite from Season One.
UZO ADOBA: OK.
Your favorite?
CHELSEY KANTOR: I know my favorite,
but I'd like to know yours.
UZO ADOBA: OK, my favorite from Season One, my favorite quote,
I mean, how can you not love "I threw my pie for you."
I just enjoy saying that.
That's what Crazy Eyes says, but I
have some pretty favorite lines.
My personal favorite lines are actually not the lines
that I say.
I actually really love the line that Sophia, played by Laverne
Cox, says "please is for hoes and Oliver Twist."
I don't know why I think that's hilarious.
Every single time I hear it, I think it's hilarious.
I just think it's hilarious every time I hear it.
CHELSEY KANTOR: I think we'd all like to hear a little (SINGING)
"Chocolate and vanilla--
CHELSEY & UZO: Swirl, swirl.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Thank you.
UZO ADOBA: You're welcome.
CHELSEY KANTOR: And from Season Two, is there a favorite yet?
UZO ADOBA: From Season Two?
Do I have a favorite line from Season Two?
NATASHA LYONNE: Be careful now.
UZO ADOBA: I know.
I'm thinking, I'm thinking.
I really like line "Three, two, one, go."
[LAUGHTER]
With no tone put behind it, so you don't know--
CHELSEY KANTOR: I have no idea.
UZO ADOBA: I could be like, three, two, one, go?
Three, two, one, go!
Like it could mean anything.
Yeah.
Three, two one, go.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Thank you for that, at least.
UZO ADOBA: You're welcome.
CHELSEY KANTOR: This small piece.
Natasha?
NATASHA LYONNE: Yah.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Hi.
I would love to talk to you.
So, lot of people here probably know you from "American Pie."
But you've had an incredible career
starting with "Pee Wee's Playhouse."
NATASHA LYONNE: I'm going to need something caffeinated.
I can tell.
CHELSEY KANTOR: And a major role with Woody Allen.
And where I fell in love with you
which is "Slums of Beverly Hills."
NATASHA LYONNE: Thank you.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Because it has quite
possibly two of my favorite scenes in a film.
One, can you tell us what it's like to stab someone
with a fork?
NATASHA LYONNE: Yeah, I don't know.
I've never-- really done that.
Who do I stab?
Carl Reiner?
I think it's Carl Reiner, right?
CHELSEY KANTOR: Yeah.
Yeah.
NATASHA LYONNE: Yeah, Yeah.
That was an exciting day.
Carl Reiner, and Rita Moreno and Alan Arkin, that
was amazing, that day.
CHELSEY KANTOR: And then two, can you just
talk gibberish with me for a second?
NATASHA LYONNE: Oh.
Here we go.
Says really, you know, I'm not as young as I used to be.
So it's like 20 years ago.
Yes, go ahead.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Hit a guy, hit a guy, what a gar you to gyoo.
NATASHA LYONNE: Et a guy, I'm f'ta guine.
Gibberish.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Gibberish.
I can say, yit a goo, ketagam fit a geet mitagee.
NATASHA LYONNE: Oh, I complete you.
That's so kind of you.
CHELSEY KANTOR: You're welcome.
NATASHA LYONNE: I have to say, I'm
almost teetering on concerned.
But I'm also pleased to hear it and grateful to you.
Thank you.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Because one of my things
that I love about this show are the little inside cultural
references that are made, like with you and Kate Mulgrew,
when you say the line about being her Spock
or with Jason Biggs, making an American Pie
reference to webcam horror in a shaving incident.
NATASHA LYONNE: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Should we expect more cultural references
in this show?
Is that part of what makes it--
NATASHA LYONNE: I don't recall, is my honest answer for you.
I know what you're talking about.
OK?
So I'm hearing you.
[LAUGHTER]
I just honestly don't remember which
ones were-- I'm sure-- there's another one.
The one I remember is like there is an exorcist bit, right?
Is it your mother sucks cocks?
Can you say that?
I think right when I'm talking to Mattie
on the-- about kicking the-- right?
There was something about the drugs and the exorcist happens.
And then I was also in "Scary Movie 2," the Linda Blair part.
So it's like the inside within inside,
inside of a Russian doll.
Deep, deep, inside of a Russian doll.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Deep inside.
NATASHA LYONNE: Yes.
But I don't remember what happens.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Tell me a little bit more
about your relationship with Kate Mulgrew.
