PIPER KERMAN My hope in writing the book was not self-exposure. It was the exposure of that world. I had this debate with my husband: He was like, “It should be a movie,” and I’m like, “No, it’s perfect for a series, because people invite characters into their life, again and again, episode after episode.” Literally, every day in prison, someone new shows up and somebody leaves.

Did any of you visit prisons before starting work on the series?

KOHAN Our whole staff went to [the California Institution for Women in Chino]. It’s these low-slung buildings, and it’s hot, but you look around and you think, “It’s not so bad.” Then within 10 minutes, everyone was thinking, “Let’s get the hell out of here.” The oppression starts to bear down on you, and you realize you’re trapped. I came back from that trip yelling at all my kids, “Never go to prison!”

TAYLOR SCHILLING I have a weird history with prison. My father was an assistant district attorney, and now he’s a defense attorney. He’s been wanting to take me to prisons my whole life. It was just part of the fabric of my world, and I didn’t even put that together until shooting the second season.

NATASHA LYONNE In my experience of living, for a time, in the underbelly of society, I spent a lot of time in various holding cells. As wild as I was, when the cops show up, and suddenly you’re being handcuffed, it’s so deeply shocking and terrifying, the loss of freedom. I don’t want to make myself off as tougher than I am. I was never put in the prison system, which frankly would not have happened if I wasn’t some actress with a fancy attorney.

UZO ADUBA I actually participated in Scared Straight in my hometown. I’m from Massachusetts, where the crime rate is probably less than .0001 percent. I had taken a lot of Trident, allegedly, from the student council snack bar. It was a men’s prison, and the jumpsuits weren’t orange, they were green. Their loss of freedom was crazy to me. They can’t say anything, go anywhere.

How do you populate this fictional world? Do you start with characters and find actors to play them, or create characters for specific actors?