Here’s What the ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Cast Was Up to Before They Were Famous

Every lady inOrange Is the New Black’sprison has a story about life before she was locked up. The same goes for each one of the cast members, but, ya know, without the whole incarceration part. Here, we investigate what each of the stars of the hit Netflix show was up to before they were famous—the answers might surprise you.

Before winning two Emmys for her work on the show,Adubawas a classical voice major and competed in track and field at Boston University. After graduating, she began dipping her toes into theater, and garnered recognition for her performance inTranslations of Xhosain 2003. She made her Broadway debut in 2007, landed a role as a nurse onBlue Bloodsin 2012 and by 2013 she was cast as Crazy Eyes. What a whirlwind.

Manningcame from very humble beginnings and worked as a waitress and barista to help support her family as a teenager. Despite their financial difficulties, her single mom did what she could to get her daughter acting and dance lessons. It all paid off in the mid ’90s when Manning landed roles inNYPD BlueandPopular. But it was her roles as Britney Spears’s bestie inCrossroadsand Eminem’s ex in8 Mile真正把她在地图上。哦,我们有提到she started a band with her brother called Boomkat and also has a solo music career? Talk about multitalented.

Coxstudied classical ballet but decided to shift to acting when she moved to New York. She performed in a drag show there and also appeared as a contestant on the first season ofI Want to Work for Diddy. Noticing her talent and unique story, VH1 approached her with a makeover series,TRANSform Me,making her the first African-American transgender person to produce and star in their own show. After that, Cox acted in several shows, includingLaw & Order: SVUandBored to Death, before starting the Netflix original series.

The IRL Daya was born in the Dominican Republic and was raised in Brooklyn, New York. She had acting aspirations from a young age but was hesitant to audition because she was self-conscious about her body. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology with the intention of going into nursing until she finally built up the courage to pursue acting full-time. She landed her role inOITNBright off the bat and hasn’t looked back since.

Like Brooks, Wiley studied at Juilliard and trained in theater performance. She found work in the theater, but when her friend from school, a writer forOITNBnamed Marco Ramirez, told her about the show, she knew she had to audition. When she found out Brooks, whom she was also friends with, had won a role in the show, she asked her to go over lines together and, clearly, it worked out.