@pinknews: Actress Samira Wiley - who played fan-favourite Poussey Washington in ‘Orange Is The New Black’ - says playing queer characters changed her life. “I think that Orange [is the New Black] definitely made me more comfortable with myself, made me see that it’s OK to be me. It has taught me so many things and being comfortable in my skin is one of them,” she told Queerty. Wiley has also recently said she doesn’t want to be typecast: "I don't always want to play gay characters." Speaking on the Seasoned Sessions podcast, she said: "For the very reason that [Moira in The Handmaid's Tale] was a queer woman, it was huge in my mind that I didn’t want to play her because my own rationale, my thinking at the time was I don’t want to be typecast, I don’t always want to play gay characters." Over time, Wiley reconsidered, realising how rare it is for queer actors to authentically portray queer stories on screen. "To have the privilege now in this day and age to have a black queer woman play a black queer woman is not something that our history has reflected. There has been many people who do not identify in that way telling our stories, so I really did a 180 on it and I do think that is an important part of the roles that I want to take going forward,” she added. #samirawiley #OITNB #pousseywashington #queertiktok #lgbtqia

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Monday 01 September 2025 22:00:00 GMT