Orange Is the New Black Star Taylor Schilling on Misfits, Making Things Stick and Finding Your Family

When Taylor Schilling is embroiled in a dramatic prison scene or helping her awkward niece navigate adolescence it is clear that she is all in.

The 34-year-old star of the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black found her passion for acting early on, and like finding her North Star the pursuit of performing has guided her well and led to a variety of notable television and film roles.

Now she is starring in Family, an out-of-the-box indie movie about Kate, a career-focused woman, with a brash attitude that keeps relationships at bay, making her an outcast.

When Dan, her estranged brother (Matt Walsh) and sister-in-law (Allison Tolman) ask her to care for her tween niece Maddie (Bryn Vale), Kate reluctantly agrees. Then one night turns into a week, and Kate’s work life spins into chaos.

At the same time her niece reveals stories of being bullied and wanting to run away to become a Juggalo, (a fan of the group Insane Clown Posse), causing the two misfits to form a unique bond. The touching movie was shot in Atlanta in only 19 days.

Written and directed by Laura Steinel for her debut feature, the movie reminds us that finding your “chosen family” can mean a lifetime of meaningful connections.

“There is a parallel between Piper and Kate because they were both on kind of a journey to find themselves,” Schilling told Parade.com at a recent SAG-AFTRA screening in New York.

“For Piper, it played out in different ways over the course of seven years, and for Kate, it was interesting that as she got to know this little person [her niece], she got to know herself better, and became sort of more self-actualized.”

What was it about Kate in Family that jumped off the page for you?

Kate is somebody that has always identified with achieving, and I think that that’s something that is so interesting, culturally. Kate has chosen to value things that our culture doesn't necessarily deem as feminine. So I thought it was really interesting to explore someone that was so unabashed in her lack of desire for domesticity. I don’t really see many women like that.

How did you become part of the movie Family?

I received this script from [writer /director] Laura Steinel, and was absolutely blown away by it. There are so many different iterations from reading something to actually seeing it on the screen. There are so many twists and turns, but this movie has really held the integrity of that draft I first read. I was so enamored with the character of Kate that I wrote to Laura, said congratulations, and then I sent her flowers. I had very rarely seen female characters that start out in the middle of the race of their own sort of burnout, so I thought it was pretty brave.

Laura had mentioned that she wanted this to be an opportunity for women to play rougher characters. I think it’s so interesting because when you think family, you think of acceptance and finding a tribe.

That was something that I thought was so interesting. By the time we finished shooting and then Laura was in the editing process, there are always notes around likeability and is the character pleasing the audience on some level? And women tend to get that note far more than male characters, and Kate’s not pleasing, which is what I love about her so much. She’s so stuck in this loop stemming from the fact that she hasn’t learned how to accept herself yet.

Kate doesn't really know who she is. She has all the cash and prizes, but there’s still a really big hole in the doughnut. She doesn't really understand why this thing called her life isn’t filled up yet. I also love that she starts to fall in love with herself or have a tiny bit more compassion for herself as she starts to have compassion for this other little person who was bullied and sort of marginalized.

You have mentioned that you automatically fell in love with this role, but was there anything about the character that kind of made you hesitant?

No. Kate makes a tremendous amount of sense to me. I get her. She’s trying so hard to make it work, and she does not understand why life isn’t quite shaping up.

So how did you prepare for this role, and does it kind of vary from project to project and medium to medium?

I think there’s a through-line of a tremendous amount of detective work, and it’s been an interesting experience being on a show for a long period of time and having there be a consistency to sort of this one character, which is antithetical to setting up shop, having a rehearsal process and doing something new every time. On a hiatus from Orange, I would have a chance to do another project, I would very ferociously dive into it and it just felt very refreshing to sort of take a deep dive.

Did you use improv, and what was your best moment in this film?

We did a fair amount of improv in this film. Laura was really fun, and she helped me feel pretty comfortable in the comedy world. There were a fair amount of scenes almost like the sketch comedy world, where she would just sort of toss things out from behind the monitor, and then we’d play with it. Especially, during the makeover scene.

