Meet the Doppelgängers...the casting of the younger inmates

[Luvzmutt]

The casting department does an amazing job of hiring actors to portray the cast as their younger selves.

[sweetcookieface]

Yeah, I think the quality varied, but some of the kids were just spot on. My favorite by far is the actress who played the youngest version of Suzanne - just incredible. Not only did she physically resemble Uzo, her ability to channel her speech patterns and mannerisms was uncanny. The adolescent version of Suzanne was just so-so.

 

I also liked the actresses who played the younger versions of Taystee (didn't really look like her, but captured her spunk), Rosa (wouldn't have expected it, but she perfectly captured her tough, no-nonsense attitude), Norma (had the same shyness, sweetness as her adult counterpart), and Daya (strong physical resemblance and you could see her sweet, optimistic nature).

 

Young Boo, Chang, Alex, Piper, Pennsatucky, and Poussey were fine, but nothing to write home about (didn't help that I wasn't in love with their flashbacks). I don't feel like I've seen enough of Young Caputo, Healy, Soso or Black Cindy to judge (although the last one seems to have potential). 

[Sakura12]

She didn't really look like her but the girl that played young Nicky is adorable. 

Edited June 19, 2015 by Sakura12

[HoboShoes]

Young Daya was spot on. Looks, mannerisms, acting. I was positively spooked it was so believeable. And I'll admit it, on my list of favorite characters; Daya is way down there towards the bottom. :( But the child actor who portrayed her was so peachy I couldn't help but want to adopt her myself!!! :)

[Morbs]

They probably should have cast a younger actress to play Nicky's mom in that flashback.  Patricia Kalember really did not look like a mother of a six (or so) year old.

[mledawn]

While not all the younger actors necessarily look like their older counterparts, they have all done varying degrees of awesome jobs of mimicking speech patterns. Very impressive, given how young some of them are.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Soso's younger counterpart looked nothing like her.  

 

The Daya actor was cute and talented, but again, I didn't think she looked anything like older Daya.

Edited June 20, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[SeenYouWitKieffah]

I was blown away by younger Norma. They really cast a girl with masterful control of a very expressive face, and to have the mannerisms/aura of a non-speaking character down pat? SO GOOD.

[missalanny]

Young Lorna Morello was a huge miss - it was like they didn't even try, looks-wise, and there was not a hint of her accent. Now that I think about it - has it ever been made clear exactly where Morello is from? Staten Island? Well anyways, my point is that her flashback to her communion was sloppy work on the show's part. If you saw it apart from its placement in the episode, you wouldn't know for sure which character that was supposed to be. 

Edited June 21, 2015 by missalanny

[DeepPoet117]

I was excited to see Oona Laurence as 10-year-old Pennsatucky. She was one of the original Matildas on Broadway. Baby Nicky was adorable and I was really charmed by the actress who played young Taystee.

[Rahul]

Young Daya was spot on. Looks, mannerisms, acting. I was positively spooked it was so believeable. And I'll admit it, on my list of favorite characters; Daya is way down there towards the bottom. :( But the child actor who portrayed her was so peachy I couldn't help but want to adopt her myself!!! :)

Huh? I don't think the younger Daya looked anything like the older one who has extremely full, puffy lips, heavy eyelids and a very broad nose. I imagine casting a lookalike would be quite different. Also, her mannerisms were nothing like the older self but I attribute that to being a chipper child who slowly becomes the jaded woman Daya is today.

[mercfan3]

I thought young Daya was so spot on it was scary. 

[notyrmomma]

Huh? I don't think the younger Daya looked anything like the older one who has extremely full, puffy lips, heavy eyelids and a very broad nose. I imagine casting a lookalike would be quite different. Also, her mannerisms were nothing like the older self but I attribute that to being a chipper child who slowly becomes the jaded woman Daya is today.

I think her mannerisms were way off, but I definitely don't have the same mannerisms as I did when I was a kid (life has a way of killing your childish enthusiasm), but I thought the eyes and lips were dead on - her younger self looked like just as much of a goldfish as her older self does.