--- description: 'Essence' put the starts of 'Orange is the New Black' on the cover, and the stars had a lot to say about learning to love yourself. title: 'OITNB' Stars Talk Body Image on the Cover of Essence image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt087686521282265d/698853030b72e300a66e44f4/essence-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Orange Is the New Black_ Stars Talk Body Image on the Cover of _Essence_  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 4, 2015 3:05 PM CUT  Essence  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 4, 2015 3:05 PM CUT 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_](http://www.essence.com/2015/06/03/orange-new-black-stars-essence-july-cover "undefined"). “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. \[[_Essence_](http://www.essence.com/2015/06/03/orange-new-black-stars-essence-july-cover "undefined")\] **Read Next:**[ _Laverne Cox Says Transgender People Need More Than Just Media Visibility_](http://time.com/3835554/laverne-cox-time-people-party-transgender/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3908964/orange-is-the-new-black-essence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3908964/orange-is-the-new-black-essence/"},"headline":"Orange Is the New Black Stars Talk Body Image on the Cover of Essence","datePublished":"2015-06-04T15:05:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:55:08.497Z","description":"\"This is intense, and it's hard\"","url":"https://time.com/3908964/orange-is-the-new-black-essence/","keywords":["Television","Orange Is the New Black","laverne cox"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt087686521282265d/698853030b72e300a66e44f4/essence-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt087686521282265d/698853030b72e300a66e44f4/essence-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"essence cover","caption":"essence cover","creditText":"Essence","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3908964/orange-is-the-new-black-essence/","name":"Orange Is the New Black Stars Talk Body Image on the Cover of Essence"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Orange Is The New Black: What We Want To Know In Season 3","description":"Orange Is The New Black: What We Want To Know In Season 3","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oWfp7G0A/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-11T22:14:11.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oWfp7G0A.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3908964/orange-is-the-new-black-essence/","duration":"PT52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3908964/orange-is-the-new-black-essence/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Emma Watson - He For She - Speech","description":"Emma Watson -He For She- Speech","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0clamGjK/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-22T11:27:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0clamGjK.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3908964/orange-is-the-new-black-essence/","duration":"PT23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3908964/orange-is-the-new-black-essence/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```