LAURA PREPON: ‘MOTHERHOOD CHANGED EVERYTHING’
The actress opens up
As the seventh and final season of acclaimed series Orange is the New Black kicks off on Netflix, actress Laura Prepon – who portrays the cunning Alex Vause – reflects on how much her life has changed in the past six years. Having been in the industry since she signed on as the quirky Donna in That ’70s Show two decades ago, Prepon reveals she could tell OITNB was going to hold a dear place in her heart when she joined the cast six years ago.
“The pilot script was just so special and I had been in this wonderful world of what I do for a living since I was 18 years old, and when you get a script that just jumps out, you pay attention,” Prepon, 39, tells WHO.
“I actually had read for the role of Piper, and Jenji [Kohan, the show’s creator] saw me and said, ‘She needs to be Alex.’ I was like, ‘Wait – the drug smuggler?’ But Alex was rad and I read it again and said, ‘Oh, yeah, this is my girl!’ ”
In addition to taking on the role of actress as well as director during the fifth season, Prepon tied the knot with actor Ben Foster, 38, in June last year, after welcoming their daughter Ella in August 2017.
“Marriage and motherhood shifted everything in my life and it’s the most
wonderful thing
I have ever experienced,” the actress tells WHO. “In terms of how I work, how I love, what I believe – it’s definitely changed things and made everything just so much deeper and more profound.”
Prepon reveals she learnt of her pregnancy shortly after filming and directing one of the most intense scenes of Season 5. “We were all bound and gagged in a storage closet for the entire episode! Taylor [Schilling] and I were literally wrapped in a shower curtain, our hands were bound behind our back, our feet were wrapped in duct tape,” Prepon recalls. “I had to jump on [guard Desi] Piscatella’s back and he broke Alex’s arm and Piper is screaming.”
When filming wrapped, Prepon says, “Right after that episode, I found out I was pregnant during that whole time.”
With her daughter about to turn 2, Prepon says she and Foster are learning to navigate the whole parenting gig while on the job. “I have realised that in terms of the Terrible Twos, they are just trying to figure out where
they end and where you begin, so she is just testing the limits,” Prepon says. “Every time she does something asserting independence, my husband says, ‘She’s your daughter!’ ”
And while Prepon’s family life is only just beginning, another chapter has officially come to a close. “I prepared myself when we found out this was going to be the last season of Orange but you still have that camaraderie of family aspect and we were all totally crying,” she reveals. “My last scene was with Natasha [Lyonne, who plays Nicky] and we were just holding hands sobbing.”
But Prepon concedes that she and her co-stars will remain close. “Taylor and I are always sending each other these audio texts and Natasha lives one block away from me,” she says. “So these are relationships that will continue for a long time.”
“Motherhood is the most wonderful experience”