Former ‘Orange is the New Black’ Star Talks Returning to the Series

Samira Wiley, who portrays Poussey Washington on Orange Is the New Black, is speaking out about her emotions after returning to the wildly popular Netflix series for the show’s fifth season.

While talking to E! News, the 30-year-old actress said that reprising her role was like “going home.”

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“Honestly, it was like going home,” she said. “I feel so at home on that set. It is something that will never be able to be duplicated. Everyone on that set, including the producers and writers, feel like family. That job gave me my life as an actor. I would not be able to be where I am today without it. It was great to be able to go back and step into that character one more time, Poussey, who I feel so close to. I feel like she is another person from me. I miss her. To be able to do that was like a homecoming.”

After starring in Orange, Wiley was actually nominated for an Emmy award for her work in the debut season of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

“I honestly thought it’d be for Orange Is the New Black season four. I am just so happy that I was considered for both. Ever since there has been buzz about and talk about it, I’ve been so grateful for that. Didn’t even think it would come to this, but it’s such a show that people have embraced in a way we never thought would happen. Again, I’m just overjoyed and can’t even speak in complete sentences right now.”

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Wiley was totally surprised when she learned of her Emmy nomination.

“I totally didn’t realize what was going on. My agent called me. I sort of missed the beginning part. I saw that the show got nominated and that, Elisabeth Moss, got nominated and I was just so overjoyed for that,” she said.

“Then my agent called me, and I was like, ‘What are you calling me for?’ and he was like, ‘For you getting nominated!’ Ever since that moment, I have just been overjoyed and my phone has been inundated with text messages and phone calls of love and congratulations. I’m just over the moon.”