Lorna Morello

In her fictional backstory, Morello grew up in Boston, after her Brooklyn mother married an Italian Bostonian man.[4] Morello's home life was shown in the fourth episode of the second season. Morello's mother needed constant care, as she was ill, while her father and brother just sat around the house watching television.[7] Morello escaped by going to the movies and committing mail fraud by purchasing designer clothing online, then claiming she never received the items to get a refund.[7] Her bedroom walls were shown to be covered in posters and collages, which prompted Eliza Berman from Slate to note that Morello had created a "teenaged refuge" and that she was "stuck in adolescence".[7] Morello received a 34-month sentence for her crime, the nature of which was not initially revealed. It also emerged that Morello had a fiancé, Christopher, on the outside and she was "a hopeless romantic".[7] Morello was the first inmate Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) met at Litchfield, as she was the prison's transport driver. Stone told Seanna Cronin from The Toowoomba Chronicle that Morello's role in the prison was to welcome new inmates and show them around.[8] Stone said Morello was a positive person and "a really vulnerable human being", who was dealing with her situation the best she could.[8] She also described Morello as being "pretty bold sometimes, and weirdly opinionated."[9]

Morello's distinctive accent is a mix of Brooklyn and Boston.[4] Stone, who normally speaks with her native Australian accent, auditioned with the accent, and worked hard on getting the phonetics and the emphasis on the vowels right.[10] She also travelled to Boston to do some research and met with a dialect coach. Stone stayed in character for her first four months on set to help perfect the accent.[4] Stone felt that she would never perfect the accent, due to the intricacies of the dialect.[6] The actress later said the accent reflected the fact that Morello's had drifted down the East Coast and had not quite found where she belonged.[11] Morello is a big fan of the musical film West Side Story and its lead actress Natalie Wood, so she styles her hair and make-up in a similar way.[4] The show's stylists commented that Morello's look is also inspired by bridal make-up.[12] Morello scrapes out lipstick tubes with her fingernails to achieve her signature red lips, and she uses instant coffee to create brown eye shadow.[13] Her vintage-style waves are set with toilet paper curlers and Lizzy Dening for Grazia observed that they reflected Morello's "romantic ideals".[13][14] Morello's pre-prison style consisted of designer outfits, as showcased at her trial when she wore a little Dolce & Gabbana dress covered in chains.[15] Stone thought that the dress showed that Morello did not take her crimes seriously. She also praised the show's costume designer, Jenn Rogien, for Morello's "transformative" style.[15]

Morello had a sexual relationship with fellow inmate Nicky Nichols played by Natasha Lyonne (pictured).

At the beginning of the first season, Morello is in a sexual relationship with fellow inmate Nicky Nichols (Natasha Lyonne). However, she suddenly ends it, as she feels guilty about betraying her fiancé Christopher (Stephen O'Reilly).[16] Lyonne said that the character's relationship had been "push-pull" and they had both been through a lot with their obsessive-compulsive personalities.[16] Stone called the sex scenes between Morello and Nicky "a privilege" to film and thought they were well written and necessary to the show, as they showed a part of prison life.[11] After Nicky learns the truth about Morello's fiancé Christopher, she comforts Morello and lets her know that she accepted her for who she was.[17] Lyonne thought the scene was "an interesting culmination" of what Morello and Nicky had been through, and believed that they would be bonded forever by it.[16]

Lyonne explained, "it's a moment that's very true to life. Even if it's not a romantic relationship, you can say, 'I really love you unconditionally. I see who you are completely. I'm here for you, and I love you.' Whether it's just as friends or romantically."[16] Stone told Kevin Fallon from The Daily Beast that Morello was uncomfortable at being forced into being honest about Christopher, but thought Nicky's reaction was "amazing" and important for Morello to hear.[16] Lyonne added that Nicky's relationship with Morello was one of the most "significant" in her life.[16] Stone hoped that Morello would reconcile romantically with Nicky, as she missed working closely with Lyonne. Lyonne believed that Morello would have to treat Nicky as an equal for them to get back together, which Sadie Gennis from TV Guide doubted Morello would be mature enough to do.[18]

Morello was a recurring character for the first and second seasons of Orange Is the New Black.[19] In March 2014, series creator Jenji Kohan said Morello's backstory would be revealed in the second season.[20] While Stone commented there would be some "pretty hard hitting truths coming out" and that she was amazed at what happens to her character.[21] Lorna exhibits a pathological need to lie. The episode, titled "A Whole Other Hole", revealed that Morello's often mentioned fiancé, Christopher MacLaren (Stephen O'Reilly), was not actually her fiancé and she had been incarcerated for stalking and terrorizing him.[15] Stone learned the truth about Morello's backstory the day she got the script for the episode. Prior to that, she had imagined her own version of Morello's history, believing that she might have committed an assault or been charged for the mail fraud.[18][22] Stone pointed out that there had been some hints that Morello was not telling the truth during previous episodes, including Nicky mentioning that Christopher had not been to visit and Morello's sister, Francine (Kristen Sieh), calling her to say that Christopher was getting married.[15]

