Entertainment

What if Joey Potter Had Starred in 'OITNB'?

by Kadeen Griffiths

Orange is the New Black is the addictive Netflix series that is sweeping the nation. Finished with the second season and in the midst of filming a third, Orange is the New Black is one of Netflix's most popular original shows and it's not hard to see why. Is it the black humor and feminist friendly themes? Is it the writing or the depth every flashback brings to each character? Is it the marvelously talented cast, including Emmy-nominated transgender actress Laverne Cox? It's all of that and more. However, it appears that the fabulously talented cast might have looked a little different had things turned out another way. OITNB creator Jenji Kohan revealed that he considered Katie Holmes for the role of Piper Chapman, so we could have had Joey Potter locked up in there with the voice of Patty Mayonnaise. Is your childhood crying yet?

Piper Chapman obviously went to Taylor Schilling, but Kohan actually did get to speak to Holmes about the role. Turns out that there were other commitments in her schedule and the show was only a well-developed idea back then. Considering OITNB is now one of Katie Holmes' favorite shows, she must be kicking herself for missing out on the opportunity to star in it, even if only to get one of the Emmy nominations that got handed out among the cast this season.

So what if Katie Holmes had played Piper Chapman? What would that have looked like? At this point, we can only guess.

Meet Piper Chapman.

Netflix/Getty Images

Piper has a normal life with normal friends, a semi-normal family and an adorkable fiancé Larry Bloom.

Netflix/Getty Images

But her normal upper middle class hipster lifestyle is interrupted when she gets sent to jail.

Netflix/Getty Images

It turns out that Piper was once in love with a drug trafficker named Alex Vause who named her in their operations.

Netflix/Getty Images

Piper tries hard to look on the bright side and adjust to her temporary sentence at Litchfield Prison.

Netflix/Getty Images

She even manages to make a few friends among the other prisoners so she doesn't have to eat alone in the gross bathrooms.

Netflix/Getty Images

However, she almost instantly makes an enemy out of the kitchen chef, Red, and gets served a used tampon sandwich.

Netflix/Getty Images

And then Piper has a nervous breakdown when she realizes that she can't hipster her way through prison after all.

Netflix/Getty Images

As great as it was to imagine, I think it was a good thing that they let Taylor Schilling handle this. Sorry, Joey Potter, but you're more Dawson's Creek than Litchfield Prison.