Branden Wellington Talks ‘Orange is the New Black’ Season 6 [Exclusive Interview]

Orange is the New Black is known for its limit-pushing performances and stunning storytelling. Season 6 is no departure from the grim, gruesome, and laugh out loud funny content we have come to expect from the locked-up series.

Emmy-award winning spoken word poet Branden Wellington fits right in with the diversity of talents on the Orange is the New Black cast. Wellington recurs on Orange is the New Black Season 6 as CO Jarod Young, and is a veritable jack-of-all-trades in entertainment.

The actor seamlessly flows from sports commentary to political analysis to spoken word to fitness to acting and more, often intermingling these different skill sets.

Wellington even interviewed Selenis Leyva, who plays Gloria Mendoza on Orange is the New Black, nearly three years before he joined the cast!

I had the chance to talk with Wellington about playing a CO with a moral backbone, who he is when the cameras stop rolling, why he is thankful for his Orange is the New Black family, and what makes him laugh.

Branden Wellington gushed with pride and admiration as he talked about the Orange is the New Black team. “They do a really great job at still finding a way to comically attack serious topics in our day-to-day life,” he explained.

Auditioning for the role of CO Jarod Young may have included the typical process, but Wellington knew this one was special.

“It just meant a whole lot more [to me] to get an opportunity to be seen for this show because they’ve won so many awards from casting, to Emmys to SAG awards. Just to have the opportunity to be in the room for it, was a relief for me,” he shared.

“It was amazing for me to even be considered for the audition,” Wellington added.

Wellington’s adoration for the Orange is the New Black team only grew after joining the series.

“When you come in contact with people who are supremely talented and then you find out that there’s a level of humility about them and humanity about them, that makes them even more loveable,” he gushed. “Some of the people you watch and you call them stars, they’re even better at being people.”

Wellington connects to the dark comedy on Orange is the New Black. For him, “the truth of comedy is what makes it hilarious.”

In particular, co-stars Beth Dover and Uzo Aduba make Wellington laugh. “They bring such a high level of commitment to the absurdity that you can’t help but laugh at how seriously they take something that seems to be, for the most part, incoherent ramble.” He added, “It’s that commitment and the truth of it that I think makes it hilarious.”

Wellington earned an Emmy for writing TV Dreams in a World of Sports and has a history of embracing the intersections of politics, sports, and entertainment.

So, it was very fitting for Wellington to be featured in Season 6’s fantasy inmate storyline.

Wellington has been a champion in his own fantasy football leagues. “I got into fantasy football a couple of years ago and was naturally really good at selecting who I thought would be great at getting me points. I think I won the championship in our league the first time I had ever went out,” he admitted.

But, Wellington has stopped watching the NFL because of some of the political ramifications. He also said he “felt like a big part of my childhood passed,” when Peyton Manning left the league. So, he stopped playing fantasy football as well.

These personal experiences helped Wellington connect deeply to CO Jarod Young.

“When this show had introduced the idea of fantasy inmates, it was fairly similar to fantasy football, because you’re looking at who you think has the potential to garner you the most points.”

He explained the trouble of treating people like points gathering objects. “I like to see humans, even ones who are going through rehabilitation in real life, as people who possibly deserve a second chance at life, without necessarily having other people tamper with their ability to exercise their potential trading.”

“My character, to an extent, happened to be the moral backbone of this particular situation. And so, I found myself able to connect with it a little bit more, mainly because I actually connect with it politically and personally,” he concluded.

His connection to the story is, in part, a result of his ability to remain “creatively curious,” as an artist.

Wellington called out the essential nature of these curiosity connections. “The fantasy inmate element connected to sports, it connected to prison reform, it connected to rehabilitation, it connected to freedom, it connected to humanity. And if you’re connected with a lot of different things, then you can find your inception into it. It makes it much easier to personally connect to the work.”

Wellington is impressed with how the writers and actors managed to balance the seriousness of the inmate draft with the humor. “There’s a part of it obviously where it’s dramatic because of everything that happened and how it affects the inmates’ lives. But then there’s the comedic element of it as well.”

“CO Luschek and Hellman, they’re very loose-hearted about it. And they [come up] with [creative] ways to draft inmates in ways that have never been done before. Alvarez was doing it by the book. Luschek’s like, ‘I’ve got a brand new cool way.'”

“They find a comedic way to attack a very serious topic, which is prison reform that needs to happen, as well as prison also being a place where rehabilitation isn’t happening mainly because of correctional officer oversight,” he opined.

Wellington readily admitted that being in a storyline that comically attacks a serious topic, “from the standpoint of the moral backbone was an honor.”

For Wellington, morality and justice are not just about the stories he tells on screen.

As he highlighted in his Emmy speech, “there was a quote by Jackie Robinson that said, ‘A life in itself is not important except for the impact it has on other lives.’ And Martin Luther King also said that life’s most urgent and persistent question is ‘What are we doing for others?’ That stuck with me as a person.”

“Acting, to a degree, is something we do as a profession. The difference is the cameras are rolling and everyone is watching us at work. But, who are we when the cameras stop rolling? And for me, I found pleasure in being able to entertain people and inspire fresh thought. Whether that came to poetry, acting, writing, telling jokes, or doing standup. Any element or avenue where I was able to express myself creatively. But, why do we do what we do is an important question to always reflect on in any profession.”

“I got into acting mainly because there were so many things I wanted to do as a profession that there was no way I could do them over the course of a lifetime. So, I figured if I can play these characters that would be great. But, when the cameras stop rolling, what am I doing for other people? How can I make a difference in communities?” he asked.

One way Wellington is making a difference as an actor is being willing to do the hard work of putting ego aside and confronting toxic masculinity. Wellington expressed that “as you get in touch with yourself you realize that a lot of us, to a degree, there’s a brokenness in us.” As a result, “most of the time, we don’t live up to our own standards,” he explained.

“As we approach work we want to approach it from a place of authenticity and a place of honesty. And my belief, I think that toxic masculinity is just ego covering up something else that’s underneath there that that person hasn’t yet got in touch with.”

“When you come to touch with that reality, I don’t believe there’s a need for toxic masculinity,” he concluded.

As Wellington looks forward to new projects, including starring in a pilot written by Dennis Williams, “about three friends from New York City who drop everything to launch the largest festival that the culture has ever seen,” he always keeps in mind how thankful he is for his Orange is the New Black family.

“When I started working on the show last summer, I was dealing with a lot of personal family issues. My little brother had gotten shot twice. Once in the lung and the heart and he was struggling to live, and he did.”

“But, I was filming the first couple of weeks on the show and really was finding a tough time to go home. But, I would show up every day.”

“Uzo Aduba and the producers and directors, they made me feel at home. They would always check on me and ask how I’m doing from a personal standpoint.”

“One thing I love to tell people about is that I was a fan of the show. And as you watch them, you obviously see how much talent is there. But, what I’ve always been moved by since I’ve met them and worked with them is how they’re even more talented at being human beings.”

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Make sure to check out the talent that Branden Wellington brings to his role as CO Jarod Young on Orange is the New Black Season 6. It is streaming now on Netflix.

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