Because it's a great part of the show.
Nicky has such a troubled relationship with her mom,
and Red serves as kind of this surrogate mother.
Will that relationship continue to be important in Season Two?
And will we see it change?
NATASHA LYONNE: Yeah, absolutely, it
continues to be important.
And it changes.
I like whatever's happening over here.
It's exciting.
And I adore Kate Mulgrew.
I mean she's got to be one of my favorite people
I've ever worked with.
She's so present and forces you to kind
of like elevate the quality of-- you
just can't lie to Kate Mulgrew.
You feel like you would be called out in a second,
like she'd almost like stop the scene
and be like (RUSSIAN ACCENT) this is nothing.
This is dirt.
You can't give me something better.
Whatever.
And obviously, I really should have done that role,
as you can see by how excellent that portrayal of Red was.
And then, of course, when she does break character,
I mean she is like a deeply funny human being, Kate
Mulgrew, and just so talented, but also like so filthy.
And so like between the sex and the fear,
it's really a joy to work with her.
She's really one of a kind.
And certainly, yes, that is true of Nicky Nichols
has deep mommy troubles, and how great that in Kate, she
really gets that figure and doesn't want to disappoint her,
and yet, Kate's whole-- Red's whole trip
is kind of called into question by the end of Season One.
And obviously, there's a fall out of that in Season Two.
And so our relationship continues
to be sort of like complicated and grounded in a deeper love,
but also impacted by prison politics, which is actually
the whole political arena, prison politics.
UZO ADOBA: Yes.
NATASHA LYONNE: Yeah, you can be like president or whatever.
I'm sorry.
I'm with you.
You complete me.
CHELSEY KANTOR: You complete me.
You made my life.
Another kind of compelling relationship for Nicky Nichols
is the one she has with Morello.
There's an attraction there.
What do you think it is about her that intrigues her so much?
I think that--
YAEL STONE: Should I go?
NATASHA LYONNE: I think that-- no, it's
just we're taking turns.
You are next.
CHELSEY KANTOR: You are next.
NATASHA LYONNE: You just be pati-- have some Diet Coke.
YAEL STONE: No, I just meant if you wanted to be honest--
NATASHA LYONNE: No, no, no, oh!
Oh.
Here you go.
YAEL STONE: I should go, so you can be honest.
NATASHA LYONNE: So here's what I think.
I think that as far as my prison wife goes, I'm in the room.
OK, so as far as they my prison wife goes,
I think that basically Nicky is so cynical
and kind of like been there seen,
that, gotten high, seen the world,
comes from sort of like this rich background
that she's kind of pretending she doesn't in order to play
the tough guy in prison and not get shanked.
And I think that in Lorna, she finds--
Lorna's so sweet and pure and racist--
[LAUGHTER]
And I mean, in many ways a very problematic,
morally problematic character.
And yet, there's something about her that feels so sweet.
And part of what's insane about her sort of casual racism in
and prison is that she's like genuinely
doing it from a place of not knowing that she's even
in the wrong, like your whole "West Side Story"
bit and whatever.
It's like she doesn't know that she's saying crazy shit.
And I think that for Nicky, who is deeply aware of all
of that kind of stuff, there's something
that feels very much like if this girl likes me,
she means it, versus my mother who's playing a head game
and is on some manipulative trip.
Like, if this girl's spending time with me,
she's just not a liar.
You know what I mean?
Even though she wants Christopher
more than she wants me, the fact that she's
choosing me means she actually-- and so I
think that that kind of underlying truth
is at least what I've worked out of why Nicky like
craves Morello so much versus any
of the other women in prison who may want to be with Nicky
more than Lorna actually does.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Does that continue in Season Two?
NATASHA LYONNE: [SNIFFS] I don't know.
[LAUGHTER]
NATASHA LYONNE: I have no way of knowing.
It's-- uh-- well, Yael, does that continue in Season Two?
CHELSEY KANTOR: Yael, let's chat a little bit.
YAEL STONE: I just want to establish just that I didn't
mean should I go because you were talking,
I just meant should I go because you were going to talk
about us, and I wanted you to be honest, rather than feel
you had to say nice things about Morello.
NATASHA LYONNE: Listen, I feel like Nicky
has nothing negative to say about Lorna.
I feel like Lorna has some issues
to work out around Nicky, that that's
potentially what's hurtful.
You know?
