Kimiko Glenn was in the midst of watching Netflix's Orange Is The New Blackwhen she was called in to audition. She was so nervous, it was all she could do to just get the words out. The next afternoon, Glenn landed the role of inmate Brook Soso, the free-spirit activist who's arrested for living in a tree to protest logging. Her first day on set started at 6 a.m. the following morning.
When Ask Me Anotherhost Ophira Eisenberg asked how she managed to get into character on such short notice, Glenn credited her own similarities with Brook's circumstances. "I took...my natural earnestness I guess, and I just went in...the experience itself sort of paralleled what her experience was, which was being thrown into an experience where I have no idea what I'm doing." In fact, Glenn, who got her start in the theater, had never done TV before. "For about three months I think people thought I was an extra," she told Eisenberg. "Eventually once I started getting a little more confident and, you know, they started writing more for me I'm like,...'I should tell people my name.'"
Recently, Glenn returned to the stage as Dawn in the Broadway musical Waitress. "[Theater is] a little more ritualistic," she noted. "You can kind of work towards mastering a performance...there are so many times I would come home after a [Orange is the New Black] shoot and be like, 'I should've done that!'"
As a kid, Glenn obsessed over pop diva Celine Dion, memorizing every lyric and riff. So naturally, for her Ask Me Another challenge, we put her Celine Dion knowledge to the test in a musical guessing game. Believe us, her heart will go on.
HIGHLIGHTS
On watching Orange is the New Blackbefore aauditioning
I was in the middle of watching the show...I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this would be such a cool show to be on!' I would never be on, I mean, look at me. I'm not badass or, you know, scary in any way.
On her first days on set for Orange is the New Black
It's weird seeing [the cast] out of costume and then go into costume and see them in life in costume. It's really jarring!
On the successful casting of Orange is the New Black
People like to see real-looking people on screen.
Heard on Kimiko Glenn: Celine Di-On It!
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