In flashbacks, it was shown that Morello and Christopher had a meet-cute at the local postal office. Their relationship did not go further than their first date, but Morello began stalking and threatening him, even going as far as to place a bomb under his girlfriend's car.[15][22] Stone admitted that she was shocked at the storyline and had to research what kind of stalker Morello was. Stone believed Morello is an erotomaniac, someone who suffers from the delusion that their victim is in love with them.[15] Stone did not excuse Morello's behavior, but pointed out that she was suffering from an illness and needed help. She continued, "A lot of people who are mentally imbalanced do end up in prison because they don’t have the kind of support they need. The great beauty of Orange is that it illuminates these very sad lives that probably shouldn't have ended up in prison."[15]

Actor John Magaro (pictured) joined the season 3 cast as Morello's love interest and eventual husband, Vince Muccio.

After taking Miss Rosa (Barbara Rosenblat) to a hospital appointment, Morello took advantage of the situation and drove to Christopher's house. After breaking in, Morello took a bath while wearing his fiancée's wedding veil.[17] After reading the script, Stone became worried that if Morello was caught, she might lose her job on the show.[17] However, when Morello heard Christopher coming home, she managed to escape and get the van back to the hospital in time. Stone explained that the storyline was challenging to film, as she was alone with her character for the majority of the time. She also decided to do her own stunt when Morello jumped out of the window.[15] After realising that Morello had been in his home, Christopher broke the restraining order and "brutally" confronted Morello in the prison. Stone called the moment "very painful" for Morello, especially when she learned that Nicky had witnessed it.[15]

Season 2 also saw Morello interacting with some different inmates, including Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba), which Stone was pleased with.[18] She said "Obviously the show is so racially divided that often you're like you stay with your gang. You don't get to do a lot of stuff. But as the season goes on we get to interact in different ways."[18] Morello also played a part in the season finale. After learning that Miss Rosa was dying from cancer, Morello felt sorry for her and exited the transport van, urging Miss Rosa to use it to escape.[23] On June 13, 2014, it was announced that Stone had been promoted to the regular cast for the third season.[19]

Following Nicky's removal to the maximum security prison, Morello becomes lonely and joins a pen pal program.[24] She meets with several men and memorizes various facts about their hobbies to keep them interested. In the tenth episode of the season, she meets Vince Muccio (John Magaro) and proposes to him not long after.[25] The couple are married in the season finale and Morello recites the lyrics of "I Want to Know What Love Is", knowing that Foreigner is Vince's favourite band.[25] Unable to be alone together, they consummate the marriage in the same room with the guards nearby.[24] Mallory Carra of Bustle.com praised the development in Morello's story arc and thought Vince was a better man for her than Christopher.[24]

Nicky returns to Litchfield in the fourth season and tries to resume her romantic relationship with Morello. But Morello turns her down as she wants to remain faithful to Vince.[26] Lyonne told Jackie Strause of The Hollywood Reporter that she thought both Nicky and Morello loved each other, but while Nicky has intimacy issues, Morello is in denial about her sexuality.[26] Lyonne also commented, "and I think Lorna's probably somewhere on the spectrum. So for Lorna, it's probably a case where the person transcends gender and I think that it puts them both in this complicated dance with true intimacy. Where once they do decide to sign up full-on with that relationship, it's going to become very real pretty quickly because they are both pretty clear on the fact that they love each other so much."[26]

In the fifth season, which portrays a prison riot in Litchfield, Morello and Nicky take over the prison pharmacy. Nicky makes sexual advances toward her, but she rebuffs them. When Nicky tells Morello that she has fallen in love with her, Morello kisses her passionately and they have sex. Afterwards, however, Morello says that she is pregnant, and only had sex with Nicky because of her pregnancy hormones. Nicky angrily tells Morello to stop toying with her affections and ends their friendship. Nevertheless, Morello saves Nicky from abusive head guard Desi Piscatella (Brad William Henke) and tells her that she fears that Vince wants nothing to do with the baby. Nicky then calls Vince and tells him that he needs to take responsibility for his wife and child, leading him and Morello to decide to be a family. She is then taken to another facility.

In the sixth season, Morello is reunited with Nicky in Litchfield Maximum Security, but they decide to keep their relationship platonic. Together, they manage Morello's prenatal care, and have an ongoing debate over what sex the child will be. They also witness Piper and Alex's wedding in the prison chapel.