Taylor Schilling: ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Star Says It’s Liberating To Play A Character Who Doesn’t Wear Makeup


While Taylor Schilling is excitedly awaiting the release of the fourth season of Netflix’s original series Orange is the New Black, she is opening up about her character Piper Chapman and how liberating it is to play a character who doesn’t wear makeup.

Because Piper is an inmate at Litchfield Penitentiary, she has little to no access to makeup, which means she always has that bare look, something Schilling admits she enjoys in her everyday life. However, although Piper doesn’t appear to wear any makeup, Taylor said it actually takes a lot of makeup to give her that look, People Magazine reports.

“It does take time to get Piper [ready] — it takes far more makeup than you would imagine for me to look like I’m wearing absolutely no makeup,” Schilling said. “And Piper doesn’t have as much access to makeup, so she’s sort of the default setting — she doesn’t really have a choice — but for me, I prefer to be bare as much as possible.”

Taylor said she enjoys playing a character who doesn’t focus solely on her looks, and isn’t able to cover her face with makeup. Schilling said it is “liberating” and makes her appreciate her character more.

“I think it’s very liberating to [play a character who doesn’t wear makeup],” Schilling added. “It knocks away one level of artifice, and I think that is what I appreciate most about acting. It’s trying to drill down to the truth of a character, or situation or a circumstance and in some cases, lots of makeup helps with that. In this situation, in the story of Piper Chapman, it really illuminates interesting parts of her that she doesn’t wear any makeup.”

As for Taylor’s own beauty routine, she said she keeps it very natural and simple. While she admits she generally has makeup on while she is working, she said she likes to go barefaced as much as possible.

“My beauty routine is very simple, but what’s most important to me is keeping the products that are natural and simple,” Taylor said. “I like having a really good natural cleanser because my face does have a lot of makeup on it when I’m working a lot. So it’s really important for me to have a very good cleanser and a SPF tinted moisturizer, but oftentimes I just go to a sunscreen. I just wash my face and put on moisturizer and sunscreen and I’m good to go.”

“I have learned, first of all, to wear sunscreen because nothing works when my skin is dry, sore or sensitive in any way,” Schilling continued. “Having skin that’s healthy is sort of a baseline. I’ve come to really, the time I’ve spent in the makeup chairs, I’ve come to really appreciate taking care of my skin in a way that I may not have had I not had my job.”

Netflix recently announced the premiere date for the fourth season of Orange is the New Black, and luckily fans won’t have to wait long to find out what has been going on at Litchfield. The new season will debut on June 17, and will be full of surprises. Taylor Schilling, Uzo Aduba, Laura Prepon, Kate Mulgrew, Natasha Lyonne, Laverne Cox, Dascha Polanco, Michael Harney, Danielle Brooks, Taryn Manning, Selenis Leyva, Yael Stone, Nick Sandow, Samira Wiley, Lea DeLaria, Jackie Cruz, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and Adrienne Moore all returned for the latest season.

In February, Netflix revealed that they had renewed Orange is the New Black for three additional seasons, according to E! News.

“Our sentence has been extended. 3 more seasons, b**ches. @OITNB,” Netflix’s Twitter account shared at the time.

[Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP]

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