Prepon juiced for return of Orange
Ex-con behind her character impressed with actress’s portrayal
Orange Is the New Black Season 3 begins streaming Friday on Netflix
TORONTO — Orange Is the New Black star Laura Prepon says she’d welcome a meeting with the real-life ex-con who inspired her character on the Netflix series.
Prepon says Catherine Cleary Wolters — the woman behind her character Alex Vause — reached out to her recently to tell her how much she enjoyed her portrayal.
Prepon says Wolters sent her a copy of her memoir, Out of Orange, with “a very nice letter.”
“She basically was like, ‘Thank you so much for your portrayal,’” Prepon said in a phone interview from New York. “I was actually really pleasantly surprised because I wasn’t sure how she was going to take the fact that I’m playing it a certain way.”
It turned out Wolters has been a fan for a long time, Prepon said.
“When we first started the show I wanted to meet with her and pick her brain and talk to her, you know, and I wasn’t allowed to. She was kind of MIA.”
Wolters has come out of the woodwork since, speaking openly about her relationship with Piper Kerman — the real-life inspiration for lead character Piper Chapman, loosely portrayed by Taylor Schilling.
But it’s Kerman’s memoir Orange Is the New Black that inspired the show, which has exploded in storylines and cast since debuting in 2013, when it was driven by Alex and Piper’s on-again, offagain relationship.
“I think our cast is bigger than Boardwalk Empire right now, it’s so big,” says Prepon. Season 3 additions include Ruby Rose, Mary Steenburgen and Lori Petty.
And Prepon herself steps up her presence, after appearing in just four episodes of Season 2. She notes that might have something to do with Piper’s underhanded move in last season’s finale to get Alex tossed back into Litchfield Penitentiary.
This time around, Prepon says “Alex is broken.”
“She basically doesn’t know how she got back into prison, she feels like an idiot that she has freedom again and she doesn’t know how she got back in there and it’s a situation. But it’s great, you see all these sides to her that you haven’t necessarily seen before,” says the former star of That ’70s Show.
“She loves being in power, she is very smart and wily and she’s just this incredible chick but she doesn’t really let people see, she doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve.”
Prepon admits she’s not sure what a meeting with Wolters would add to her portrayal. “But anything I can do to always improve, you know, my job, of course (is worthwhile).”