Five Minutes With: Taylor Schilling

By Michele Manelis

Five Minutes With: Taylor Schilling
Taylor Schilling, 32, star of Orange is the New Black, chats to MiNDFOOD about the hit series, which premieres Season 5 in June. She also talks about her days before hitting it big.

What can audiences expect from Season 5?

Well, we’re seeing all of the women that we’ve gotten to know experience a riot and experience a real crisis situation. It’s interesting. You get to see everybody responding to a really high stakes environment.

When you were auditioning for the role, you were working as a nanny. Do you have fond memories of that period in your life?

Yeah, I actually had been working for a nanny about 5 years earlier, I think. I was 28 when I got this job and before I got my first job, which was on a show called Mercy, I was a nanny then and also when I was in college and in graduate school, I looked after kids then too.

What was the first movie you saw that influenced you to pursue a career as an actress?

I saw Frances when I was pretty young. I’ve seen that a bazillion times. I had a period when I was a teenager where I got really into John Cassavetes movies and it was Gena Rowlands who really blew the doors open for me in terms of what it meant to be an actress. I think that’s ultimately what sort of attracted me to the whole thing.

What do you like to do in your downtime?

I like to spend time with my friends mostly. I do a lot of reading. What else do I do? I like to – I am quite active. I like to spend time outside. I’m quite boring. I like to arrange my time around resting and like seeing people that I love. There’s not a lot in between.

What are you reading at the moment?

Well, right now I’m reading this book called “Shadows Bright As Glass.” It’s extraordinary. It’s about this artist named John Sarkin. Before that I was reading “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” I’d never read that Dave Eggers book and “The Circle” was great and it is now a film which I’m looking forward to seeing.

Are you very interested in fashion? Do you like to wear orange?

(laughs) I don’t wear a lot of orange. I feel like it’s a little bit too on the nose. I do like fashion. I like clothes a lot. I like it for myself more than anything. But I use a stylist for things like today. I couldn’t figure this out on my own.

Stylists have become very important these days in Hollywood.

Yeah, I work exclusively with Penny Lovell. She’s amazing. I feel really good because it’s fun. I like fashion but I don’t like to shop a lot so it’s fun to have somebody there to kind of help.

What happens when Penny tells you to wear something you don’t like?

Oh, that’s never happened. It’s always fun. She gets a collection of things and I get to go play dress up for an hour or two and we decide what works together.

How do you stay in shape?

I’ve been doing a lot of spin classes lately and I eat healthy – lots of vegetables; all the stuff that you’re supposed to do.

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