<Tr> <Th> Significant other (s) </Th> <Td> Alex Vause (wife; de facto) Larry Bloom (ex-fiancé) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Nationality </Th> <Td> American </Td> </Tr> <P> Piper Elizabeth Chapman is a fictional character (played by Taylor Schilling) and the protagonist of the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black . She is based on Piper Kerman, author of the non-fiction book Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, upon which the series is based . Schilling was nominated for awards in both comedy and drama categories for this role . </P> <P> A Boston - bred Smith College grad, Piper Kerman got involved in a relationship with an international drug smuggler, Catherine Cleary Wolters . Chapman's girlfriend in the series, Alex Vause, is based on Wolters, whom Kerman met circa 1991 in Northampton, Massachusetts . Eventually, 24 - year - old Kerman flew a suitcase of money from the United States to Belgium for a West African drug lord and was named five years later as part of the drug ring . As part of her plea bargain, she declared that she made three overseas trips on behalf of the drug ring . After breaking up with Wolters, Kerman met Larry Smith and got engaged before being charged by the feds in 1998 and striking a deal . She spent 13 months in a Danbury, Connecticut women's prison, FCI Danbury . Kerman actually had a six - year delay between being sentenced to prison and entering prison in 2004 . The show is based on Kerman's 2010 book Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison about her year in a minimum security federal women's prison . Chapman's fiance, Larry Bloom, is based on Smith, Kerman's real life boyfriend and eventual husband . </P>

Who turned piper in orange is the new black