Laura Prepon Biography - Biography

Actress Laura Prepon rose to fame on the sitcom 'That '70s Show' before landing a starring role on the hit Netflix series 'Orange Is the New Black.'

Who Is Laura Prepon?

Laura Prepon was born on March 7, 1980. In 1998, she sent in an audition tape for an upcoming Fox sitcom called That '70s Show and landed the part of Donna. The popular Emmy Award-winning sitcom, which also sparked the careers of Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, made Prepon a household name among TV fans. The actress went on to starring roles in the productions Are You There, Chelsea? and Orange Is the New Black.

Husband & Children

In October 2016, Prepon announced her engagement to actor Ben Foster. She gave birth to daughter Ella in August 2017, and the following June, she and Foster formally tied the knot. Prepon gave birth to a second child, a son, in February 2020.

Movies and TV Shows

'That '70s Show'

It did not take long for Prepon to successfully make the shift from modeling to acting. In 1998, she sent in an audition tape for an upcoming Fox sitcom called That '70s Show. Prepon landed the part of Donna, an attractive and tomboyish feminist, on the show which followed a group of Wisconsin teenagers growing up in the 1970s. The popular Emmy Award-winning sitcom, which also sparked the careers of Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, made Prepon a household name among television fans.

'October Road,' 'How I Met Your Mother,' 'The Killing Game'

After That '70s Show, Prepon landed a starring role on the ABC series October Road (2007-08) and a recurring spot on CBS's How I Met Your Mother (2009-10). She also found her way into films like Slackers (2002), Lightning Bug (2004), The Pornographer: A Love Story (2004) and The Killing Game (2011).

'Are You There, Chelsea?'

Prepon also snagged the lead role in the series Are You There, Chelsea? in 2012, which was loosely based on comedian Chelsea Handler's life in the book Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea (2008). Prepon played Handler, but the series was canceled after its first season. 

'Orange Is the New Black'

The following year, Prepon was cast in the popular Netflix series Orange Is the New Black as Alex, the on-and-off-again girlfriend of the show's main character, Piper (Taylor Schilling). The show proved a major hit, garnering a dozen Emmy Award nominations for its first season, before airing its seventh and final season in July 2019. 

'The Girl on the Train'

Back on the big screen, Prepon landed featured roles in the thriller The Girl on the Train (2016), starring Emily Blunt, and The Hero (2017), with Sam Elliott.

Personal and Other Projects

Both Maxim and Stuff magazine have featured Prepon on their lists of the most beautiful women in the world. But despite her good looks and celebrity status, she is known as a down-to-earth, no-frills type of girl. That '70s Show co-star Topher Grace said of Prepon, "She actually is that girl that you never think exists, that quintessential girl that every guy is looking for." She typically does not wear makeup, ties her hair back in a loose ponytail and says her wardrobe consists of "the same jeans and a different T-shirt every day." When not acting, Prepon keeps busy with fishing, shooting at the firing range, riding dirt bikes and playing poker.

In 2005 Prepon fused her poker hobby with her television career when she co-produced the E! Entertainment reality TV show Hollywood Hold'em, which features celebrities hosting poker tournaments at their homes.

Around that time, when asked about her biggest career goal in an interview, Prepon answered that she wanted to "direct a really important movie. I love character-driven films that I can relate to personally."

Books

The actress became a best-selling author with the 2016 publication of the wellness book The Stash Plan: Your 21-Day Guide to Shed Weight, Feel Great, and Take Charge of Your Health.

She followed in 2020 with You and I, As Mothers: A Raw and Honest Guide to Motherhood, a parental guide that shifts the focus from newborns to the adults dealing with the drastic changes to their lives.

Early Life and Modeling

Actress Laura Prepon was born on March 7, 1980, the youngest of five siblings in a close-knit family in Watchung, New Jersey. Her father, Michael, was an orthopedic surgeon, and her mother, Marjorie, was a high school teacher. Prepon experienced a personal loss in 1993, when her father passed away while undergoing heart surgery. Her family grew extraordinarily close while coping with the loss of Prepon's father. According to Prepon, her entire family still gathers annually in New Jersey for Thanksgiving, where their quirky traditions include singing Meat Loaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" together at the dining room table.

Prepon attended Watchung Hills Regional High School until 1995, when, at age 15, she fell in love with acting and transferred to the Total Theatre Lab in New York City. While undergoing intensive acting training, Prepon also studied ballet, jazz and modern dance and appeared in stage productions of A Woman of Property and Ascension Day. Strikingly beautiful, the 5-foot 10-inch aspiring actress first found work as a model. Despite traveling the globe to model in Paris, Milan and Brazil, Prepon quickly developed a distaste for modeling. "I hated modeling," she declares. "It was kind of exciting at first, but then I realized it wasn't what I wanted. I knew I wanted to act."

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