This season, Australian model, TV personality, actress and musician Ruby Rose joins the cast of Orange Is the New Black as Stella, a sexy, mysterious stranger rumored to turn the shows perennially troubled couple, Piper and Alex, into a love triangle. Rose, 29, auditioned hard for the part to get onto one of her favorite shows. Especially for someone in the LGBT community, I dont think theres been a show thats so true about the experience of being gay or lesbian or trans. Its helping a lot of people discover who they are. And I think thats magic you dont get that a lot on TV.
Talking to Rose for our cover story on the new season of Orange, we grilled her about that controversial failure quote, the benefits of therapy and how she has a crush on every single person on the show. (You can also check out her short film on gender fluidity, Break Free, below.)
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There were some reports online that you had concerns about Orange at first. Did you think it was going to be exploitative?
I cringe every time I see that quote; it was taken totally out of context. [Talking to Sunday Style Magazine, Rose was quoted as saying The show is obviously brilliant, but it has women directors, writers and producers; its about women in a prison. Everything about it had failure written on it.] What I was saying was that in the acting industry in general and [given] what were provided in content on TV and in film, life in a womens prison is not something thats usually discussed or portrayed. And on top of that, the main characters are all female protagonists, its written by a lot of women and cast by women everything about it is amazing. I imagine producers seeing it pop up and being like, I dont know about all this female power going on. Its definitely a minority in what were usually offered.
So you were a fan of the show?
I was a really big fan of the first two seasons. I was a little bit late on the first because I was not in the country; I just saw it going crazy on social media. So I turned it on on a Friday, and three days later, Ive just watched an entire series of a TV program; I was like, There has to be something wrong with me. I had never binge-watched TV before Orange.
Its just not something that youd think would have value written all over it. You wouldnt look at it and think, Thats gonna be a hit. You think that with superhero movies. Theres something on that show that everyone can relate to. Thats why its so successful.
Which character did you relate to?
I related to everyone in a way. Theres little bits of Alex andPiper I related to in my life though probably more Alex. I have the cheekiness of Nicky, but then Im like a hopeless romantic like Lorna [played be fellow Aussie Yael Stone]. There are parts of Poussey [played by Samira Wiley] that I connected with. But my character, Stella, is so similar in her mannerisms to me, and shes very androgynous. Its such a perfect fit.
Much has been made of the diversity, in every sense, of the cast; as a model, do you feel like you were a more traditional choice for TV?
[Scoffing] Model. I dont think of myself as a model. Im genderqueer, and Ive got tattoos. Since I got the part some people have asked me what its like to be the hottest girl on the show, and Im like, What? Thats not true, at all. Every single woman on that show is so sexy its really kind of crazy. Poussey is such a babe. Alex is out of control. Nicky has a thing about her. Every one of these girls has different sex appeal, whether theyre vulnerable, or whatever it is. I have a crush on every single person on the show, much to my fiances amusement. And then when you get to know them off camera its even worse because theyre so talented, so nice, so funny; Ive never laughed so hard in my life. I wish I could be as beautiful as them.
A lot of them, it turns out, have been through lots of therapy, or are really spiritual. . .
I fit into both those categories! I love therapy. I swear by therapy. I couldnt exist without therapy. And Im in the program [Alcoholics Anonymous].
A lot of us on the show have been through things in life that have taken us in different directions. Were almost all like underdogs. I say that in a positive way. There is no competition or weird insecurities; everyones sort of rooting for each other. Theyve been through so much, and theyre so successful. The positive message is: go to therapy [laughs]. Theres hope for all of us.