What The Orange Is The New Black Stars Look Like In Real Life

Orange is the New Black is a show set in prison, so it makes sense that most of its characters wouldn't have access to a whole lot of makeup and styling products. Even so, it's always shocking to witness the transformation the show's cast members undergo each season to shift from fab to drab to play their on-screen characters. Check out what the cast of OITNB looks like in real life.

Laura Prepon became well-known to TV watchers as a redhead in That '70s Show, but she decided to opt for a much darker color for OITNB, dying her hair pitch black. She completes the look on the show with arched, thin eyebrows, glasses, and a cat eye that always manages to look perfect, even with prison-quality eyeliner. 

Prepon, who stepped behind the camera for one episode of OITNB's fifth season, sometimes switches up her hair colors in between filming, appearing blonde, brunette, and even red again. She also usually goes more glam on the red carpet, though she works that cat eye in real life too. At the time of this writing, Prepon is keeping busy preparing for motherhood. She and fiancé Ben Foster are expecting their first child.

Uzo Aduba has earned two Golden Globe nominations and two Emmys for her OITNB part as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren. Her character's roller coaster ride throughout the series is punctuated by her distinctive hairstyle.

In real life, Aduba's look is far more glamorous than her character, complete with dazzling accessories, makeup, and a variety of hairstyles. In addition to her experience on OITNB, Aduba is an experienced stage actress, having starred in Godspell and The Maids. She took her talents (which include classical voice training at Boston University) to the small screen in 2015 to star as Glinda in NBC's The Wiz Live!

Taryn Manning's Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett is one of many OITNB characters who've evolved significantly throughout the series. Her scraggly brown hair remains the same, but she did get new teeth, thanks to Piper (sort of). 

Manning's look is more fabulous in real life. She often appears rocker-chic, which is fitting considering she's sung in quite a few bands over the years, including the electric group Boomkat. (She also dropped some solo records.) 

Dascha Polanco has been blowing viewers away as the artistic Dayanara "Daya" Diaz throughout OITNB's run, and fans received a special surprise when her real-life daughter appeared as the younger version of her character in the show's fifth season. Daya is known for her highlighted hairstyle, which Polanco was already rocking when she came in to audition. 

In real life, Polanco also likes to experiment with hair colors, going from blonde to brunette to a stunning platinum grey over the years. She's a fashion rock star on the red carpet and always generates buzz with her distinctive wardrobe choices. While Daya isn't quite as risky with her fashion, we like to think she'd be a stunner if she weren't stuck in Litchfield's starchy styles. 

Natasha Lyonne was already an established actress when she signed on to play Nicky Nichols on OITNB, having appeared in the American Pie franchise and in movies such as But I'm a Cheerleader and Blade: Trinity. However, Nicky was a very different part for her, one that required drawing from her own personal struggles with drugs and alcohol. Lyonne proved perfect for the role, which earned her an Emmy nomination. The character usually lets her thick hair run wild (although she rocked a straight look for a bit in Season 5) and likes to go heavy on the eyeliner and mascara, which makes a mess when she's struggling.

Off-screen, Lyonne likes to experiment with that gorgeous hair. Though the actress usually sticks with simple styles, she has been known to choose some memorable make-up looks, recently making a dramatic switch and choosing a shocking and beautiful eye makeup-free look at a fashion show. At the time of this writing, Lyonne was in a relationship with Saturday Night Live vet Fred Armisen and preparing to make her directorial debut on a short film. 

Leanne Taylor has one of the more shocking backstories on OITNB. She was raided in an Amish community, but the woman we meet in prison is missing some of her teeth (and now, part of a finger) thanks to her drug addiction. She usually goes without make-up and lets her dirty blonde hair hang straight.

You probably wouldn't recognize fresh-faced actress Emma Myles on the street, but it was her dedication to the transformation that earned her the role. According to BuzzFeed, Myles showed up for the audition wearing next-to-no makeup, unwashed hair, and dirty clothes. "All of the girls who were auditioning for Leanne, they were all very pretty, very clean. They had clean shirts and makeup and perfect hair," she said. "I was like, I'm either dead wrong or I'm on to something right now."

Pablo Schreiber was Litchfield's first (but definitely not its last) creepy guard. George "Pornstache" Mendez was best known for his distinctive facial hair. Otherwise, the tall guard kept his look simple, wearing his hair short and spiked. After he was sent off to serve his own sentence, he grew it into a weird mullet.

In real life, Schreiber keeps his facial hair trendy, although he has said he was sad to lose the signature facial hair when his character went to jail. The suave actor underwent another style transformation for his role as red-headed leprechaun Mad Sweeney on American Gods in 2017. Though this Tony Award nominee may play a lot of creepy and morally questionable characters on screen, he certainly seems like a stand-up guy in real life.  