What was it like to work with Bryn Vale, who played your young niece?

It was great fun to work with Bryn, who was 12 when we were shooting the movie. Sometimes working with kids can be a bit challenging, and I’ve worked with a fair amount of children at this point, and it was like playing pretend. She was so excited, so in the moment, and so stoked to not be in school that it felt like we were just playing house. So much of the material with her is just improving about weapons of nature, and wolves and hitting sticks and stuff. I learned a lot from Bryn.

There are so many themes and messages from Family. Do you have a favorite one?

A favorite theme? One thing that I love about the Juggalo community is that there is so much room to be yourself, and they so ferociously guard this notion that whoever you are is acceptable, and it may not be acceptable out here, but it’s a basic human need for...we all need community, and we all need connection, and they’re so passionate about making room for everyone, and you know, it was really amazing. The call kind of went out to the Juggalo community, and they found out that we were shooting this movie.

And when we were shooting the gathering, all of these fans of Insane Clown Posse came down and set up camp in Georgia and participated in the film with us, and as you can imagine, that energy was so helpful to the work.  I think that this movie is really about sorting out your family of origin stuff, but also finding your chosen family and finding the spaces where you connect, plug in and can be yourself.

I know that you discovered acting early on. Will you describe your inspiration to pursue this career?

Well, you know what’s funny is that I feel like one of the gifts of my life, one of the true North Stars that I can point to say, “OK, I’m on the right track,” is that I never really thought much about wanting to act. I auditioned for a play when I was 11 in the school cafeteria. We stood up on the lunch hotline buffet, and there were 90 kids in Fiddler on the Roof. I found something that I was good at and that I really enjoyed. It paved the way for my life. I remember being in college just thinking if I could get my SAG card and my Equity card, and just be able to pay my rent. It was just a numbers game. I went on a ton of auditions. I was very diligent about it. You know, I was working as a nanny in Washington Heights, and then I would work two hours, set up an audition for mid-morning, go back, and pick up the kids from school, and then do a late afternoon audition. Like, I was hustling.

How did you arrange that with your agent? Because, typically, they want you to be available all day, just in case something comes up.

I had really understanding people that understood I needed to make money to eat. I’m so lucky to have a really supportive team.

So what was that period like when you were nannying and also going on auditions? Was there ever a time when you’re like, you know what? Maybe, I’m just going to pursue a typical career?

You know, there was a time when I thought about going into journalism. I love reading. I love people. I love what’s happening in the world. I’m not quite sure how I pulled it off. I was very rabid about what I wanted, and that was the thing that I feel very grateful for. But for a long period of my life, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and nothing was going to throw me off course. I was so committed to being an actor. I am so in love with the art form, and I like movies and plays, and also a lot of my community was the theater. So, for me, it was very nourishing. The end goal did not feel like getting a TV show. The end goal felt like doing something important and transcendent. I shaved my head when I was 18 to play Helen of Troy. I am still connected to people from that college production.

Was there any sign for you early on that Orange Is the New Black was going to be as big as it was?

All that I knew was when we were shooting that first season and it still sort of feels like our moment in the rabbit hole. It felt like a really good rehearsal process. It felt like we were making something really special, and everyone involved, we sort of all had theater training, and we all kind of had a similar vocabulary. It did actually feel special. It felt different. They didn't even know how to explain to us what would happen the first weekend that Orange came out. Like, it was so strange. It just never really happened before, but it did feel very valuable. That thing happened. That click happened while we were all working together.

What advice do you have for prospective actors, or anyone pursuing a big career or lofty dream?

I think that anything you love works, right? I think that’s what I keep reminding myself of. That when there’s a genuine connection, that you can really feel up your spine that you really love something and you know it, then those things in my life tend to work out, when it’s really settled and it’s like a body feeling, that I love this. So, never, never, never stop. I mean, I saw that in myself, too, in terms of whatever comes next, but it’s simple. Just keep going.

Family, from The Film Arcade, will be in theaters nationwide on April 26.