Locked up! Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon and more Hollywood stars skyrocketed even further into the spotlight thanks to Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black.
The prison drama debuted on the streaming platform in July 2013 and quickly became a fan-favorite. Based on Piper Kerman’s 2010 memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, the series follows PR exec Piper Chapman (Schilling) as she adjusts to life in a minimum-security women’s prison in Connecticut. While doing time, Piper reconnects with her old flame Alex Vause (Prepon), whose drug trafficking past put Piper behind bars.
With seven seasons between 2013 and 2019, the Jenji Kohan-created show is one of Netflix’s longest-running original series to date. Over the years, Orange Is the New Black earned 21 Emmy nominations and four wins, including Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series. The ensemble — which includes Uzo Aduba, Laverne Cox and Natasha Lyonne — earned three SAG Awards as a group from 2015 to 2017.
Orange Is the New Black left behind a big legacy after portraying female characters with depth and giving room for LGBTQ romances to grow onscreen. Before season 7 aired in 2019, Schilling told Entertainment Weekly her biggest hope was that “people feel seen, and that there’s a reflection in the series of what has been happening to the cultural collective.”
Cox, for her part, was grateful for the authentic representation of life as a trans woman. Her character, Sophia Burset, ends the series by being released from prison and following her dreams of becoming a hairstylist.
“I thought, ‘What can it mean for audiences to see this and for a Black trans woman who’s formerly incarcerated to get out of prison and win?’ We need to see that,” Cox recalled in an August 2020 interview with TV Insider. “The trans people in real life need to see it. Non-trans people in real life need to see that. I always think about the first time we saw a Black president was on television, [in] 24 and probably other shows, before it happened in real life. I think sometimes, if we can see it on screen, then we can begin to imagine it. That’s what Sophia’s evolution and her ending on Orange Is the New Black means for me.”
Scroll down to find out what the stars of Orange Is the New Black are doing now!
Before Orange Is the New Black, Prepon was known for playing Donna Pinciotti in Fox’s That ‘70s Show from 1998 to 2006, a role she reprised in 2023 for Netflix’s That ’90s Show. She has since starred in several films, including Come Early Morning (2006), Lay the Favorite (2012) and The Girl on the Train (2016). The SAG Award winner cowrote a New York Times best-selling wellness advice book called The Stash Plan in 2016 with nutritionist Elizabeth Troy, outlining her experiences with an organic diet. She welcomed daughter Ella in August 2017 with her husband, Ben Foster. Three years later, their son was born.
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Following the end of the prison drama, Harney nabbed a recurring role in the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind alongside Joel Kinnaman and Wrenn Schmidt. He’s also known for his work on Weeds, NYPD Blue and Deadwood and appeared in Bradley Cooper’s 2018 adaptation of A Star Is Born.
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The American Pie star got his start on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, for which he earned a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1995. Since then, he’s appeared in Eight Below (2006), Over Her Dead Body (2008), Life Happens (2011) and Amateur Night (2016). In April 2008, he married his My Best Friend’s Girl costar Jenny Mollen, with whom he shares sons Sid and Lazlo.
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The Massachusetts native won two Emmys and two SAG awards for her work on the Netflix original series. In 2015, she became the first actress to win Emmys in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role. Five years later, she joined Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne and Sarah Paulson in Hulu’s original series Mrs. America, portraying trailblazing politician Shirley Chisholm.
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Not only has the Georgia native made waves in the television world, but she’s also brought her talents to Broadway. In 2016, Brooks earned a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Sofia in The Color Purple, but lost to Jane Krakowski in She Loves Me. However, Brooks and The Color Purple cast took home a trophy at the 2017 Grammy Awards for Best Musical Theater Album. She has also been featured in episodes of Girls, Master of None and High Maintenance.
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After Orange Is the New Black came to an end in 2019, the Sleeping with Other People star continued working with Netflix on Russian Doll, a show she cocreated, executive produced, wrote, directed and starred in. In 2019, the time warp comedy-drama earned nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Lyonne also got a nod for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. The New Yorker has also directed episodes of the Hulu original series High Fidelity and Shrill. She starred in Peacock’s Poker Face in 2023.