Sam Healy, played by Michael Harney, is the show's emotionally troubled correctional officer and inmate counselor. Scenes with Healy typically show him slumping around, glasses at the tip of his nose as he tries and fails to understand the inmates' emotional needs. His home life with his Ukrainian mail-order bride is also a bonafide mess, and at the conclusion of Season 4, he contemplates suicide, then checks himself into a mental institution for help.

Outside of Orange Is the New Black, Harney appears to be a happy go lucky guy. Fans and followers enjoy seeing him shed his blue uniform in favor of tailored suits and other handsome ensembles on the red carpet and on the stage. In early 2017, he wrote a collection of six one-act plays called The Awful Grace of God, and he stars alongside Lady Gaga in the highly anticipated film A Star is Born, due out in 2018.

There are only two words that can accurately describe Joe Caputo: stressed and sex-crazed. Caputo, played by Nick Sandow, is Litchfield's warden. Though he's by no means perfect, he is passionate about his career and often goes to bat against his higher-ups for the facility and its residents. Caputo typically sports a tattered suit, loose-fitted tie, and reading glasses on his head. He's perhaps best known for his dated handle-bar mustache, and the remaining bits of hair he has on the series is never combed or well-kept.

In real life, Sandow is a dapper fellow who typically opts for well-trimmed facial hair, no spectacles, and nice suits. He's so polished at public appearances that it's shocking to fans of the show, and get a load of his real-life townhouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., which was featured in The New York Times. Sandow said one of his favorite parts of his stylish home is the freestanding tub where he unwinds after a long day of shooting. "I put valerian in the water, which turns it blue, and then you basically pass out," he said. These are luxuries Caputo doesn't have the time or money to enjoy.

Adrienne Moore plays the hilarious Cindy Hayes, also known as "Black Cindy." She's the kind of woman that lets it all hang out and gives it to you straight. Hayes' hair is often fashioned in two giant afro puffs, and she isn't shy about shaking what her mama gave her or hanging out in her underwear.

In real life, Moore seems equally comfortable front and center, traipsing down the red carpet with flawless and bold hair, makeup, and attire, and she shares other character traits with her Litchfield counterpart. "Cindy uses humor a lot to kind of bring a lighter mood to very difficult situations," Moore told Parade. "And I know that's something I guess I do unconsciously and using humor as a way to sort of just lighten the mood and not be so strict or serious about everything else. That can have its good and bad consequences." She also connects with her character's religious pursuits. "My parents weren't as strict as what it seems like Black Cindy's parents were, but certainly religion was a very important factor in my life."

In OITNB, Jessica Pimentel plays Maria Ruiz, a tough-as-nail Dominican inmate who's been through more than her fair share of drama and tragedy. Ruiz endures pregnancy in prison, is forced to give up the baby, rises to the top of the Dominican prison coalition, and boldly takes on an illegal prison panty business, then the drug trade. In Season 5, she is upgraded to a series regular.

In prison, Ruiz is a tough, plain Jane kind of woman, but her off-screen life is so dynamic and diverse that Rolling Stone called it a "double life." The actress moonlights as a death-metal singer for a band called Alekhine's Gun. She told Cryptic Rock, "Yes, I feel most at home in music because it's been part of my life almost as long as language has, but for me, I'm able to express myself in music in a way that I cannot with words."

Aleida Diaz, played by Elizabeth Rodriguez, won't be winning any mother of the year awards anytime soon. Rodriguez plays Daya's hard-headed, abrasive mom on the long-running series. She works hard to maintain appearances in prison and has a talent for nails, but her best/worst accessory is her hard attitude. 

When Rodriguez isn't playing a seasoned criminal with parenting issues, she transforms into a vision of glamour and charm. Though her real life and work life are worlds apart, Rodriguez empathizes with Diaz. "I always joke that she's the best mom in the world," she told Cosmopolitan. "I don't think she's a good mom, but I think she has a huge heart and she loves her children. Like anyone, you could love someone, and it doesn't mean that you're equipped or you were taught or have the patience or the love or the wherewithal to be a good parent. One has nothing to do with the other. You know? You'd think they would or that they'd magically coincide, but just because you love someone, it doesn't make you the best partner or parent or child."

Poussey Washington's most identifiable physical trait is her short hair. The beloved character, played by Samira Wiley, is best friends with Tastee and Black Cindy and seems to have a heart of gold. Her usual attire is an oversized sweatshirt and ill-fitting khaki pants.

On the flip side, Wiley is a stunner who could double as a fashion model any day. She posed for InStyle's MIMI section and discussed her signature hair. "I've had my hair short for a really long time—it's been nine years," she said. "Before I cut it, I had long hair that was everything from permed to straight. I remember when I got into Juilliard—which was just crazy to me, that I would be studying at a school like that—the choice to cut all my hair off was really symbolic for me."