Jenji Kohan has opened up about the upcoming ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Season 3, stating that the new episodes will be centered on faith and motherhood.

The third season of the comedy-drama series has been set for a Netflix premiere on June 12.

“It’s lighter than season 2, it’s a season of faith, it’s a season of motherhood, it’s a progression of everyone’s stories,” Kohan said at a For Your Consideration panel discussion last Wednesday at the DGA. “I think we get deeper into our characters and we meet people.”

During the panel, cast members Taylor Schilling, Laverne Cox, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Selenis Leyva and Kate Mulgrew, together with Kohan, discussed how the award-winning series has brought on significant changes in the representation of women.

According to Cox, the show reaches out to people with similar experiences, thereby helping validate their actions and circumstances. For the actress, fans who watch ‘Orange Is the New Black’ can feel better upon seeing the diverse women that are portrayed on TV.

“When you can see someone like you on TV, it’s like, ‘OK, I exist now’,” the 30-year-old actress shared.

For Brooks, being on the show allows her to have more positive feelings and thoughts about body image.

“Being a woman of plus-size, a curvy girl… I’m thankful for the show for highlighting that,” she said. “That’s giving voice to the people that are here and I’m just glad I could be that girl I didn’t see on television when I was young.”

Co-star Schilling opened up about the concept of nudity on the show, which has made her felt uneasy in the past. However, Kohan explained the underlying reason for having such scenes, highlighting the importance of connecting one’s physical vulnerability with internal vulnerability.

As the series creator mentioned that the third season will have a lighter tone compared to the previous ones, it will still be touching on both drama and comedy.

Last year, ‘Orange Is the New Black’ was categorized as a comedy series for the Emmy Awards; however, the TV Academy decided that the show should be placed in the drama category.

For Kohan, it is highly important to incorporate both worlds as she does not believe that anything could be too serious or too hilarious.

 “I remember watching dramas and thinking when there was no humor or no comic relief that they didn’t reflect any sort of reality because there’s no such thing as life without humor,” the 45-year-old writer and producer said. “You need a dramatic spine to hold it together.”