It’s going to be a “challenging” season for Litchfield’s favorite hairstylist.
Laverne Cox, who plays Sophia Burset on Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” says the much-anticipated sixth season of the prison-set series will offer some demanding scenes for her character.
“I got some scripts that I really was so excited about and some scenes that were really challenging for me and that made me just so happy to get to prepare,” she says. “When I have the time and can make the time to really prepare as an actor, that is just the best thing in the world for me . . . I’ve been with Sophia for a very long time, but when I just get to really prepare in various ways . . . I really, really love the process.
“So, I got some wonderfully challenging things that required me to do that this year,” she adds.
Cox only appeared in a few episodes in season five, getting herself purposely sent to the SHU (a separate security housing unit) so she could check on her friend Sister Jane Ingalls (Beth Fowler) as a prison riot raged. But Cox assures us she’s back for the sixth season, which just wrapped filming and doesn’t yet have a release date.
Cox notes she wasn’t on the show much last season because she was under other contractual obligations, including one with CBS — she was on the network’s show “Doubt,” which was canceled after only a couple of episodes.
“I am in the new season,” Cox promises, but notes: “You know, I never can tell you how much I’m in the new season.”
The fifth season ended on a serious cliffhanger (as usual), with the women being transported from Litchfield — seemingly to be sent to separate prisons.
“OITNB” has been renewed through its seventh season.
