‘Orange Is The New Black’ stars Danielle Brooks and Natasha Lyonne have admitted that the themes of season five bring with them a “heavy responsibility”.
The new series - which will be available to stream on Netflix from Friday 9 June - picks up exactly where the last one left off, with a riot in full swing following the death of Poussey Washington.
Speaking on ‘BUILD’, Danielle Brooks, who plays Taystee, and Natasha Lyonne, known for her portrayal of Nicky, told HuffPost UK that the themes of the series - specifically those of race and Poussey’s unlawful killing - definitely bring with them a number of added pressures.
“The short answer is yes,” Natasha replied, before Danielle expanded on the response.
“I do feel pressure,” Danielle said. “I’m sure the writers do too at this point, because it’s so important of a topic, it’s not just something you can gloss over and be like, ‘We’re going to patch it up nice with a pretty bow.’
“You have to go there and be very raw and honest with what is going on in America.
“And so we, as actors, I know I definitely feel a lot of pressure - I’m trying to act like I don’t but I do - feel pressure and a heavy responsibility.”
She continued: “It’s almost in a way, as the actor, part of our fight to get justice too.
“As a citizen in America we’re actually kind of channeling it through our craft and our art.
“I definitely feel a bit of pressure because you want to give respect and reverence to the people who have actually lost their lives and the family members of those people who have lost their lives and to let them know.”
Pointing out that “the whole point of this show is every [prison] sentence has a story” Danielle added that it’s also about “giving voice to those who don’t have a voice, and telling that story even if they are, maybe, imprisoned in other ways”.
Natasha added: “We have a healthy amount of pride in a way, we’re grateful to jenji that we get to be in a conversation that’s already on our minds on a personal level, rather than having to shut the door on that at work.”
The new series of ‘Orange Is The New Black’ will be more intense than ever, thanks to the fact the episodes cover just three days at Litchfield prison.
While Netflix are doing their best to keep on spoilers, a recently-released trailer revealed whether or not Daya shoots the gun she had been pointing at an officer in the last moments of series four.
‘Orange Is The New Black’ arrives on Netflix on Friday 9 June. Watch their ‘BUILD’ interview in full below...