Because I'm always showing up for you,
and you're always like oh, Christopher.
Fucking Christopher, right?
I mean, it's like enough already with the Christopher.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Let's just meet Christopher already.
NATASHA LYONNE: Is this a PG thing.
I realize I just want to check in real quick.
CHELSEY KANTOR: It will be when we repost it later.
NATASHA LYONNE: OK.
Tone down for once.
CHELSEY KANTOR: So let's talk, Yael, about Lorna's
relentlessly hopeful nature and where
you feel like that comes from.
YAEL STONE: Probably in prison.
Probably a place of being under real strain.
I think that that's when we really reach the hottest
and really create the most detailed fantasies about how
things are going to be good.
Because it's tough.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Preservation.
YAEL STONE: Yeah.
And along with that comes the hair and the makeup.
Because it's like I gotta keep it together, keep it together.
Everything's fine.
I think in opposition to that is a really genuine relationship
there and a really nice engagement
that's going on between them.
But the other stuff is like I'm OK, I'm OK, I'm OK,
I mean, I'm OK, I'm OK, right?
Right?
I'm OK, I'm OK.
Which I have definitely felt myself and definitely seen
in other people.
And it's like turned up to 11, because she's
in some really dire circumstance.
I also think Lorna is a pretty good player
in that political game.
She's seemingly very ignorant, and she is, in certain areas,
but she can play.
She knows how to keep safe.
She knows how to be under the right wing.
As soon as Madeline Brewer's character comes back
from her whole detoxing situation,
she goes to hug her and embrace her again.
And Reds like, nuh-uh, we're not friends with her anymore,
and it's dropped.
It's gone.
She just drops her sister like that.
Because she needs to keep safe.
And I think that's what's so strong about this show,
the stakes are really high.
You can get hurt.
You can be iced out.
You can be starved.
I think that's the success of the show
that the stakes are like always up here.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Do you think that's why she resists Nicky,
because she has to play the game smart and not with her heart?
Or do you think she genuinely is still
holding out for Christopher?
YAEL STONE: I think that there's a tension, what's
really interesting about her, and interesting about a lot
of us as human beings, is there's
a tension between our fantasy life and our real life.
And sometimes we compromise decisions by gripping on tight
to that fantasy.
And I suspect that's what's going on with her.
But that relationship is always twisting
and changing and turning.
CHELSEY KANTOR: So everyone in the room
can tell she is not from Brooklyn.
She is Australian.
And the accent you've adopted for Morello
has been called the best accent on TV.
So, bravo.
YAEL STONE: Oh my goodness.
CHELSEY KANTOR: But it's sort of--
YAEL STONE: Who said that?
UZO ADOBA: The woman.
CHELSEY KANTOR: There was a vote.
It's sort of gangster-film noir.
You said it's sort of inspired by Adelaide
from "Guys and Dolls."
Is that right?
YAEL STONE: Did I really say that?
UZO ADOBA: I love it.
NATASHA LYONNE: (SINGING) A person can develop a cold.
I don't know where it came.
I think there's a joy in being an outsider
and being able to see a culture in a different way.
We, as Australians, we consume a lot of American stuff.
We mainline it.
It's saturation!
So there's a sense of being an outsider,
but really having an intimate knowledge
of an American culture, and I guess
there's some parts of that culture
that I've really been fascinated by,
and I think it's very-- it would be very fair to say this,
like a pastiche of sounds from film-- definitely from films.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Definitely.
So we know that Uzo can sing.
And you have a musical family.
And your brother's in a band called Blue Juice,
and you sang with them before and your equally
musical sister.
Will there be any singing on "Orange is the New Black"
with this musical cast?
YAEL STONE: I can't sing.
I'm terrible.
In fact, in Season Two, there's moments
of really making fun of me.
And in Season One, like that Christmas pageant thing?
UZO ADOBA: Yes.
YAEL STONE: Uzo did the ice skating.
That was weird.
UZO ADOBA: Yeah.
YAEL STONE: Natasha did that joke about the eggplant.
That was almost weird and very funny.
And I sang (HIGH-PITCHED VOICE) very high.
I'm not a good singer.
I'm terrible.
But she-- wow.
UZO ADOBA: Well, we have a lot of people in the company--
CHELSEY KANTOR: That can sing.
UZO ADOBA: Who can sing.
Samira Wiley sings beautifully.
