A Field Guide To Samira Wiley

After a few days spent binging on "Orange is the New Black" and its many naked stars, we've had time to think through all the twists and turns and figure out who, exactly, is our biggest crush of the season. While there are many strong contenders – newcomer Kimiko Glenn is adorable, and Lorraine Toussaint is intimidatingly sexy – we have to give vote to Samira "Poussey Washington" Wiley, who stole our hearts in season one and then locked them away with her super sexy season two nude scene.

For those not in the know (however you managed to pull that off), Wiley plays a troubled young woman who lands in jail after a youth spent bouncing around the globe and getting her poor heart broken after her girlfriend's homophobic dad puts the kibosh on her relationship. Wiley's performance is so compelling, you could be forgiven for thinking she'd actually lived a similar life. In truth, Samira spent her youth stateside in Washington, DC, the daughter of the pastor and assistant pastor of the Covenant Baptist Church. Like many successful thespians, she was attracted to the craft at an early age, attending a performing arts high school (Duke Ellington School of the Arts in DC), and making plans to pursue acting as an adult as well. After graduating high school, she made her way to New York City to attend Juilliard, a move that set her on the path to her role in the best lady prison show in the internet.

In addition to providing Wiley with a world class education in acting and the performing arts, Juilliard also did her the favor of putting her in touch with Marco Ramirez and Danielle Brooks, friends who went on to write and star in "Orange is the New Black," respectively. (You may know Brooks better as Taystee, best friend to Wiley's Poussey.) Ramirez tipped Wiley off to the show before auditions even started; when she discovered that Brooks had been cast as Taystee, the two ran lines together to help Wiley prepare for her audition. Obviously, her hard work paid off: and as a result, Wiley gets to pal around on set with her real life best friend, and we get to watch her kick ass and make out with ladies in some very sensual scenes. (We'd call that a win-win.)

Wiley's lucky break ended up changing her life in more ways than one, launching her from near obscurity to stardom in a tiny amount of time. As she told WetPaint shortly after the release of the show's first season:

For me and some of the other girls on the show, because it all happened at once, it was like one week our life was one way, and now… I didn’t even have a Twitter account until a couple weeks ago, and I all of a sudden have almost 2,000 followers! It’s a lot to happen all at once. But I think all the girls on the show are in a place where we’re ready for that, we’re ready to receive it, and we’re just so happy that [the show's] being received so well.

(For those keeping count, Wiley now has over 47k Twitter followers – and almost 90k on Instagram.)

Of course, while the fame is nice, Wiley's been even more excited to be able to connect with a fantastic group of fellow actors (many of whom are also going through the sudden rise to fame that she is): 

[I appreciate] having Danielle and all these great women on the show who are not big stars before this and have done mainly theater work and are just working actors in New York. Being able to have this big community where we can sit down and have brunch together and talk about the changes that are happening in our lives and have a support system within our cast. That really is what’s the most amazing part.

And from what we hear, they really are like a family:

It feels like a family. When I go to work, I feel safe. Everyone is on my side and we’re all there working towards one common goal. It’s wonderful that the response has reflected the energy and the environment that we have with each other.

Of course, knowing the cast and crew are one big  family is nice, but we've still got one question about Samira that's a little more naughty (and if Google is any indication, it's the biggest question the rest of the world has, too): what team does Samira pitch for when she's not engaged in onscreen Sapphism? Is she straight? Is she gay? Is she somewhere in between? We haven't been able to find a definitive answer to the question, but we do know that she tweeted last fall that she was looking for a boo – and has posted some mighty adorable photos online to show the world just how boo-worthy she is. We're not sure if she's still on the hunt... but we certainly wouldn't mind keeping her warm at night.