Taylor Schilling: Expect a ‘tense’ season four of ‘Orange is the New Black’

If spoilers and trailers have taught us anything it’s that something intensely bad is brewing at Litchfield Penitentiary as Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black” enters season four.

“It gets more and more tense. Tensions are rising,” says star Taylor Schilling. “Things are getting worse.”

Schilling plays Piper Chapman, a young woman jailed for smuggling drug money across the border. In the season four trailer, we see Chapman — following a unionized revolt by fellow inmates she’s recruited/manipulated into a surprisingly lucrative underground used panty selling scheme —feeling the wrath of her betrayals, both physically and emotionally. While Schilling is well aware her character has her fair share of haters, she still feels that Piper is a sort of anti-hero.

“I think there’s something heroic in trying to be yourself. She’s trying that desperately,” explains Schilling. “She’s definitely trying to figure out who she is, so I think I appreciate her a real lot.”

Dressed in a long, flowy white blouse and skirt (apparently orangeisn’tthe new black) Schilling appeared at the original Origins storefront in Cambridge’s Harvard Square last week alongside founder William Lauder. The natural skincare and cosmetic company was unveiling a new immersive, exploratory shopping concept and Schilling is an ambassador for the company.

The 31-year-old grew up in Boston’s suburb of Wayland, and says the store was a part of the earliest days of her skincare regime. “I have to say, Origins has sort of grown up with me. I remember coming to this store when I was like 12, as soon as we could get on the train,” she says. “It is really neat that it’s a brand I’ve been with since I was very young.”

Citing Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Mega-Defense Advanced Daily UV Defender SPF 45 as her favorite of the company’s products, Schilling adds that she’s “really interested in products that do their best to take care of the planet, as well as my skin. I really appreciate them and their work they do.”

Schilling says she’s definitely hoping her character makes her way out of prison someday. And with a burgeoning film career, it may be sooner rather than later.

“I just finished two films over the break. One is with the Duplass Brothers, and another is a movie called The Titan, with Sam Worthington and Tom Wilkinson,” she said. “It’s a really exciting time.”

When she’s stuck in her own house and not the big, Schilling loves a good binge-watching session like the rest of her fans. Though she doesn’t watch a ton of TV, she loves fellow Netflix original, “House of Cards,” and HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” — and of course: “I love Bob’s Burgers!”