EXCLUSIVE: ‘OITNB’ Star Danielle Brooks Says She Was Shocked When She Received the Final Season Scripts

The ladies of Orange Is the New Black are coming up on their last season, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty more surprises in store.

Why? Well, Danielle Brooks, who plays Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson in the series, tells PureWow season seven left her mind-blown.

The 29-year-old SAG award winner chatted with PureWow thanks to her partnership with the Wells Fargo Propel Card (who doesn’t love 3x the points?) about all things Orange Is the New Black. Suffice it to say, we can’t wait to see those orange jumpsuits again.

When we asked if she could speak to what season seven has in store for her character, Brooks laughed a hearty belly-laugh and said, “Nope.”  

What she could talk about, however, was how she felt after reading the season premiere script and subsequent episodes: “I was actually shocked when I was receiving the scripts and reading them,” Brooks explained. “I was shocked at how much further they could push these characters, especially Taystee. My mind was blown.”

How far does the next season push Taystee? As Brooks explains, so far that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to rise to the occasion.

“In season six, I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this,’ and then we get into season seven and I'm like, ‘I really don’t know how I’m going to act this out,’” Brooks admitted.

In the end, she says it all came together.  “We did it and I think people are gonna leave satisfied. I think they’re going to feel full and feel like we’ve answered all the questions that they wanted answered. I think people will still leave feeling hopeful for Taystee at the end of the day.” That’s music to our ears.  

The final season of Orange Is the New Black premieres on Netflix later this year.