Danielle sings phenomenally well.
NATASHA LYONNE: Annie Golden.
UZO ADOBA: Annie Golden!
Annie Golden is a-- she was in the T-Shirts,
like in a real punk band.
CHELSEY KANTOR: So musical episode?
NATASHA LYONNE: Lea Delaria.
UZO ADOBA: Lea Delaria.
Lea Delaria--
CHELSEY KANTOR: Scat machine.
UZO ADOBA: A beautiful jazz singer.
CHELSEY KANTOR: We need to see this in the episodes.
YAEL STONE: Well, I mean, the end of Season One was really--
CHELSEY KANTOR: The talent show.
YAEL STONE: It was incredible.
That day, when we shot-- when they
were doing the "Amazing Grace" was just like-- crying.
Crying, take after take after take.
It was the most beautiful thing.
UZO ADOBA: Yes.
YAEL STONE: Incredible way to finish that.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Speaking of the whole company,
and this question's for all of you,
the show goes through flashbacks for most
of the prisoners, which are a brilliant way to kind of create
these fully-formed characters, not defined by their crimes
or their race or even their gender.
So which so far has been your favorite back story?
And which should we look forward to this season?
NATASHA LYONNE: Ladies?
UZO ADOBA: It's hard to pick a favorite, specifically,
just to land on one, because I think they all
offer such a different cross section of what
the show is about.
You get to see-- I think what you just said is so right on.
What's so amazing is we get to encounter each character
for who they are, not what they've done necessarily.
And what it is that not by the crime,
but what emotional traumas that they've been predisposed to
or encountered in whatever situation be it,
Vicky's character Janae-- what somebody
would do for love in part or be it the absent mother
in Nicky Nichol's story or Red and her family dynamic,
with the dynamic between herself and her husband.
Or Sophia and her back story, watching that family dynamic
play out.
So it's hard to land on just one,
because I feel each story is so fruitful and full
of so many different aspects of the human condition.
NATASHA LYONNE: I will say without saying anything
about what's coming up, having read
the scripts, this season is really exciting, especially
to already know the characters and then to know them
as people, that now we've gotten to spend some time together
is really-- it gets deep this year.
And so the favorites or whatever.
I always feel almost like the show is sort of like
if "Roshomon" and "The Wire" had a baby.
[LAUGHTER]
NATASHA LYONNE: The whole idea of there's
my version of events, your version of events,
and the truth.
And there's also this idea of the scope of the show,
of like if you rack focus, that person like way back there
in the corner who is just a witness actually
is like the main part of the story.
And what's so amazing of this show is the scope.
It's just like if you pulled back,
like we thought the focus was over here.
And then that thing that you saw passing by the frame that
was like fascinating but gone is now the centerpiece.
And there's a lot of that that happens
this season, where like the people that you fell
in love with, it gets in much deeper, and in hilarious--
like there's one person's story I'm thinking of, like
[INAUDIBLE WHISPER].
UZO ADOBA: Oh, yes, yes.
NATASHA LYONNE: Like her story is
going to be fucking hilarious.
UZO ADOBA: Yes.
NATASHA LYONNE: And-- sorry.
Hilarious.
[LAUGHTER] And then there's like other stories
that are going to be like really heavy duty.
And it's going to be a very fun, fun year ever.
I'm like and then it'll kind of like flesh out the whole thing.
It's just like it's an (YOGI BEAR VOICE)
ever-deepening experience.
UZO ADOBA: Deeper.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Deeper.
So we encourage people--
UZO ADOBA: I don't know why I said it like that, but jinx.
Because we said it at the same time.
CHELSEY KANTOR: We encourage people online
to submit questions.
I know we have questions in the room.
So I'm going to ask you guys to head to the microphone
to line up to ask those.
And while they're doing that--
NATASHA LYONNE: To the window, to the wall.
CHELSEY KANTOR: I wanted to get your guys' take on another
topic that's been heavily discussed on Google+ and across
the web over the past week.
So the show's received a lot of accolades
for representing women and relationships
in a real, true way, not based on convenient stereotypes
or cookie cutter things.
And that's always been important.
But it seems even more important in light
of the recent tragedy at UCSB, and the #yesallwomen
hashtag and movement that that started.
So what I want to hear from you guys
is what role do you hope a show like "Orange is The New Black"
that exist to challenge the status quo when it comes
to women's issues can have in making this more than just
a trending topic?
