Taryn Manning’s shocking ‘Orange’ scene brings out Pennsatucky’s vulnerability

Reporting from NEW YORK CITY â€”  “Orange Is the New Blackâ€� has made stars of lead actress Taylor Schilling and frequent Emmy nominee Uzo Aduba, who plays the slightly off balance Crazy Eyes. And now for 37-year-old Taryn Manning, who has been working steadily in film and television for the last 15 years, the Netflix series set in a women’s prison has also brought a new level of visibility -- and acclaim. As reformed meth head Tiffany “Pennsatuckyâ€� Doggett, she was once the show’s snaggletoothed villain but has become one of its most strangely endearing characters, particularly after enduring a traumatic rape in Season 3.

Pennsatucky has really evolved, hasn’t she?

It was tough at first morally because I’m not anti-gay, I have black cousins in my family. She’s racist and anti-gay and all over the place religiously. But I have to say it was really fun to be so extreme. She’s nice now and a lot of fans come up to me and say, “Where’s Pennsatucky? We want mean Pennsatucky back.� I like to think she’s getting to be a better person inside jail.

Did [series creator] Jenji Kohan talk to you about the rape story line?

Never. I don’t think she really does that for us. It’s designed to throw us off-guard. In that sense, it’s genius. [In real life] we can’t really plan, “So you’re going to get hit by a car and lose both your legs.� I just read the episode and I was like, wow. It was sort of shocking. Even one of the producers was like, “Are you sure you want to take it in that direction? They have such chemistry.� And she was like, “Even better.� You don’t see it coming; it makes it kinda sad.

Was it difficult for you to film that scene?

Everyone’s different. I’m pretty open to “going there.� I’m like, for lack of a better word, don’t pussyfoot around. Just throw me in. I don’t need shin pads, knee pads. In real life you’re not going to get them. I guess there is that Method part of me. Rather than fight it and scream and all that, I made a choice to check out. There’s someone I know very closely. She has this obsession with Madonna and finally over time I’ve unraveled why. Basically she was raped her entire life by a family member and she’d just stare at Madonna’s picture while it was going on. I was like, that’s a different mechanism of how to cope.

Pennsatucky is surprisingly endearing and vulnerable, isn’t she?

I think she grew up in a very abusive atmosphere. She hasn’t really been exposed to a lot of intelligent people around her but I think she’s smart. She has common sense but she has been a little bit off her tree on drugs. She’s kind of evening out and it turns out there’s probably a really good person in there. People that are bullied become bullies. It’s about breaking that cycle.

There’s been quite a response to the story line.

I guess “Game of Thrones,� they [portray rape] a lot. They were comparing us, saying on our show we do rape the right way. It’s like, how do you do rape the right way? It was a little overwhelming. I’ve ended up speaking on rape and I just did not see that one coming. I don’t want to offend anybody, and I also just don’t want to speak on something I’ve never been through.

Does it feel like this show has changed your career?

Life ebbs and flows and this is like a peak. There’s also the downside that comes with a little bit more visibility. It can be tough to go outside and walk my dog and I don’t want to take a selfie. In real life I’ve always worn my hood up. Sometimes there will be someone who will turn my day around with a sincere compliment. That really moves me. Sometimes I feel like people must think, “Oh, she must be this character.� And I couldn’t be further from that. That’s the downside.

Are you a binge-watcher?

No. I have a lot of patience. I never shook my presents as a kid.

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meredith.blake @latimes.com