Taylor Schilling Sets Up New Season of 'OITNB'

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 6/6/2017, 7:07 a.m.
"Orange Is the New Black" star Taylor Schilling says the upcoming season of the Netflix drama is the "most overtly …
Members of the cast of Netflix's "Orange is the New Black" appear in this photograph.

By Chloe Melas

CNN

(CNN) -- "Orange Is the New Black" star Taylor Schilling says the upcoming season of the Netflix drama is the "most overtly political" yet.

Schilling told CNN that filming Season 5 during the presidential election last year magnified the social issues explored in the series.

"Everything takes on more importance," Schilling said. "It was a nice confluence of art and life. In our own lives there was a lot of chaos, and in this prison there was a tremendous amount of chaos."

The chaos of the new season plays out over three days -- in the aftermath of Poussey's [Samira Wiley] death.

"All of the devastation around that loss was heightened for six months of shooting," Schilling said. "[In] each of those three days, the grief and the fury were at the surface."

"Orange Is the New Black" will continue to tackle LGBTQ issues, the Black Lives Matter movement, mental illness and prison reform.

"It's not always that your creative interests and your political interests and activism all kind of meld into one unified gig." Schilling said. "I think we all kind of felt we have a responsibility right now, we've got to say our peace."

The new season of "OITNB" begins streaming Friday at midnight.

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