Marsha Stephanie Blake Bio, Age, Husband, When They See Us

Marsha Stephanie Blake Biography

Marsha Stephanie Blake is an American actress who is best known for portraying Linda McCray in When They See Us and Berdie Rogers in Orange is the New Black.

Marsha began acting while in college. She had taken an acting class just for something fun to do and then ended up doing a play called “Blues For Mr. Charlie” by James Baldwin.

They needed people to be in “black town” because there were hardly any black people at Dartmouth. After that, she kept doing plays.

Marsha Stephanie Blake Age

Marsha has not revealed her age yet. She, however, celebrates her birthday every May 3rd.

Marsha Stephanie Blake Husband

Marsha is married to Gregory Costanzo, who is a photographer. The couple has been married for almost a decade. They got married in 2009’s Independence Day.

Marsha and her husband have not revealed details of how they met or when they began dating. The couple has two daughters.

Marsha Stephanie Blake Ethnicity

Marsha is of Jamaican American ethnicity.

Marsha Stephanie Blake  Orange is the New Black

In the American comedy-drama web television series, Orange is the New Black, Marsha portrayed Berdie Rogers.

Berdie Rogers is a former counselor at Litchfield Penitentiary. Berdie makes her first appearance in Season Three. She has not returned or been heard from after her suspension in season 3.

She has a Masters degree in Psychology, and frequently reminds Sam Healy of this, as he disapproves of her appointment as a counselor.

She is a caring counselor who looks out for the inmates and tries her best to get them all to open up about their feelings; a task which she is generally successful in, much to Healy’s dismay.

Marsha Stephanie Blake When They See Us

In the American drama web television miniseries, When They See Us, Marsha portrayed, Linda McCray. Linda is the mother of Antron McCray.

When They See Us trailer:

 Marsha Stephanie Blake Instagram

 

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#bts at #whentheyseeus . #johnleguizamo is so great at playing a heartbroken and struggling Raymond Santana Sr, but also great was how effortlessly he made us laugh off-camera. And sometimes we needed a good laugh.

A post shared by Marsha Stephanie Blake (@marshastephanieblake) on Jun 2, 2019 at 7:56pm PDT

Marsha Stephanie Blake Interview

Source: http://popculturedaily.guru

What is your background with acting?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: I only started acting in college. I was pre-med, took an acting class for something fun to do, and then ended up doing a play called “Blues For Mr. Charlie” by James Baldwin because they didn’t have enough black people in the theatre department at Dartmouth to be in Blacktown. And after that I just kept doing plays.

What was your first audition? How did it go?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: I guess my first audition was for that James Baldwin play. In college. And I did well I guess, I got the part. I had one line.

How did you get the part on Orange Is the New Black?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: I auditioned for Orange a couple of times before I landed the role of Berdie Rogers. The first two times were for inmates. And then this role came up and Jen Euston- the best casting director ever who also cast me in Girls – called me in again and of course I thought it was going to be a rejection.

But after the initial audition, they called back saying they wanted to see more of me in this role, but in a different scene. Then they sent me the scene and asked if I could come back in that day. And I said I couldn’t come back in, I didn’t have a babysitter. And then they said, “put yourself on tape and we’ll see.”

Well, I don’t know if you know about taped auditions, or recorded auditions, but the probability of you being booked off of one is very unlikely. In fact, common lore is that the people in charge of casting might not even have time or care to watch your recording.

Besides, I made quite possibly the worst quality audition tape I’ve ever made because my children were screaming in the background and a friend who’s actually a nurse and not in the entertainment industry at all, recorded it for me.

And she is not exactly technically savvy and neither am I. And after I did it, I remember calling my husband and crying and telling him that I thought I’d wasted my entire afternoon recording this horrible audition.

But I sent it off because I couldn’t redo it and I was feeling overwhelmed. And wouldn’t you know, they liked the recording, bless them, and I got the part.

What do you think of the response that fans have had towards Orange Is the New Black this season?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: I really try not to read too much about what people say about any of the shows I’m in. Because there’s a saying that if you believe all the good things that they say, then you also have to believe all the bad things.

