Yael Stone

Yael Stone (born 6 March 1985) is an Australian actress. She has worked extensively in Australian theatre and has won two Sydney Theatre Awards. Outside of Australian theatre, she is best known for her portrayal of Lorna Morello in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. Stone is also known for her support of abortion rights and climate protection and has vocally advocated for women's issues.

Yael Stone
Stone at PaleyFest 2014, representing Orange Is the New Black
Born	(1985-03-06) 6 March 1985 Sydney, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	National Institute of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1999–present
Spouse(s)	Dan Spielman ​ ( m. 2012; div. 2016)
Partner(s)	Jack Manning Bancroft (2017–present)
Children	1

Early life and education

National Institute of Dramatic Art, which Stone attended

Stone was born and raised in Sydney, the daughter of Judy, a nurse, and Harry Stone, an architect.[1] Her father was born in Czechoslovakia, to Holocaust survivor parents.[2] Stone's father is from a Jewish family, whereas her mother converted to Judaism.[3][4] Her brother, Jake Stone, was the lead singer of the band Bluejuice. Her sister, Elana Stone, is also a musician.[5]

Stone attended the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).[6]

Career

Stone began acting as a child, with roles in the film Me Myself I and the miniseries The Farm.[5] She worked primarily in theatre; at the 2008 Sydney Theatre Awards, she won the awards for Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Kid.[7] She also worked in television, including supporting roles in All Saints and Spirited.[5] From 2010 to 2011, she appeared in The Diary of a Madman (a theatrical adaptation of the Gogol short story), a role for which she was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Sydney Theatre Awards.[7] In February 2011, she travelled to New York City to perform in the Brooklyn Academy of Music's production of The Diary of a Madman,[7] before returning to lead roles in A Golem Story, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, and As You Like It in Sydney.[5]

Stone moved to New York permanently in December 2011 and co-founded an experimental theatre company.[5] After four months in New York, she was cast in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, a show set in a women's prison.[6] Stone plays Lorna Morello, a prisoner from Boston; her accent, a mixture of Brooklyn and Boston,[8] was called "the most amazing accent on television" by a journalist for The New Republic,[9] while another reviewer deemed the role to be Stone's "breakout turn".[10] She reprised her role in the show's second season,[11] and was billed as a series regular in the third season.[12]

She has also appeared on the HBO and web series High Maintenance.

Personal life

In 2012, Stone married Australian actor Dan Spielman, with whom she lived in New York City.[10] In July 2017, Stone announced that her marriage had ended over a year before.[13] Stone is an atheist.[14] Stone is currently dating AIME Mentoring founder Jack Manning Bancroft. On 23 November 2017, it was announced they were expecting their first child.[15] On 30 May 2018, they welcomed a baby girl, Pemau Stone Bancroft.[16]

On 16 December 2018, The New York Times published an interview with Stone, who accused Australian actor Geoffrey Rush of sexual misconduct during the production of The Diary of a Madman in 2010 and 2011. She alleged that he had sent her inappropriate texts that were "sexual in nature", had touched her back in an "unwanted and sustained" manner at an awards show, had held a mirror above her shower cubicle while she was showering, and had danced naked in front of her in their dressing room.[17]

Her brother is Jake Stone from the band Bluejuice.

On 7 January 2020, mid‑way through the 2020 Australian bushfire season, Stone announced her intention to give up her United States green card and return to Australia to campaign for climate protection or, as she described it, the "climate war".[18]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Me Myself I	Stacy Dickson
2007	West	Stacey
2011	Jailbirds	Lucy	Short film
2017	The Wilde Wedding	Clementine

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Farm	Young Sam Cooper	Miniseries
2007–2008	All Saints	Ann-Marie Preston	14 episodes
2010–2011	Spirited	Linda	13 episodes
2013–2019	Orange Is the New Black	Lorna Morello	Main Role; 56 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2015	Childhood's End	Peretta Jones	Miniseries
2015–2018	High Maintenance	Beth	5 episodes
2016	Deep Water	Tori Lustigman	Miniseries, 4 episodes
2017	Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero	General Bighorn (voice)	1 episode
2018	Picnic at Hanging Rock	Dora Lumley	6 episodes

References

1. McGuire, Michaela (2 May 2015). "The 'kooky' life of Orange Is the New Black's Yael Stone".
2. "A Golem Story (interview with Yael Stone)". 18 May 2011.
3. McGuire, Michaela (2 May 2015). "The 'kooky' life of Orange Is the New Black's Yael Stone". The Saturday Paper. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
4. 'I'd rather be invisible': Orange is the New Black star Yael Stone speaks about stardom | West Coast Sentinel
5. Spring, Alexandra (12 December 2011). "Actress Yael Stone bites the acting bullet". Vogue Australia. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
6. Cronin, Seanna (2 November 2013). "Yael Stone takes lead in Orange is the New Black". The Toowoomba Chronicle. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
7. Keenan, Catherine (17 January 2011). "Love's locks lost for brushes with lunacy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
8. Stone, Jake (8 May 2013). "Yael Stone On Orange Is The New Black, And Trying To Make It In New York". Junkee. Junkee.com. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
9. Bennett, Laura (23 August 2013). "Meet the Australian Actress Who Does the Most Amazing Accent on Television". The New Republic. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
10. Groves, Don (15 July 2013). "Orange is the New Black for Yael Stone". IF Magazine. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
11. Richards, Holly (6 November 2013). "Breakout role for Aussie Yael Stone". The West Australian. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
12. Andreeva, Nellie (6 November 2013). "Yael Stone Upped To Regular On 'Orange', Jonathan Adams On 'Last Man Standing'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
13. Stone, Yael (6 July 2017). "For the record; my marriage ended a year ago. An awkward but necessary clarification. I've got amazing people by my side and ❤️ in my heart". Twitter. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
14. "Orange is the New Black's Yael Stone Explores Childhood's End". 11 December 2015.
15. chillifm.com.au. "Actress Yael Stone expecting first baby". www.chillifm.com.au. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
16. "'Orange Is the New Black' Star Welcomes Baby Girl". Celebrity Moms. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
17. Weiss, Bari (16 December 2018). "The Cost of Telling a #MeToo Story in Australia". New York Times. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
18. Convery, Stephanie (7 January 2020). "'This is war': actor` Yael Stone gives up us green card and will now live in Australia to fight climate change". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 January 2020.

External links

• Yael Stone on IMDb
• 'An Accent Can Tell A Big Story,' Says 'Orange Is The New Black's' Yael Stone (WBUR audio story, including examples of her accent and her influences)