While many of us are still mourning the loss of the loveable Poussey Washington on Orange Is The New Black, the actor who plays her has shared a big moment in her own fascinating story arc.
Samira Wiley, 29, announced her engagement to Orange Is The New Black writer and producer, Lauren Morelli, on Tuesday.
An emotional Wiley, who appears to be crying tears of happiness, posted a photo of her ring and her beaming fiancée on Instagram with a one word caption that simply read: ‘Yes.’
A photo posted by Samira Wiley (@whododatlikedat) on
Morelli and Wiley began dating in 2014, after Morelli split from her husband of two years. In a powerful essay for Identities.Mic, the 33-year-old wrote that she discovered she was gay in her first few days on set for Orange Is The New Black, just five months after her wedding.
“It wasn’t so much one thing, but the sum of many small details: how uncomfortable I felt around groups of lesbians or how I considered myself (shrug) a ‘not very sexual person,'” she said.
“When considered alone, these seemed like little quirks that made me me. Wanting to read a book instead of have sex is a perfectly reasonable preference to have, right?
“But on set, these small moments came into sharp relief, and I found myself answering to an endless stream of cast members who peppered me with questions like a gaggle of kindergarteners curious about their new teacher. ‘Are you dating anyone?’ ‘You’re married?’ ‘To a man?’ ‘But you used to kiss girls?’ ‘Do you miss it?’
A photo posted by Lauren Morelli (@lomorelli) on
“I was finally forced to consider a question that had never, ever occurred to me before: ‘Holy s–t, am I gay?'”
For Morelli, coming to terms with her sexuality on the set of such a progressive show was “liberating.”
“I went through it all on set: I fell in love with a woman, and I watched my life play out on screen…It feels liberating and appropriate to live my life in front of you.”
It’s a complex and unique story, but one thing is certain: No reasonable person can look at those two faces, full of excitement, joy, and affection, and say that their love is any less worthy than anyone else’s.
Top Comments
I wonder how the man she was married to feels to have been cheated on?