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Cox’s role on Orange Is the New Black helped her make history as the first transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy Award in any acting category. In 2017, she became the first transgender actor to portray a trans character on network TV while working on CBS’ Doubt. The Alabama native executive produced Netflix’s 2020 docuseries Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen and has continued to be a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ community in the public eye. In 2020, she starred alongside Carey Mulligan in the Golden Globe-nominated drama Promising Young Woman.
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The Virginia native scored her breakout role in 2005’s Hustle & Flow playing Nola, a sex worker living in Tennessee. She later had a seven-episode arc on FX’s Sons of Anarchy between 2008 and 2010. Following the series finale of Orange Is the New Black, the singer briefly appeared on season 16 of Worst Cooks in America in 2019.
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Not only did Wiley rise to prominence in the Netflix original series, but she also stole the spotlight in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale beginning in 2017, earning her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. In October 2016, Wiley announced her engagement to Orange Is the New Black writer Lauren Morelli, whom she wed in March 2017. Her character inspired a real-life criminal justice and prison reform GoFundMe, The Poussey Washington Fund, to provide support to a total of eight nonprofit organizations.
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The Aussie actress joined the Netflix series in its third season in 2015 and later went on to star in action films, including Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) and The Meg (2018). She also appeared in the third Pitch Perfect movie in 2017. Rose was cast as the title character in the CW’s Batwoman series in 2018 but exited the show two years later. In August 2020, she told Entertainment Weekly that the role was “taxing,” especially after she suffered an on-set injury.
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Apart from Orange Is the New Black, the New Yorker is known for playing Asher Millstone on ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder, which also starred Viola Davis and Alfred Enoch. Before stepping into the Hollywood spotlight, the LaGuardia High School alum was a personal trainer and fitness writer for Men’s Journal. Off camera, McGorry uses his platform to advocate for gender equality and other social causes.
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Before making it big on Netflix, the Aussie actress got her start in stage acting, earning two Sydney Theatre Awards. She also cofounded an experimental theatre company when she moved to New York City in 2011 and later appeared on HBO’s High Maintenance. Stone was married to actor Dan Spielman from 2012 to 2016. After her split, she moved on with Jack Manning Bancroft, with whom she welcomed daughter Pemau in May 2018.
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The New York City native appeared in a handful of off-Broadway productions and guest starred on The Good Wife, Girls, Elementary and other series before being cast in Orange Is the New Black. Leyva had a breakout role in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and returned to TV in 2020 for the Disney+ original series Diary of a Future President, produced by Gina Rodriguez.
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The Northwestern University alum had small roles on 30 Rock and Blue Bloods before she became a series regular on the Netflix prison drama. In 2014, Moore received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on Orange Is the New Black. She later costarred in 2016’s The Lennon Report, a biopic about the night John Lennon was shot in 1980.
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Though acting was always her dream, Polanco initially pursued a career in healthcare after graduating from Hunter College. She eventually changed her path and was promoted to a series regular on Orange Is the New Black for its third season. She has since nabbed recurring roles in FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story and Netflix’s When They See Us.
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Throughout her decades-long career, Mulgrew has earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations and has won a Satellite Award, Saturn Award and an Obie Award for off-Broadway work. She previously starred on Mercy, an NBC medical drama, alongside Orange Is the New Black costar Taylor Schilling. The Iowa native has been married twice: to Robert Egan from 1982 to 1995 and to Tim Hagan from 1999 to 2014. Mulgrew shares two children with her first husband.
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Hurst left Orange Is the New Black after its first season in 2013, and later that year, was placed in a 16-day medically induced coma following a severe car accident. She eventually recovered from spinal surgery and returned to acting, appearing in episodes of Comedy Central’s Broad City and BBC One’s Last Tango in Halifax.
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While Orange Is the New Black is considered his most notable role, Sandow has also starred on Law & Order, Third Watch, NYPD Blue, Boardwalk Empire and Blue Bloods. He wrote and directed 2015’s The Wannabe, produced by Martin Scorsese.
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The Florida native has also appeared in How to Get Away with Murder, Better Things, Masters of Sex and Search Party. In 2016, she starred in and produced Equity, a financial thriller that made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.
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Before joining the Netflix series, Cruz appeared on Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami after sparking a friendship with Kourtney Kardashian in an art class. The pals locked lips in one episode of the reality series — and the Poosh founder later admitted that she was “so embarrassed” by the kiss. Following the end of Orange Is the New Black, Cruz scored a recurring role on NBC’s Good Girls.
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