And honestly that could just wreck your afternoon, reading some of these comments on Twitter or what have you. I think sometimes people don’t even connect that there is a real person behind the character, a real person whose real feelings might get hurt.

Having said that, Orange is one of those shows that has such a great reputation that I have only gotten positive comments from anything I’ve accidentally read, or people I’ve run into on the street. People absolutely love the show. It’s such an honor and such a relief to be on a show that people are so excited about.

How do you think your character “Berdie” has transformed over this season?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: Berdie goes from wide-eyed and perky (as everyone calls her), to I think a little disillusioned and disappointed. But there’s definitely a part of her that retains hope and she is driven by something- we don’t know what yet- to make a difference in these women’s lives.

What was your favorite moment of season three?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: The scene I have with all the women in the drama class, that first scene, was such a fun day. And every time Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” (Uzo) said “The moon,” we would all die laughing.

The first few times I don’t even think it was usable because we just cracked up and got the giggles. And there were a few moments in that scene when everybody just lost it.

Also, it was a great way to be introduced to a good number of all the awesome women in the show. Not just the main characters that you guys see and love, but all the background women too, who have no lines. It’s a great group.

You’re getting major buzz for your performance during episode three? I would say this is a big moment for your character. Why do you think that is such a pivotal moment for your character?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: Major buzz is nice. I think it was time that one of the counselors, a female, showed some genuine concern for the mental health of the inmates.

And I think a lot of people relate to that. And you know, Jenji is such a brilliant creator/writer that she knew, I think, that in order for all the women to relate to Berdie, Berdie probably had to be a person of color, and female, and close in age to most of the women.

What is it like working with the cast members on Orange Is the New Black?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: As I said before, it is an honor to be with these talented people, to be welcomed into the Orange family. There are some people I knew before from the theater scene, (Danielle Brooks who plays Taystee and Elizabeth Rodriguez who plays Aleida, Michael Chernus who plays Piper’s brother, Maria Dizzia who plays Polly is one of my best friends) and it was so nice to have something in common with them.

It was such a pleasure to go to work every day, to sit and talk with my scene partners outside of the scenes and to get to play with them within the scene work . But other than that, down to the crewmembers, I met some of the coolest people in the business.

Personally, what are you hoping this show projects to its audience?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: I have a very good friend who is in prison, for a long time. Women’s prison. We write to each other as often as we can. And the realness that is Orange Is the New Black and the heartbreaking stories about what it is like to be female and incarcerated, are the things that make it such a hit.

Of course there are moments of levity, many moments, but when it hits you in the guts – like in Episode 1 of Season 3, when a mother finds out on Mother’s Day she won’t be seeing her child for the duration of her incarceration- it takes you down. Sometimes the show gets so real I have to step away for a few days. But that’s exactly the reason it keeps the audience coming back.

What are some other projects you are working on?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: I’m currently also recurring on a Showtime show called Happyish. It is very dark comedy starring Steve Coogan. I’m also on a pretty fun episode of Odd Mom Out on Bravo (another show with female creators and show runners!) and you can check me out later in the summer on a new TNT show called Public Morals, that’s written and directed by Ed Burns and produced by Steven Spielberg.

Looking forward to the future, who would you like to work with? What would you like to focus on?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: The list of people I want to work with is so long. I couldn’t even begin to…well let me begin. I’d love to work with Jenji some more, Jenji Kohan. I want to work with Oprah. Oprah do you hear me? Do we think Oprah reads this? Cate Blanchett.

Helen Mirren. Katori Hall, I did a play of hers, I want to do more. It’s not all women though. Steven Spielberg, like, duhhhhh. Woody Harrelson again. S

ome of my friends here in NY: Rebecca Naomi Jones. Kyle Beltran. Lily Rabe. Brian Henry. Michael Potts. It’s not all famous people. But it’s all super talented people. Anyway, the list goes on and on.

I do want to focus a little on my own writing. I’m creating something now. Something huuuuuge. I just have to get the planets aligned then I’ll make an announcement and then…ohhhh just you wait.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Marsha Stephanie Blake: Just thank you. Thank you for taking the time to shine a little light on me and Berdalia “Berdie” Rogers. We both appreciate it. And thank you to the Orange fans. I love you guys like cooked food.