'Orange is the New Black': Madeline Brewer Talks About Tricia's Tragic Death, Will She Return in Flashbacks? [EXCLUSIVE]
Orange is the New Black kicked-off the inaugural Paley Festival in New York on Oct. 2, Enstars caught up with actress Madeline Brewer to talk about her character on the show and her tragic exit in season 1.
Brewer played the nervous, gullible, and drug-addled role of Tricia Miller in the prison drama. Brewer's character met her tragic end at the close of season 1. The actress spoke to Enstars about how she found out her character was being killed off and preparing for the dark story arc.
EN: Did you know that they were going to kill you off at the end of the season when you were reading for the part?
MB: No, actually when we started out with Tricia, she was only supposed to be in like 2 or 3 episodes. They kind of just kept writing for her. They found out by about episode 6 that she was going to bite the bullet.
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EN: What went through your mind when you found out?
MB: I found out right after filming episode 9. I did a small scene that actually got cut but I was at my home in New Jersey, at my mom's, and I looked down at my phone and I had an email from [OITNB creator] Jenji Kohan. My first instinct was like, "Oh my God! Holy Shit!" And then I was like, "Oh God, this is it." I always knew it. I had a feeling so, but she was so gracious. It was so wonderful of her to message me and say like this is why we are doing this, just so you know. So yeah, it sucks but it was an awesome way to end my run on the series, and I am unbelievably blessed.
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EN: About portraying her, this character is very vulnerable and she has this very dark story arc. How hard was it for you to get into her skin? In what ways did you prepare for it?
MB: Really, the hardest preparation was the withdrawal. The insecurity came naturally to me, because I was so insecure. It was my first gig. I was scared sh*tless. It was really nerve-wracking! So that was a lot of me, I do this a lot anyway.
The hardest part for me was definitely the drug withdrawal. Especially doing that scene with Natasha [Lyons], I've watched her on TV a thousand times, and the research I did was I asked a friend from home what withdrawal was like for him. He went through heroine withdrawal, he is one of my best friends, and he is okay and he is great and he is in school. He actually called me today. But he helped me just try and figure out what it is that happens and that was a very dark place that I had to go to, to discover what you are going through there and also when port and staff made her start selling drugs again.
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EN: Are we going to see you in any form, maybe as flashbacks in the upcoming season?
MB: I wish, but no. Tricia had her time on the show.
EN: Are you working on anything else right now?
MB: I am not on anything right now. I have a couple of things in the works. It is a very busy time for me right now - audition, audition, callback, callback, blah blah blah.