YAEL STONE: I think the evidence was this week.
"Time Magazine"-- Laverne Cox was
the cover of "Time Magazine."
[APPLAUSE]
YAEL STONE: Like that's a pretty exciting thing.
UZO ADOBA: Huge.
YAEL STONE: That is far beyond the scope of the show
and probably what we imagined the show could do,
and it's so wonderful to kind of see that happening and changing
and this idea of the tag line was tipping point,
like it's a moment of change for a lot of people,
particularly for the transgender community.
I mean, and then just the symbol bare facts of saying,
hey, look at this cast life, like on our call sheet.
There are women and women and women and women and women
and how rarely that happens, I cannot say.
Anything that I've worked on in my life,
and I'm sure people of much greater experience
than myself would agree that often, the male-female balance
is not equal.
And so it's really exciting to have those voices
and be part of something where we're not supermodels.
We're all--
NATASHA LYONNE: Speak for yourself, all right.
YAEL STONE: I'm sorry.
NATASHA LYONNE: All right, thank you.
YAEL STONE: I'm sorry.
NATASHA LYONNE: Are we on the same show?
To use-- I feel like I'm paraphrasing something Laverne
has said, this idea of humanizing,
there's a greater understanding right?
That actually is the definition of paraphrasing.
[LAUGHTER]
So I don't need any judgment, alright?
I feel like that's kind of happened, we put a face to-- I
was talking about this recently, I
ran into this woman was a judge in Texas.
I ran into her in Palm Springs and she's talking about like,
oh I'm so happy, I love your show.
It's so great I sentence people all the time.
I didn't even realize they were real.
And I was like, what are you talking about?
This is terrifying.
I had to be gracious which is obviously
already difficult for me, and a challenge.
And the whole thing was a nightmare.
I was like, wow that's so great, that you don't realize
the people you're sentencing are real I'm so happy to meet you.
But I do think that's part of what this show is doing
is kind of really putting a-- yes, I said this.
UZO ADOBA: I think also what's exciting on our show-- all
of those things and then just the additional layer
of the behind the scenes on our show.
It's so great that we have so many women,
and different types of women represented
on the front of the camera from race
to gender to size to sexual orientation.
All of these faces on a single show I think
is important to underline.
But then also once the camera's been turned 180 degrees,
that same representation of women
is reflected back in the positions of Cindy Holland,
to Jenji, to the women represented on writers,
to our visiting directors, to Neri Tannenbaum, and Lisa
Vinnecor, and the list goes on and on.
That this concerted effort seems to be happening with Netflix
aligning itself with its pioneering efforts
in original programming, continuing on in the background
as well.
CHELSEY KANTOR: I have kept them at bay long enough.
So can we have the first question, Erica?
AUDIENCE: I thought of something.
Thought of a few things.
Thank you so much for coming.
In watching the show and just seeing you here
it's just so clear that you're obviously very
talented actresses as you're so different than the characters
you portray.
But what would you say about each of your characters--
what parts of yourself do you bring to those characters.
YAEL STONE: I spend a good deal of time laughing at Natasha
and I find that very easy in my real life--
NATASHA LYONNE: Thank you.
YAEL STONE: --and as Lorna.
That's what I bring in.
[LAUGHTER]
NATASHA LYONNE: I mean I guess that's piggybacking on that--
YAEL STONE: Don't piggyback me.
NATASHA LYONNE: --which I enjoy doing both on the show and off.
I don't remember the question.
I identify greatly with using humor as a deflecting mechanism
in my life as well as Nicky's.
UZO ADOBA: I think the thing that I'm
most like with Suzanne is the depth with which she wants
to love-- I have loved as deeply, that deeply before.
I didn't pee on the floor or anything.
[LAUGHTER]
I did love that deeply.
CHELSEY KANTOR: You just threw a pot.
UZO ADOBA: Yeah, exactly.
But I do, I think that depth of love, I certainly can relate.
NATASHA LYONNE: And you are loved as deeply, Uzo.
UZO ADOBA: Aww, I love these guys.
Thanks, I really do.
AUDIENCE: So you guys obviously have really awesome chemistry
in the show.
I'm just wondering, do you guys also hang out afterwards?
I just have this image of like Pennsatucky and Pornstashe
singing "My Heart Will Go On" in karaoke.
[LAUGHTER]
YAEL STONE: That specifically has never happened,
I don't think.
