'Orange is the New Black' Memoirist Piper Kerman Talks Differences Between Netflix Series & Book [EXCLUSIVE]
Enstars caught up with Piper Kerman, the author of Orange is the New Black, to talk about the Netflix adaptation of her memoir and the much-discussed differences between the two.
As can be the case with many film or television adaptations of works of literature, authors seek to protect the rights of how their stories are translated on screen. In the case of Orange is the New Black, which takes a fair amount of liberty with the material and striking diversions from the book, Kerman was on board from the beginning with the vision of the show's creator, Jenji Kohan.
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"I entrusted this story to Jenji Kohan to adapt the book into a series," she said. "Jenji is very brilliant and very talented so I knew that it was in exceptionally good hands. I am a consultant on the show and what that means is that my role is really to answer questions."
The author made herself available to answer any questions the show's writers might have. She recalled her first time meeting Kohan and being bombarded with a "thousand questions."
"She has an inquiry or a curiosity to inform the world that she is creating which I think is incredibly important," she said about Kohan.
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Kerman suggested that the most crucial difference between the book and the show were rooted in the storylines. Her character's name is changed to Piper Chapman and she is portrayed by Taylor Schilling on the show. One of the major digressions from Kerman's story in the book is that her character hooks up with her ex-lover, played by Laura Prepon, in prison.
She also went on to credit the producers of the show for working exceptionally hard to make Litchfield prison "a real prison." She illustrated her point by talking about her recent visit to a women's prison in Ohio.
"I was visiting some programs that they have there. The warden of the women's prison which incarcerates over 25,000 women in Ohio, she and her staff said that this is the most realistic show about prison that has ever been on television," she said.
While the show's worked off of the material in her book, a great amount of additional research went in to making the story convincing and also sketching out certain character arcs.
"For example Laverne Cox's character, who is transgendered, they had former transgendered prisoners come in and talk to the writers," she said.
When asked about how it felt seeing her life portrayed -- with a whole lot of fictional intervention -- on television, Kerman replied that it was mostly a great experience.
"People just really love the show and they are excited and many folks love both the show and the book and they obviously remark on the differences between them, but it is a different experience," she said.
Kerman was tight-lipped when prodded about the second season of the show and what fans can expect from it: "I can't say a word, other than it is going to be really great."
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