Joining these actors in their life of fictitious crime is Australia’s very own Ruby Rose. This is one inmate who we can’t wait to see behind bars (well, on the silver screen, that is).

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because OITNB is a black comedy set in a women’s prison in the US that smashes stereotypes surrounding race as well as mental illness. Yet Uzo believed she was on to something big after Day One. “I was spending time in Utah and I had no cell service,” she remembers. “The only time you could call and connect with people was when you went back to your cabin and got on to the wi-fi. I came home and my Twitter followers had gone up 500 in a day. I thought it must’ve been because of an amazing tweet, but it was obviously because they were watching Orange.”

Here, Yael and Uzo talk about their love of their on-screen alter egos, what they think of Ruby Rose joining the cast and their views on the creepiest character at Litchfield Prison.

Morello is such a strong, not to mention recognisable, character. When you’re walking down the street, do people recognise you?YAEL: “Well, it changes because I look and sound different. I think the Orange fan is a bit different because of the nature of the show and the way you can watch it. The Netflix model means people go to bed with you and spend 13 hours straight just living with you in their bed. There’s a sense of ownership and love, which can be wonderful and slightly confronting.”

As the show goes on, the audience learns why each character ends up in prison through flashbacks. At what point did you learn who Crazy Eyes and Morello really are?UZO: “The start of Season Two.”YAEL: “Well, when I got the script. That’s where I learnt everything about Morello. It was like, ‘We’re shooting this on Thursday and here’s the truth about Morello.’ So, that was pretty surprising. It was a huge curveball for me.”

Was there anything about each of your characters’ stories that really surprised you?YAEL: “I liked how good Uzo looked in that little graduation hat.”UZO: “I enjoyed that hat, surprisingly. I think what I had, more than a surprise, was a lot of questions answered; I was trying to understand why she is so faithful to [Piper]. Why does it feel like she would go to the end of the earth for this thing she’s not getting in return? Why does she love and need love so desperately? So, when I saw her story and where she began, that’s when I realised, ‘Oh, this isn’t the first time she’s chased this down.’ That really informed a lot for me, not only her relationship with Piper but the need and desire of a maternal relationship.”

Our own Aussie Ruby Rose joins the cast this season. Tell us, what was she like to work with?YAEL: “She’s wonderful. We got to hang out and that was really lovely. She’s a delightful person and we were all excited to work with her.”

When you’re not chasing chickens, butting heads with supervisors and plotting prison breaks, what do you get up to?YAEL: “It’s like a beach party.”UZO: “We braid each other’s hair [laughs]. We actually do! A lot of singing happens in the ghetto dorms. I always hear that the dressing room doors [on other production sets] are closed and people are just tucked away in their trailers. But in our show, it’s very much an open-door policy.”YAEL: “Sometimes we don’t even use our doors. There’s a lot of hanging out in the corridors.”UZO: “People are lying on the ground and there’s never just one person by themselves unless you’re taking a nap.” YAEL: “That is the respected form of door closing – the nap is highly respected in our workplace.”

Who would you say your favourite character on the show is?YAEL: “Well, I love the audacity of Pornstache [Pablo Schreiber].”UZO: “I feel, and I’m really trying not to be cagey, but it’s hard when I think about it. I do love Red [Kate Mulgrew]. There are so many different parts of each character that I love so much. What I love about Morello is so intensely different to what I love about Vee [Lorraine Toussaint], and that’s so intensely different to what I like about Poussey [Samira Wiley].”YAEL: “Just choose one!”UZO: “No, I can’t. YAEL: “The nice lady just wants you to choose one.”UZO: “OK, OK. I love Pornstache.” #

Season Three of Orange Is The New Black is available now on Netflix.

“et me guess, your favourite character is Crazy Eyes,” laughs Yael Stone, her native Aussie accent thick. This vastly differs from the Brooklyn/Boston

voice she’s become well known for thanks to her character Morello. “No, no! You both are,” I exclaim, still in disbelief that I’m sitting opposite the leading ladies from my favourite show, Orange Is The New Black. “My friend actually lived with your brother, so I felt we always had a strange connection, so I’m not lying when I say that you’re both my favourites,” I spit out, feeling like I’m the freshest inmate to be interrogated at Litchfield Penitentiary. “Well, that’s the best answer we’ve had all day,” says Uzo, her eyes nowhere near as crazy as one would imagine. “Phew” is all I can think. I’ve passed my initiation.

Without their prison jumpsuits, the women in front of me look completely out of place. Yael, 30, who hails from Sydney, is wearing a printed shift, her trademark red lip nowhere to be seen. As for Uzo, 33, her hair is out, sitting on her shoulders, and her eyes, they radiate with kindness and warmth.

Worldwide hit OITNB centres around Piper Chapman, a woman sentenced to 15 months in jail for running drug money overseas 10 years prior. Since its debut, it’s consistently ranked high on Netflix’s most-watched series’ list and has just been commissioned for a fourth season. But when the cast signed up to the show back in 2013, they knew it was going to be seriously risky business. This is

BOX SET

Currently in its a third season, CLEO’s Natalie Babic caught up with Orange Is The New Black’s Yael Stone (who plays Morello) and Uzo Aduba (AKA Crazy Eyes) to hear about life inside Litchfield.

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Morello’s story is seriously explosive.

Crazy Eyes is always on the

hunt for her Dandelion…

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