Taylor Schilling doesn’t make her way onto gossip sites too often, which is something she prefers. She is best known for playing Piper Chapman on Orange is the New Black, which premieres season four on June 17th. As a few writers here have mentioned, Taylor, although a seemingly very nice person, doesn’t really do much that makes for an intriguing story. I feel bad knocking a person who does their job and doesn’t want people poking around in her private life but no one is interested in a post that says “Actress Does Her Job.” It looks like Taylor might now be playing the media game, however. Kaiser reported last July, that Taylor was rumored to be dating Portlandia star Carrie Brownstein. When speaking to People recently, Taylor decided to be enigmatic rather than outright deny those rumors. Although she claimed not to be in a relationship currently, when asked specifically about Carrie, she didn’t deny anything either.
As inmate Piper Chapman on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, Taylor Schilling has had plenty of relationship issues. In real life, the 31-year-old actress says the public’s interest in her dating life has taken some getting used to.
“It’s so weird,” Schilling tells PEOPLE exclusively. “It’s so out of thin air.”
The actress says she’s currently not in a relationship, but “if I was in a relationship I was happy with, I’d love to talk about it. But I don’t like to date. It takes a lot for me to be into somebody. By default I’m a monogamist. I want a partner in crime.”
As for reports last year that linked Schilling to Portlandia star Carrie Brownstein, the actress demurs, but says “I have absolutely nothing to hide.”
I don’t think interest in a lead from major TV show’s love life is “so out of thin air.” A quick read of almost any magazine might have clued her into the public’s interest in that sort of thing. For all intents and purposes, Taylor can claim this is a denial, although since she never confirmed a relationship with Carrie, she doesn’t technically need to deny it. But there is a lot of filler in her quote so it is kind of an invitation to read between the lines. Is she implying that they’re hiding in plain sight? Did they date and go their separate ways already or are they still dating but not serious? I don’t know but she has me invested and talking about it and so well played, Taylor. Well played.
I stopped watching OITNB after the first season but for those of you who have kept up with it, here is a refresher on where the stories are and here are some hints about what’s coming. It sounds like it is going to be a very interesting season for Piper.
Photo credit: WENN Photos
Ugh, I can’t sit through Portlandia. I missed last season of OITNB — just couldn’t be bothered. I would much prefer if it centered on Poussey or Susan, but as it is, it’s getting boring.
I agree that Portlandia can be taken only in small doses. And I never made it past a couple episodes of OITNB.
I live in Portland and most of us hate it, especially now. It has contributed to the ruin of the city. Massive amounts of people have moved here in the last 3 years. No apartments for rent. And everybody’s rent is up by at least 15% in a year city wide and all the way into the burbs. And jobs here are not that easy to find.
Portlandia didn’t cause this problem but they are definitely head of advertising. No more cute hippies. They all got priced out.
Plus the show is stupid.
That’s awful. Wasn’t the initial premise that Portland was a cheap alternative to LA? Although I have to say this affluent hipster phenomenon seems to be infecting most cities, like Chicago where I live, and San Francisco and Seattle and New York where I visit pretty often. So many longtime residents who established great neighborhoods and made them so attractive have been priced out, it’s so sad.
It’s not just because of Portlandia. Yeah, people became more aware of Portland. But Californians were all well aware, and they are a big portion of who move up here, as they are getting priced out down there. It sucks but at the same time, I don’t know how we thought we would somehow remain a cool city, on the West Coast, and never face growth. That all the other cities here would but we would somehow remain unnoticed.
Same thing is happening in Vancouver, BC… affluent hipsters + huge influx of foreign investment… such a weird mix of people now and SO SO SO ridiculously expensive.
Same thing happened/is still happening in Nashville. They’re tearing down beautiful historic buildings and converting every last inch of green space into tall skinnies and mixed use monsters.
We got the hell out of dodge — sold our house in the city and moved to the country an hour away. Couldn’t be happier.
