Orange Is the New Black Stars Talk Body Image on the Cover of Essence

To demonstrate “sexy at every size,” Essence put the stars of hit Netflix show Orange Is the New Black on the cover, and the stars had a lot to say about body image.

Laverne Cox, a transgender activist and actress who portrays Sophia on the show, talked about how she sets aside time to actively learn to accept her body. “This is intense, and it’s hard,” she told Essence. “What I’ve been doing is looking in the mirror and listing all the things I have an issue with and then saying, ‘This is beautiful.’ I just go down the list and tell myself, ‘You have to accept that this is you today.’ I make time to do this.”

Uzo Aduba, better known as Crazy Eyes on the show, explained how she came to love her now-iconic gap-toothed smile. “For the majority of my first 18 years, I hated my gap,” she said. “My mom would tell me that in Nigeria, it’s a sign of beauty. I was like, ‘We’re in Massachusetts.’ Today there’s not a selfie or personal photo I take where I’m not smiling wide. It sometimes feels as if I’m making up for lost smiles.”

Orange is the New Black comes back for its third season on June 12.

[Essence]

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