Gold Standard: Uzo Aduba: ‘Buckle up’ for new ‘Orange Is the New Black’ [video]

There’s no shortage of interesting characters populating the women’s prison in the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” but Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren, menacing and endearing (often at the same time), probably wins the prize for originality.

Actress Uzo Aduba, who plays Suzanne, stopped by The Times’ office to talk about the show, which will be dropping all 13 episodes of its second season on June 6. “You better buckle up,” Aduba tells us.

The breakout actress also discussed the pleasures in playing a character who possesses both a childlike purity and the ability to pull off a Shakespearean monologue, as well as the fun she and her cast mates have on set and, as it turns out, on vacation together.

And, yes, we talked about the infamous Season 1 scene in which Suzanne, hopelessly infatuated with Piper (Taylor Schilling), marked her territory in a most unexpected way. (You’ll have to watch to see how Aduba’s mother reacted ... we can’t put it into words here.)

Aduba originally auditioned for the role of Janae on “Orange.” A month later, her agent called and gave her the old good-news, bad-news routine.

Aduba didn’t win the role she sought, but the producers wanted her for Crazy Eyes.

“What in my audition would make someone think I’d be right for a part called Crazy Eyes?” Aduba said she thought.

She never did quite find out the answer. But she’s understandably happy she won the role.

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