There’s not a lot of fine dining on “Orange Is the New Black.” For the most part, inmates at the fictional Litchfield Penitentiary are sentenced to meals of discounted meat trimmings, canned pudding left over from Desert Storm, and steaming mush “fresh out of the microwave.”
In a chat with cast members on TODAY Wednesday, anchor Savannah Guthrie asked if the food is as gross as it looks.
“Yes, it is,” laughed star Danielle Brooks. “Yes, it is.”
Kate Mulgrew, who plays disgraced cook Red on the show, shot back in her character’s defense, “Nothing wrong with those bologna sandwiches!”
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In real life, Mulgrew knows how to put together a crowd-pleasing feast, as when she hosted some of her fellow “OITNB” cast members for Thanksgiving last year.
“I was there, and the food was excellent,” said cast member Natasha Lyonne. “I mean, it was out of this world.”
Good to know the stars are as well fed as fans, who have been binge-watching the gritty dramedy since season two hit Netflix last Friday.
“Why do you think the show resonates so much?” Guthrie asked.
“I just think that (TV viewers) have really been so inundated with all the Botoxing and what-have-you, and everybody looks the same,” Lyonne said. “I just think we’ve been seeing a lot of so many fake things for so long, and I think as a country and a species we’re probably hungry for something different.”