Netflix

Major spoiler ahead.

Orange Is the New Black tackled Black Lives Matter in its fourth season with a shocking murder that will change the dynamics of the show forever: In the penultimate episode, the prisoners peacefully protest their inhumane treatment at the hands of the new guards and Poussey ends up on the cafeteria floor with Officer Baxter Bayley's knee in her back, which squeezes the air out of her lungs until she's dead. The scene hauntingly evokes images of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, and the fact that it's Bayley, the "nice" guard, who kills Poussey has caused some viewers to question the messaging. Does it imply that we should sympathize with white men who kill unarmed people of color? (Isn't it enough that they kill with impunity?) Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey, doesn't see it that way. Cosmopolitan.com spoke to her about the devastating and controversial storyline, and why she's happy to be the vessel for any conversation Poussey's death has sparked.

I'm so sad that Poussey is gone. Are you tired of talking about this yet?

No. It's such a powerful story that me and the show are trying to tell, and I'm happy to have the conversation with people. It's a conversation that needs to be had. I knew that people were going to be so affected.

Have you watched the whole season yet?

No. I can't. Not yet.

You've said you knew for a year that your character was going to be killed. Did that make shooting episode 12 any easier?

There was so much anticipation on my part. And also, it was a big responsibility. I knew what we were trying to accomplish and to be in the position of like, "OK, here it is, don't mess up" — it felt like a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. And not just mine — my entire cast and everyone who was producing the show. So it was difficult, but I'm proud of what we did and I felt like everyone on that day … we were all holding each other's hands, literally and figuratively.

What were some of the challenges of shooting that particular scene?

There'd never been that many people on set at once — [not] in a very, very, very long time, I guess since season one. Our set is such a boisterous, loud, wonderful, fun, funny set, and it really had to shift into something else that day. It was a little more quiet that day. A little more somber. But we had a great director [Matt Weiner], a great writer of the episode [Lauren Morelli, who Samira is dating in real life], and everyone had the same goal. So I'm proud of what we did.

Have fans been approaching you about it yet?

I mean, fans approach me all the time. I actually haven't had anyone say anything about this — well, no, today actually, somebody just said, "I'm so sad it happened," or something like that. But mainly, it's online. Online is like the Wild West right now.

Have any of the fans, like, said, "Oh my god, we're never watching this show again because you're gone"?

Oh, yeah, a lot of fans have said that. I want them to be OK. Let them know that the show's still gonna be good without me. I'm gonna watch it. So if you're not watching it, then I'm gonna watch it without you.

It was a little more quiet that day. A little more somber.

Who would you say took the news the hardest?

I don't know if I can necessarily qualify other people's experiences because everyone really took it hard. I've had a lot of conversations with Selenis Leyva, who plays Gloria. I remember she took it pretty hard. I don't think Uzo even really believed me when I first told her. But it's not easy news, you know? It's not easy news from when I first found out. And as we see, it's not easy news for the viewers of the show. But I think those are exactly the feelings that the show is trying to invoke, is that this isn't easy and it's real life and we have to deal with it.

Do you think that the story would have had less of an impact had Humphrey, the obviously cruel guard, killed Poussey?

I don't think it would have less of an impact. I don't. I think the feelings would be less complicated. It would be more cut and dry. I think it would be easier, and probably even [have inspired] more hatred, if it had happened that way. But I think in an ingenious way, the writing staff has made it complicated, as I say, just like life is. It's not black-and-white; [it's] all these different shades of gray, which is exactly what life is. And I feel like it's our responsibility as artists to reflect what life is, and to try to bring truth to our stories. I definitely was surprised when I found out it was [Bayley who kills Poussey]; the logical conclusion I would have made is that Humphrey would probably have done it. But I think it's really, really smart to have Bayley be the perp.

I feel like it's our responsibility as artists to reflect what life is, and to try to bring truth to our stories.

What's something you were hoping would happen to your character that you're sad you aren't able to see happen or to play?

Get out of prison. Get out of prison, start a life. I think that was the one thing about Poussey, is you could really see that she did have a future. And now we don't get to see that.

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