‘Orange Is The New Black’ Star Taryn Manning Says She Never Gets To Play The ‘Pretty Girl’

Now that the legal issues of Taryn Manning’s alleged stalker have mostly blown over, the Orange Is The New Black star is back in the public eye promoting her acting career. Manning recently appeared on The HuffPost Show to talk about how she’s frequently cast in shows and movies.

Taryn Manning is happy with the roles she gets, but seemingly pretty disappointed that Hollywood never casts her as the leading female role, or the “pretty girl.” Like her character on Orange Is The New Black, Manning often plays eccentric or unstable Southern women, frequently villains.

“I’ve definitely been stereotyped, typecast, put in a box,” Manning said. “It’s one of those things that in my 20s, I used to try to fight against that stereotyping and be like, ‘But I feel like I’m kinda cute. How come I never get to read for the pretty girl?’ Because in Hollywood’s eyes, I’m not that girl.”

In Orange Is The New Black, Manning plays Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett, a psychotic and murderous (yet devoutly Christian) inmate who has it out for newly-imprisoned Piper Chapman. Her character is one of the primary antagonists in the show’s first season.

Despite the frustration with never getting roles like her Orange Is The New Black co-star Taylor Schilling, Taryn admits she still enjoys playing the unusual characters because they have more dimensions to them.

“I finally came to realize that I get to play roles with a lot of depth. Just because you’re troubled or you’re a prostitute doesn’t mean that you’re not someone who’s been through stuff, that you’re not wise and have common sense, that you’re self-aware. I like the roles I play. I think it’s fun.”

Her role on Orange Is The New Black is not the only casting decision that Taryn Manning has found controversial lately. According to People, Taryn’s mother was extremely uncomfortable with her playing the role of Michelle Knight for the upcoming Lifetime movie, Cleveland Abduction. Manning while portray the real life victim of a decade-long abduction by Ariel Castro, before escaping in 2013.

“She was horrified,” said Manning “She’s like ‘Taryn, you don’t need to be playing these types of roles.’ My mom followed this story very closely, and she couldn’t wrap her head around me playing a role that had such negativity. She gets concerned. My mom knows I go there.”

But even with the grotesque subject matter of Cleveland Abduction, Manning informed her mother that the story needed to be told.

“It’s triumphant,” she said. “It’s everything humans need to understand that they possess inside of them.”

The official release date for the new season of Orange Is The New Black has finally been revealed. Read more here, along with titles and plot details for the upcoming Orange Is The New Black episodes.

Do you think Taryn Manning deserves “pretty girl” roles?

[Image credit: Getty Images]