She plays everyone’s fave prisoner Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson in Orange Is The New Black, and Danielle Brooks admits to NW that she loves her character just as much as us fans do.
“I feel like she’s the life of the prison. She’s brought joy into this world and just brings laughter during her pain,” Danielle tells us. “I love that we always see her trying again when people knock her down.”
But sadly for Taystee, life isn’t a bunch of laughs in Season Six, as the ladies struggle to adjust to life in a new maximum security prison after last season’s riot saw them separated and shipped off to new digs.
So we got Danielle to spill the beans on what exactly goes down with our girls in the latest series, and which celebs we can expect to guest-star in the future…
READ NEXT: From Jailbirds to Glamazons: The OITNB cast in real life!
Netflix series Orange Is The New Black was the 28-year-old’s breakout role.
So it’s another intense season for Taystee, to say the least!
Danielle: Yeah! Taystee and the girls are all fish out of water, really, having all these new inmates and new guards to deal with, which brings about conflict in this new environment. Plus, it picks up just days after the death of Poussey [Samira Wiley], so Taystee is still trying to heal from the loss of her friend. She’s grieving, as well as trying to accept that she lost the good fight.
That’s quite a change to the character you’ve been playing in previous seasons…
Danielle: Taystee goes from fun and happy to holding a gun against someone’s head, so it was quite a transformation for her. I’m never really bored playing her. Every scene you’re in is another challenge! It’s incredible how the writers were able to allow all of these characters to add so many layers to who they are. It’s such a huge cast, so it’s kind of remarkable what they’re able to do.
What’s your favourite thing about playing Taystee?
She’s really been one of the hearts of this show. I think she’s really been the one to hold a mirror up to society and say, “Hey, look what we’re doing. Look at how we treat people who are poor, people who are of colour, opposed to people who are rich and people that are privileged.”
I really like the fact that she can be the moral compass and bring people back to what’s most important in this world.
It almost feels like the show has gone back to the beginning by moving the ladies into new prisons…
Danielle: It definitely is kind of a reboot in a way. It’s like going back to the first season and being reintroduced to who these women really are, what they would do to save themselves, and what they would do to save the people that they love. You see some of these women in a new light. We expect them to do one thing, but they totally shock us and show us what their true character is.
It’s almost like how they might have walked into prison for the first time, so it shows the audience what it might have been like for Taystee in prison for the first time.
Danielle Brooks’ character Taystee is the life of the prison.
It must be rewarding to see the show’s impact filter through into the real world. Like Kim Kardashian helping prisoner Alice Marie Johnson to get a presidential pardon…
Danielle: I don’t think we were really talking about prisons before this show. OITNB delves into the heart of who these women are, and showing how easy it might be to make one bad mistake. I don’t think there were any shows showcasing inmates as human beings – as mothers and daughters. It’s very awesome to see things happening in real
life since OITNB started.
You guys should get Kimmy K on the show for a cameo. Reckon that could happen? [Laughs]
Danielle: I don’t know, girl. Do you think she can really handle it? Do you think she can be in there with Taystee and the girls? We’ll see.
There have been so many, but what’s your favourite line?
Danielle: [Laughs] I’m one of the more sentimental people on the show, so I would say the first time I ever got to speak would be my favourite. The shower scene where she is teasing Piper and says, “You got them TV titties. They stand up on their own – all perky and everything.” It really shows you who she is right at the beginning. Not just this angry black woman, but someone who is also fun and sassy.
What do you think Taystee’s perfect happy ending would be?
Danielle: I would love to see her get out and get a really great job, probably serving in some kind of political office. Or have some high position when it comes to the decision-makers in the prison system. And I would want her to find a man to have a big ol’ family with – about eight kids!
Orange Is The New Black Season Six is out now on Netflix.