Part of me wonders if she is playing coy for Carrie’s benefit more so than her own. Carrie was outed about her relationship with a bandmate in a magazine article back in the 90s before they had even come out to their families. It seems like she has always kept her relationships quiet and given that background, I can understand why. So maybe Taylor is just protecting Carrie’s privacy? In any case, this reads to me like a half acknowledgement that they dated but that they may no longer be together.
Yeah, this is what I was thinking as well. I read Carrie’s autobiography, and she seems to suffer from anxiety, too, so it would make sense why she wouldn’t necessarily want the microscope pointed directly at her love life.
I love Portlandia. Like Hecate, I stopped watching OITNB after Season 1…not because I hated it, but because it wasn’t interesting enough for me to go back to. Maybe someday. This pairing would be interesting…Carrie seems hilarious and they make an attractive couple.
I, too, stopped watching after the first season. Anyone keep going and recommend it? IDK, to me, at the end of season 1, it felt like there were very few places for the story to go, and I suspected it would turn into rehash city ( kinda like: Bates and Anna are entangled with the police, AGAIN!?). Plus, I REALLY LOATHED Piper’s character.
I kept watching and recommend it. Piper is loathsome and thankfully as the seasons progress you get less of her and more of the other women’s back stories. That’s what’s interesting to me and there are some phenomenal actors in the show. I think the show, while it has its problems (like lesbian sex for voyeurism between very straight looking white women) it is still doing good work. Institutionalized women are among the most marginalized and silenced voices. You see how racism and poverty created situations where many of the characters didn’t have good choices and did the best they could. The show finally discusses the privatization of the prison system in the US which is a long overdue conversation in mainstream conversation although Scholars like Angela Davis have been discussing it for decades. It’s looking at how women form networks of kinship to survive in a very dehumanizing environment. It looks at how race and privilege affect which bodies are locked up. I don’t see any other show doing this in a way that doesn’t fetishize masculinity and violence. Frankly, I’d rather watch this show which is much closer to depicting real women and their lives than a show like Girls or SITC.
I don’t think Taylor is playing anybody. Gay or not a lot of people don’t talk about their relationships. It doesn’t mean they are seeking attention.
“I don’t think interest in a lead from major TV show’s love life is ‘so out of thin air.'”
I can see how it would seem like that from her POV.
She’s a good actress but I can’t stand her character.
I despise Piper, so I watch on and off, the stories that don’t revolve around her.
This is a favorite thread on L Chat (those bitches are crazy over there). Anyway, the rumor about these two is that it happened for a few months and it has been long over, like they seem to not even be friends anymore. Carrie is very honest in saying that she sucks in relationships. Now the rumor is is that Taylor isn’t over it and she is currently in rehab in Canada. I believe part of all this- I believe they dated and I believe they have been over for a while and I believe Carrie has returned to her hipster/rock n roll lifestyle sans Taylor and Taylor is currently trying to build a solid career so when OITNB ends it run, she will have a new project she can immerse herself in.
haha. I read L Chat sometimes. They are hardcore about tracking gossip!
Superficial comment, I think Taylor is so pretty. I love both dresses in these photos, she has great style.
They dated for 3 months or so in 2014 then picked it back up for 6-7 months in 2015. They seem to have gone their separate ways now. There is stuff related to their relationship on both of their Instagrams.
I love OITNB, but her character is actually the least interesting part of the show if you ask me.
Piper is so annoying. I wish they were able to kill her off.
Hasn’t she been 31 for about five years?
I would love to actually read an interview where a so called celeb or
Actor actually answered questions honestly (vs from their pr agency script) and had something interesting to say. The whole coy thing is boring, chicken, and yet again boring. I do love her hair color tho. Otherwise I lost interest in “orange” once ruby rose joined. She can’t act her way out of a paper bag.
And yes she’s been 31 for ages….she kind
And yes she’s been 31 for ages….she kind of looks Like Sarah paulsen with less plastic surgery – at least thus far….
Love her dress in the first picture.
She’s so beautiful in that picture in the red dress!