NATASHA LYONNE: Though, do we have any real way of knowing?
[LAUGHTER]
YAEL STONE: That's so true.
And for the right price, I'm sure it could.
[LAUGHTER]
NATASHA LYONNE: How much money do you have
was actually the question.
[LAUGHTER]
I mean we do.
Like we we're here, we're at the fancy hotel.
I came out of my door in the morning,
we were all in our exercise clothes
playing with my dog in the hallway
only they were just coming back from exercising.
And then we were like, we'll go exercise.
So a lot of exercising behind the cameras happening.
You wouldn't know it necessarily.
One time Kate Mulgrew said to me,
she said to me, you go to the gym?
That was a really nice thing she said to me.
[LAUGHTER]
Anyway we do.
We do go to the gym.
And then we came back from yesterday's events
and it was Yael in my room and then
we were like jumping around the room playing with the dog.
There's a lot of--
YAEL STONE: It's just like babysitter's club.
[LAUGHTER]
NATASHA LYONNE: --a lot of playing
with the dog and exercise.
We go eat together.
I've never seen anything like this where we really I
think that we made choice below the level of consciousness
early on like either this can be a disaster with all
these women, or this can be like a whole other level of just so
much joy and strength and all these sort of positive new age
themes.
And we went for that one.
[LAUGHTER]
And it is terrific, let me tell you.
[LAUGHTER]
YAEL STONE: Vagina!
Vagina!
You can say it.
AUDIENCE: Hello, thanks for coming.
My question is about preparation for the roles.
Prison is a really complex place, so
what did you do to prepare for your role
and what did you learn that you were
surprised by that preparation?
YAEL STONE: I'm going to slightly skew that and say
for me, each day I have turn up, I
have a very specific thing that I like to go through for Lorna.
Because obviously she's a little different from me in some ways.
I like to start with my prison underpants.
I always wear them.
They're very large granny panties, you know them.
And then the bra makes you breasts
go in this kind of '50s style thing.
And once I've got them on I'm like, alright, this can happen.
And then for me hair and makeup is a great way in.
For some characters it's a wonderful place
to go inside-out.
For Lorna, going outside-in seems to work for me.
And I really enjoy that transformation.
And the people to look after us with hair and make
are very special people and often under acknowledged
in a lot of these spheres.
But that transformation is incredible.
And I often will find from sitting down
in the chair to getting up in the chair I'm
like oh my god I'm suddenly Lorna, and I didn't realize.
NATASHA LYONNE: I got by just showing up.
UZO ADOBA: My preparation, I did my homework as far
as reading the book, and I watch--
I used to watch a lot of MSNBC "Lockup."
[LAUGHTER]
Thank you, I love that you like it too.
When they're in there watching through the window and the food
all getting thrown at-- anyway, watch it.
As far as the day to day, I do a lot
of walking both before and after I start work.
And usually as far as the going in on the day to day.
That relaxation and the meditation
of that to both let her in and welcome her
in as well as the putting her away at the end of the day--
putting her back on the shelf.
And depending on what the day calls for-- sometimes a higher
shelf than others so that I can put her away and say goodbye
to her-- I find to be very useful in opening up the space
to allow for the music to sing.
NATASHA LYONNE: Now I want to answer my question.
I guess what I do is think about in prison you'd be there.
You'd be there every day, and like when we're there--
the way we're talking about this morning-- by the end of the six
months that it takes us to shoot a season,
we're so beat down and beat to a pulp.
At the beginning of the season we
were coming off of a press tour and hair and makeup
and, oh wow you're so great.
By the end of those six months, we're prisoners.
We're really just exhausted and kind of like underfed and over
sugared and just beat.
Mostly what I try to do, and such a joy of this show
is how little they-- it doesn't matter if you get your beauty
rest or you ate too much salt yesterday or something,
you got three hours of sleep.
I try to really live in that thing
about however I wake up that morning, that's fine,
bring it to work.
Not trying to-- because if you think
about really being in prison, everybody
has good days and bad days.
And some days you'd wake up and you'd
be like, oh shit it's life let me go do this thing.
And other days you'd wake up and be like,
I really don't want to participate today.
So I feel like I try to, whatever the script is,
memorize my lines I already know who she is because we've gotten
to play them for a good amount of time now.
And then just try and hold on to that state
and let it play into the day.
