Catherine Curtin – Orange Is The New Black

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I started shooting the fourth season of “Orange Is The New Black” and I just finished a play. I’m going to, hopefully, start shooting a film in the next little bit called Beauty Mark. It’s a true story and I think it is one of the most exciting scripts that I have read. It’s just genius! It’s based on a woman down South who grew up in a small southern town and when she was around four or five years old was molested by a man at her local church who is a pedophile. You don’t know that though until late in the film, but the film starts when she is about twenty years old and I play her mom. It’s an amazing role. It’s one of the most beautiful scripts that I have ever read and it is the story of one of the producers and how she rebuilds her life and discovers her life. It’s an amazing film. I’m psyched to be shooting that and I’m really happy to be shooting “Orange.”

Q) How was your character on “Orange” originally described to you?

A) It’s interesting because with television what is fun and lovely and something I really enjoy about it is – in the theater, they are more about, “This is who she is. This is who we are thinking,” at least from my personal experience. With TV, it always feels like, “What are you bringing to the table?” She was less described to me as sort of given to me and then sculpted from there. Then, they said, “We really like what you’re doing there.” They sort of seemed to appreciate what I was bringing to it. I think that’s what is so fun about television. They really look to see what you are bringing and then they go from there. I originally saw her as someone who has her jealousy.  She has her issues. She is a little tyrant in this prison world and I think that as the seasons have gone on she has in a way softened a bit because she has fallen in love with this other guard and she has gotten more in her life.

Q) What do you think it is about O’Neill that draws Wanda to him?

A) I think it is his sense of humor and his cuddliness. I think he is very protective of her, which is really neat. I think he treats her like a woman. I don’t think she had a lot of that in her life. I think she grew up tough and defending herself. I don’t think anyone really rubbed her shoulders and he rubs her shoulders. I don’t think anyone cared about her in that way. I think they are very caring of each other. They laugh at the dumb stuff. He is proud of her when she breaks apart that piñata.

Q) There is such great chemistry between you and Joel Marsh Garland. Was it natural or did you spend some time to bond?

A) It was really natural. We were on set shooting episode thirteen last year for Season 3 and I think it was people on the camera crew said, “You two should have your own sitcom because you are so funny together.” I think we are so bizarrely matched that we have good chemistry together and neither one of us takes the straight road. We always go left or right in some strange way in our comedy. I think our comedy plays well of of each other.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from filming “Orange?”

A) I love the first day of shooting asking her who is Tom with the Toms shoes. I loved that. I loved when juvenile delinquents visited the prison and we tried to scare them straight. I loved the episode in the bubble with O’Neill. There has been a lot of stuff I enjoyed. I loved the piñata. I thought that was hysterical. I loved when we were taught how to fight. I thought that was fun. The guys were given riot gear. It all falls in line with the comedy I enjoy doing more than anything else. I love comedy. I love the serious stuff, too. It’s so meaningful and I don’t think the comedy would work without it. I think both O’Neill and I (Joel and I) have similar comedic instinct. We are kind of ridiculous together.

Q) What would you like to see for Wanda’s backstory?

A) I would love to see who her parents were and I think her mom was really rough on her, but I think she loved her because it was a family that stood together. It was a family that was somewhat abusive, emotionally, and they didn’t have the tools to be great parents, but they kept Wanda on the right side of the law. I would love to see Wanda’s backstory. I think as a child she grew up tough. I think she probably went to work very young. I don’t think she had a lot of educational opportunities. I think she is getting herself some now. I think everything that came to Wanda’s life she built. I would love to see where that spirit came from. I’m always so bowled over by people who built their lives out of nothing. My father was a poor boy from Brooklyn who put himself through Harvard. I think that is such an amazing story. The girl that takes care of my son is studying to be a lawyer and she is going to put herself through law school. Obviously, Wanda didn’t have those tools, but I think she grew up really tough. I would love to see what happened in her backstory. I think it would also be interesting to see where Wanda lives today. She bought a house with a cracked foundation because that was all she could afford. I would love to see where that is going with her and O’Neill.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) I really enjoy Twitter. I’m getting better at Instagram. What I have learned to love about it is that you can have a conversation with a lot of people and I think that is what is so clearly brought the optimism of “Orange” to the world’s stage in terms of enabling you to say, “Wow! A lot of us think the same thing.” It gives a place for similar voices to speak out and whether that is political, philosophically or something of the heart it is an amazing place for people to go, “Gay marriage was passed,” or “A shout out to the people going through this difficult thing.” Even a birthday! It lets people have similar thoughts in a group dynamic. I think what is so incredibly optimistic about that is we are able to see the true voice of the general public and not feel like we are just our representatives or just the voice of the government or just the voice of whatever TV show seems to be channeling local issue (whether reality TV or scripted TV). I think that is what Orange has really tapped into and what I love so much about “Orange.” I think there are a lot of people who want to dialogue about the prison community and what is going on in our prisons and is this the best approach to punishment and bringing people back into society. Who are all of these people in our prisons? We incarcerate people in prison more than any other nation and more women than any other nation. I think that “Orange” has really exposed that globally and domestically that people want to look at who is in prison and go, “Well, they can’t all be bad.” I think it is within the structure of the human being to be good, but I think people make mistakes and it is really fascinating and interesting that there is so much interest in the storylines of the prisoners in “Orange” and how they got there. There is sympathy for that because we all make mistakes. So, the fact that social media is bringing so many people together in such a way that people are getting to say, “I think that, too,” it gets people elected and it changes the world. Communication on that large a degree really sends a message out to our representatives and government officials that they cannot deny people are thinking this or they can’t deny this is on the mind of the public. It gives the public strength and a voice. And when ever you have a voice there is the chance for change. I think it is really, really exciting gift for the future. I don’t have Facebook, but I love Twitter and I’m really beginning to learn Instagram. I love all the photos! Anyone who wants to Instagram me I’m at @catecurtin and I will try my best to keep up! I love reading everybody’s posts. People write the most fascinating posts!

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I would, first of all, say a huge thank you! I hope that I live up to all of their care, appreciation and generosity of spirit towards me. I’m so grateful to my fanbase and I’m so thankful to them. Hopefully, I can do more and more with “Orange,” film and TV and that they will appreciate and enjoy that I will continue to touch their hearts and their minds as a conduit and channel for some of the things that they want to understand from scripted work and some of the places that they come from. That I can be a light for people, a place of hope, joy, comedy and heart. I am grateful that they are joining me in the search for that.