Laura Prepon Biography

Laura Helene Prepon was born on March 7, 1980, in Watchung, New Jersey, USA, to Marjorie (née Coll), a high school teacher, and Michael Prepon, an orthopedic surgeon.

Prepon, the youngest of five siblings, is of Russian Jewish and Irish Catholic descent.

Her father passed away in 1993. This loss left a deep impact on the 13-year-old Prepon who has since been extremely close to her family. They gather every year during the Thanksgiving holiday and carry out some quirky traditions.

She studied at the ‘Watchung Hills Regional High School’ till 1995.

In 1996, she got enrolled at the ‘Total Theatre Lab’ in New York City, where she underwent intensive acting training under her teacher Caroline Thomas.

Along with her acting classes, Prepon took ballet and jazz dance lessons. This came in handy when she was selected for the stage productions of ‘A Woman of Property’ and ‘Ascension Day.’

Thanks to her height, she landed many modeling assignments. She also traveled to places like Paris, Milan, and Brazil for photo shoots.

In September 1997, she made her debut in ‘They Go On,’ a Levi Strauss-developed soap opera.

In 1998, Prepon landed her breakthrough role when she sent an audition tape for a part in the then-upcoming Fox sitcom ‘That ‘70s Show.’ The sitcom was about a group of teenagers from Wisconsin of the 1970s. She was lauded for her performance as the attractive and smart tomboy ‘Donna Pinciotti.’

In 2001, Laura Prepon starred in her first film, an independent venture, titled ‘Southlander.’ It was a comedy musical by Steve Hanft. It also starred Beck and Beth Orton among others.

In 2002, she acted in the film ‘Slackers,’ a teen movie directed by Dewey Nicks. It also starred Jason Schwartzman, Devon Sawa, and Jason Segel.

In 2004, when Prepon was on a temporary break from ‘That ‘70s Show,’ she acted in ‘The Pornographer: A Love Story,’ an independent film which narrates the story of a relationship between an actress and a director.

The year 2004 saw her voicing a United Nations Space Command marine in a first-person shooter game called ‘Halo 2.’ The same year, she was cast in a prominent role in the dark thriller ‘Lightning Bug.’ Apart from acting, Prepon also executive produced the film.

In 2005, Prepon starred in ‘Karla,’ a film based on the true events of a deranged couple who abused and murdered three girls. The same year, she served as the executive producer of ‘E! Hollywood Hold’em,’ a poker television program, aired on E! Television Network.

She was one of the cast members of the ABC show ‘October Road,’ which aired on March 15, 2007.

Between 2009 and early 2011, she appeared in a number of TV series like ‘In Plain Sight,’ ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ ‘House M.D,’ and ‘Castle.’

In February 2011, she was cast in the titular role of ‘Chelsea Newman’ in the NBC sitcom ‘Are You There, Chelsea?’

She was then cast to play the role of ‘Alex Vause,’ an ex-drug dealer and Piper Chapman’s ex-girlfriend in the Netflix original ‘Orange is the New Black,’ which premiered in July 2013. She was part of the main cast throughout the series, except the second season, in which she was part of the recurring cast.

In 2016, she was seen in the mystery thriller drama film ‘The Girl on the Train.’ The following year, she was cast in a comedy-drama film titled ‘The Hero.’

She was nominated for a ‘Teen Choice Award’ in 2002 for her role in ‘That '70s Show.’

She has hosted award shows like the ‘Second Annual TV Guide Awards’ (2000), ‘Teen Choice Awards’ (2000), and ‘American Music Awards’ (2001).

Laura Prepon was the cover girl for two issues of ‘Maxim.’

In 2002, ‘Stuff’ magazine included her in their list of ‘102 Sexiest Women in the World.’ In 2005, she was in ‘Maxim’ magazine’s ‘Hot 100’ list.

In 2014, she won ‘Satellite Awards’ for ‘Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film’ and ‘Best Cast – Television Series’ for her performance in the series ‘Orange Is the New Black.’

She won the 2016 and 2017 ‘Screen Actors Guild Awards’ for ‘Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series’ for ‘Orange Is the New Black.’

Prepon was in a long term relationship with Christopher Masterson, the younger brother of Danny Masterson. They broke up in 2007.

She dated TV actor Scott Michael Foster from 2008 to 2013.

Prepon takes great pleasure in riding dirt bikes, shooting, and playing poker.

In June 2017, she confirmed on ‘Live with Kelly and Ryan’ that she and her fiancé Ben Foster were expecting a girl. The same year in August, she gave birth to their baby girl Ella.

They got married in June 2018. Prepon announced on October 24, 2019 that they are expecting their second child. In February 2020, she gave birth to their second child, a son.