It's a way to bring in those levels
rather than trying to manipulate myself into a certain something
else.
I just feel like that's one of the great joys of this show is
that we're not-- it's like beyond cable, this show.
So it's kind of a very come as you are kind of gig.
Like that's what is applauded on our set is as much truth
and being as laid bare as possible
is what's our language.
And so I feel like that's part of what we all try to do.
AUDIENCE: Hi I'm Jonathan.
I'm from Brooklyn, New York.
My question for you guys is, a lot of my friends act.
I used to act, and I always wanted
to get into the business.
And for a lot of people in my community
it's really hard to make it, with limited resources
and not a lot of positive support.
I was just wondering what did you guys you
in terms of getting into the business
and being a positive role model for a lot of people
out there watching your show?
YAEL STONE: Well I feel incredibly lucky.
There's a lot of gratitude.
And I know many, many people who are deeply
talented human beings and I think that we probably all do.
People who are really shining lights of creativity
and sometimes we get an incredible opportunity
like this and you take it and you say,
thank you and you do what you can
to bring your whole self to it.
And that's all I can say.
I don't think I have any special magic recipe other than just
I am so grateful to be here.
So grateful to be here with you.
And to be with these women.
And to be telling such a wonderful story.
Thank you.
UZO ADOBA: I think definitely whatever
the area you can find it-- to find training.
If you can't go to school, take class or read plays and things
like this are always important just to keep your finger
tapped in.
Maybe you're not working on the job at the moment
but preparing for it in some capacity.
Gratitude and recognition of that I think always
in any area of your life is absolutely important.
I think it one, keeps you sturdy and faithful
that something will come.
And in saying the something will come,
I can only speak to my own personal experience
was when I moved to New York to start
pursuing acting professionally.
My mom dropped me off the train station-- my family's
from Nigeria, we're of the Igbo tribe.
And my mom dropped me off.
She turned off the car and she said "Uzo, just work hard."
She's like, "all I'm going to ask you is to just work hard."
She said, "I don't know what will come.
I don't know what will come.
I don't know when it will come, but something will come.
I've never heard of nothing coming from hard work."
And that has stayed with me my entire life.
I've never heard of nothing coming from hard work.
I heard of nothing coming from nothing
to borrow from Lear, "King Lear."
Nothing comes from nothing but I mean,
I've never heard of nothing coming from hard work.
What, the when, the why, the how,
is less important to the doing of the thing.
And something will come.
CHELSEY KANTOR: We have time for one more audience question,
so you're going to be it.
AUDIENCE: Hi, thanks so much for being here.
I was just wondering if you could
talk about what it's like working
on the format of Netflix and avoiding posting spoilers
on social media or anything like that.
Does that create unique challenges
working on a show that is streamed through Netflix?
NATASHA LYONNE: What's the question?
What's it like working for Netflix
and can you put spoilers, is it hard not to?
YAEL STONE: The format.
NATASHA LYONNE: Yeah I mean, it's great.
We're having such a blast.
I mean it's really fun that it feels
like it's encouraged for us to be as good as we can.
It's not by committee.
It's not like this sort of watering down
the product and the writing and like making
things as safe as possible.
And keeping them as intelligent as they are in the first draft.
And that's a real treasure in show business.
That's really great as far as-- it's really great because that
just kind of means that we get to work
in a very protected vacuum where it's
all about the sort of creativity and integrity
and doing our best work.
There's not a lot of noise.
And as far as the spoilers on the internet,
it can be challenging.
There are many pictures that we take
the around throughout the day that would be so much
fun to tell people.
But really I don't want to know.
I don't want to know things.
I don't want to know about the end of "The Crying
Game," before I've watched it, let me just watch "The Crying
Game."
YAEL STONE: Stop trying to tell her the end.
Stop it.
NATASHA LYONNE: I haven't seen it yet.
But I just want you to not tell me
what happens at the end of "The Crying Game."
YAEL STONE: I think the format the way it's laid out,
it's like, here's the feast, you can eat it as fast as you want
or as slow as you like.
And some people are like nibble, nibble, nibble.
Other people are like [GNAWING].
I think that's a great thing.
We love choice.
That's kind of the world we live in now.
People delight in being like, oh my god, I
watched it all in a row, it was amazing.
And other people are like, I'm going
to spend the next year watching this thing,
and only watch one frame every night.
I think that that's really a joyful experience.
