Emily Althaus won our hearts last season on Orange is the New Black as Maureen Kukudio, the sweet and quirky new love interest for Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Althaus about her role on the show, what it was like to join the cast, and why Orange is the New Black is so important.

We came to know and love Althaus’s character during Orange is the New Black Season 3, but that wasn’t the role she had originally planned on. “I didn’t have much heads up as to what it was gonna be. I auditioned initially to play Pennsatucky’s mom in a flashback, actually,” Althaus explained.

“It was sort of told to me, ‘listen we’re not going to use you for this, but they like you and want to write a thing for you.’ And at the time, I just had no idea what they meant, and I don’t think they even knew at that moment what it meant. We sort of started with a couple of lines in a couple of episodes.”

“I’m so lucky they kept me around,” Althaus continued. “We kind of got to play together, and kind of make this, you know, girl who’s slightly left of center and certainly a lot of fun to play, but not anything I got to overthink too much.”

In fact, Althaus had quite a bit of influence over how her character evolved. “Our writers are so great. They’re just really good at what they do, and one of the things that makes them just phenomenal is that they take performers into consideration,” she explained.

“I remember getting my first set of pages for the day, and you know, there wasn’t really a breakdown of who this character was, because it wasn’t who I had auditioned for, and there was never really much conversation before I got to start. So I remember sort of making a couple choices, and I think that combined with the writing that was already there started to form this girl who was a little different.”

Althaus said she remembered a conversation with writer Nick Jonas, where he asked her what she felt like she knew about her character. “I said based on some writing in one of the episodes, I kind of felt like she could be somewhere on the spectrum, and maybe she was autistic, but not to pin her down into any certain thing — I wasn’t sure.” Jones told her they liked that idea and wanted to keep going with it.

“There is a freedom for it to mold and change as they get to know the performers, which is really cool,” Althaus said.

Another example of that was with Uzo Aduba’s character, Suzanne, a.k.a. Crazy Eyes. “I don’t think they had any idea what a huge part she was going to play in this show. And that was a combo of what they had written and also Uzo showing up and being, you know, Uzo.”

Of course, Althaus spent quite a bit of time working with Aduba, who she spoke very highly of. “Uzo is just the most generous team partner / playmate. Often, I feel like I refer to her as like, when I’m in a scene with her, that it’s like being on a playground, for an actor anyway. It’s like that sort of openness of anything goes. And you can try anything, and you’re safe, and you know that the person opposite of you is listening and so engaged. Every good thing that comes to that woman, she deserves. I fully believe that. She’s a force.”

Althaus also spoke to one of her favorite episodes to be a part of, which was the beginning of Maureen’s relationship with Suzanne. “The whole episode leading up to where I’m kind of inviting Crazy Eyes to maybe meet me in the closet for like a little ‘sexual healing,’” she laughed as she described the episode. “There was something so poignant, and sweet, and adorable about that scene between those two characters to me that I just really loved.”

“My character’s purpose, I think sometimes, is to show more of Uzo’s character. And I love that,” Althaus continued. She described Suzanne as a character who we’ve seen love everyone around her and give so much, so now, it’s satisfying “to finally get to see what it looks like for her when someone chooses her.”

Joining the cast of Orange is the New Black was exciting for Althaus, particularly because she was already a fan of the show. Actually, Althaus began watching early on to support Danielle Brooks, who she had once done a play with.

“I remember her booking that show and thinking, oh, I just want to watch this to support her,” Althaus said. But of course, it was no time before she (like most of us) was hooked on the show. “Probably my most fangirl private moment was realizing that I was going to be bunk mates with Lori Petty,” she added.

There are plenty of reasons to love Orange is the New Black. Besides being entertaining, its subject matter is important, and its characters are diverse. “It’s empowering, I think, to women who haven’t seen their person on TV yet,” Althaus said.

“We still have such a long way to go when it comes to diversity in television, in film, in theater. I mean, honestly, it’s a little embarrassing in 2016 to have to celebrate this aspect of it. I would love for this to go without saying. But it is really cool.”

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Orange is as wildly popular as it is, and it also happens to be diverse,” she continued.

“There is more representation here than there has been in other programs, if you will [laughs]. That’s what my mom would call it. Programs. I also think there is something to be said for the subject matter of prison. Of looking at the stories of people who end up in these institutions and how it, certainly I would say 95% of the time, there’s more than meets the eye to these situations — to these very complex stories. There’s a human and a family behind every face that you see on our show. And certainly in the real prison institution of our country, there are all these people with stories to be heard.”

Althaus also spoke to one way that they were able to get involved: working with the Women’s Prison Association. “I know a lot of the girls support and go to a lot of the events that they have, where they really are involved with women who get out of prison, and now what? They need jobs, they need clothing, they need support for their families,” she explained.

“It’s a really cool thing to go to these events and see these women who are re-entering the workforce, and because of this amazing organization, getting the support that they deserve and that they need to re-acclimate into society. And that’s been an honor to witness and be a small part of.”

As for what we can look forward to on Orange is the New Black Season 4, Althaus wasn’t able to say much, but she did say there was a lot to be excited about. “I can say confidently it is nothing like any other season before it. And I think it’s just going to pack some major punches for those who have been with the show for a long time. I think it’s just going to be an exciting one to watch.”

We’re definitely excited!

Be sure to catch Emily Althaus on Orange is the New Black when it returns for Season 4 on June 17th to Netflix.