OITNB's Beth Dover on Her Character's Backstory
This interview discusses the first six episodes of season five of Orange Is the New Black. It contains mild spoilers.
When Beth Dover was cast in a small role on Orange Is the New Black in its third season, she assumed the handful of lines she spoke in her scene would be the end of her time on the show. But her character, Linda, became a recurring one in season four, functioning as Warden Caputo's partner in crime in the for-profit prison business, and his love interest too. As season five begins, Linda is trapped in Litchfield as a riot rages inside and things only get wilder from there. Cosmopolitan.com spoke with Beth Dover about Linda and Caputo's love story, learning about her character's backstory, and filming OITNB just after giving birth.
You started out on the series with a really small role.
Yeah! I auditioned in Los Angeles, which is where I live, and I honestly thought I was going to be in one episode - season three, episode eight. I had one scene and I was so excited about it because I was a huge fan of Orange. Season four came along and I was like - oh, I'm in all of these episodes?!
I do love how much Jenji Kohan [the creator] thinks ahead in terms of the show's storylines.
Yeah. I never in a million years thought I was coming back. A million. And they were so quiet about it! I didn't know that I would start dating Caputo until well into season four. I thought, "Oh, we have this little flirtation," and then I was dating him! It was great, all of it unfolding. He makes poor choices in his romantic relationships, poor guy, and I think that's kind of fun to watch. Maybe that's terrible to say, but it's true.
What do you think Linda sees in Caputo?
I think she sees a guy who wants to do right by the prisoners, but also wants to rise up and become successful in his own right, and be proud of himself in his own right. She likes that. And she also feels like she can maybe control him a little bit. He can be her pawn in the prison and they can both rise up together. And I think they have a sexual chemistry.
Yes! Improbably, almost. But yes.
Exactly. Improbable but undeniable ... Like, she pulls a gun on Crystal Burset [Sophia's wife], and Caputo's horrified by it but also aroused by it.
I know you don't typically know about your character's backstory on OITNB until you read the script but did you imagine anything to fill in the gaps before this season?
I imagined her to be a rule follower, a person who did what her parents wanted her to do - go to college, do the right thing, marry the right guy. She probably had a list for herself at 15 of all the things she needed to do and the time frame she was going to do them in, and she's probably still following that list. But then I'd get the scripts on a weekly basis and I'd be surprised at what I'd do! I'd think, "God, Linda's just a total sociopath!" And then the next week, I'd think that she was just a person who really wanted to rise up the corporate ladder. She's just ambitious and kind of clueless. And then the next week, I'd think she was a sociopath again. It's kind of a strange position to be playing this character and not quite know who she is. I'm learning along with everyone.
Right! You probably weren't ever expecting you'd play a sorority girl [in Linda's backstory episode].
It was really fun. And also kind of ridiculous, because I'm not 19! I had to get over my - I had just had a baby. I was five months postpartum when I was having to be a sorority girl; I was breastfeeding and pumping in my trailer! It was a ridiculous moment in my life where I was like, "Really? This is the time where I have to wear this outfit? OK. All right. I'm just going to go for it."
What was it like to read that script for the first time?
Shocking! Really shocking. But also, it exemplifies what I was thinking about Linda to begin with, which is that she's a survivor and she'll do whatever it takes to survive in a situation. With the sorority sister dying, and the cover-up, these lies that I'm telling, I'm almost telling myself.
Totally - when Linda starts to explain the sorority sister's death to the policeman, you can almost see her start to believe herself.
Right. Linda's trying to protect herself, but by the end of that conversation, she actually believes that her sorority sister did have a drinking problem or was depressed.
Last season, Linda and Caputo were off doing their own thing, but this season she - and you as a performer - are thrust into the prison itself. What was it like to step into that space?
It was crazy because I felt like I was on a different show than I was on in season four. My first day on set, it was like, "Oh my gosh! There's the cafeteria! There's the set!" I was so excited to be there because not only had I not worked on it, I hadn't even seen it. And I hadn't worked with any of the women. It was like the first day of school and I was nervous. But getting to meet all of these rad women was one of the best parts of being on this show.
We hung out off the set too. We genuinely like each other. It's such an amazing group of people to work with - an amazing group of women. And it's not a homogenous group. It's women from all different - everything. Old, young, different persuasions, different colors, different groups. I just felt so inspired to be there, especially during this time and in this political climate.
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