It also means that people get sucked into this stream.
So narrative-wise you can tell stories
in a really fast direct way.
You're not recapping.
If a viewer wants to go back, they
can go back in their own time and re-watch something,
get clarification on something.
But otherwise it's just like go, go, go, you can keep going.
And I think that does have something
to do with the fervor of people's excitement.
Because they've had this experience.
It's like a Michael Barney film.
People are just in there for eight hours just like,
my god this is my life.
So I think that the format is a really successful format.
And it is acknowledging that people want choice
with the way they watch things, and they
don't want to wait every week for that one hour.
NATASHA LYONNE: And what you said yesterday
whatever which is that it ends up
appealing to the highest common denominator, rather
than that sort of undermining the intelligence
of the audience, like you said that yesterday.
UZO ADOBA: I agree.
I agree, I think it's true.
The way that the format is set up,
I think it's writing for the entire shape of a piece
rather-- and I think what we have that's really exciting
is-- the writers have the opportunity
to tell the stories that they want to tell start
to finish and see those through, rather
than writing to a response.
Does that make sense?
And that I think has been very interesting to watch
when you allow the art to exist fully and completed.
How people that have been, thankfully delighting in it
in that way.
You're allowing them to give their full voice be
it from the writing's end and also from the performance
then that's been really wonderful.
And that it's consumed equally as well.
And I think yeah, the binging element--
I think of it like Burger King, you can have your way.
Like, really.
You can really just enjoy it the way you want to watch it.
I don't know yet, I haven't seen the hindrance
from having it laid out all at once.
NATASHA LYONNE: And there's something
I heard Jenji say the other day, which
is this idea of there's kind of like no small characters
in this format.
So that even if a character is only living in little bursts
or like one scene every two episodes or something,
the nature of watching 13 hours of something
means that character becomes very vital.
So that idea is also sort of exciting.
That you can just give little flavorings
in the salt and pepper seasoning.
YAEL STONE: Having said that, I tried
to walk around the city with Connie Shulman, who
plays Yoga Jones.
That's a really interesting experience
because people are obsessed with Yoga Jones.
And if you added up all the time,
she's not there that often.
But that experience of just like this full family, people
have a real sense of characters.
And it's a real sense of depth, in what
otherwise might be a cameo.
UZO ADOBA: Yeah that's right.
Like what Natasha was just leaning on,
when Jenji said that, I thought that was so smart
when she said that.
Because characters that could easily be misplaced on a series
that you roll out over the course of 26 weeks--
because people watch it sort of close together,
someone that popped in as a pop of color in one episode,
suddenly now in another season or four episodes
later or six episodes later can have a back story
and you can track it because you just
watched it three hours ago.
CHELSEY KANTOR: It's almost like a great book.
You can either read it all the way through,
or you could read a chapter at a time,
but it builds like a great story.
UZO ADOBA: It's very Dickensian in that way, as well.
The way that we-- "A Tale of Two Cities," where somebody you
meet in the beginning, you think but they
have such an important-- Charles Darcy suddenly
is so-- that's the most important character
in the whole way.
CHELSEY KANTOR: We're going to wrap it up
and I want to give each of you one sentence to describe
what makes season two great.
Just one phrase to describe what makes season two great.
YAEL STONE: I did a stunt.
CHELSEY KANTOR: Just brain dump.
NATASHA LYONNE: Turn down for what?
[LAUGHTER]
There's a lot of-- I got to meet a lot of women this season.
UZO ADOBA: What makes season two great?
[GASP] That's my sentence.
[LAUGHTER]
CHELSEY KANTOR: Let's give it up for them thank you so much.
"Orange is the New Black," June 6th on Netflix.
Thank you so much.
NATASHA LYONNE: We have some questions for you guys
if you don't mind staying after.
CHELSEY KANTOR: The after show.
YAEL STONE: You're in heaps of trouble.
NATASHA LYONNE: Everybody's in a lot of trouble.
UZO ADOBA: Do you guys all have to go back to work now?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
UZO ADOBA: Oh.
NATASHA LYONNE: And how many more hours
do you have to be at work?
UZO ADOBA: I felt like it's like to be
like school, like an assembly and then--
CHELSEY KANTOR: Like where's the bell.
UZO ADOBA: Yeah, exactly.
[MUSIC - REGINA SPEKTOR, "YOU'VE GOT TIME"]