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Hidden Talents: 24 Things To Know About That '70s Show Alum, Laura Prepon

Laura Prepon is like the love of every one of her fans' lives. She’s a totally bold actress who is capable of making fans' hearts race just a little faster when they hear that husky voice of hers.

Now, most people know her from her role on That ‘70s Show, where she played Donna. But in 2013, she joined the cast of Orange Is The New Black and has earned herself a legion of new fans as Alex Vause.

But younger audiences only know her as Vause and not the sitcom character that turned her into a household name. Sadly, most actresses catch a break only once in Hollywood and then fizzle out, never to be heard from again.

But Prepon has managed to land a role in two successful series and fans are loving her to bits; Prepon isn’t just sticking to projects in front of the camera. She’s dabbled in a wide array of things while also managing to keep herself healthy, youthful, and intriguing.

But how well do fans really know Laura Prepon? They can undoubtedly Wikipedia her name and spend hours getting to know her, or they can look at the following list. There's tons of info on the That ‘70s Show alum that will make fans feel like they know her almost as much as her BFF.

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24 Laura's Quite An Exotic Beauty: She Has A Varied Background

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Prepon was born and raised in the United States. But her lineage is a mix of ancestry from Ireland and Russia. So now you know what genetic mix is needed to get the perfect Hollywood goddess.

Everything from her forehead to her brows, her eyes, her nose, and even her jawline seem to be sculpted by angels.

She definitely couldn’t get any cuter if she tried. But she’s also bad to the bone, and she’s got the wheels to prove it. Apparently, Prepon's got quite a cool hobby, but we'll circle back to that in a few minutes!

23 She’s Not A Fan Of '70s Clothes

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Laura Prepon starred on the hit sitcom That ‘70s Show, but the series was shot between the late ‘90s and early ‘2000s. However, the actors had to don all sorts of ‘70s-era clothing, and Laura was no exception. But her character, Donna, was more tomboyish than the other women on the show. So, she wore a lot of jeans and tees, and she didn’t like it at all.

So, it looks like Donna’s wardrobe will remain in the ‘70s forever. But we have to say, it was still a lot better than wearing an orange jumpsuit.

22 She Proved Orange Is The New Black

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In 2013, Prepon made a huge comeback by starring in the Netflix original comedy-drama series Orange is the New Black. The show was based on Piper Kerman’s book with a similar name.

In it, Prepon played Alex Vause, who’s Piper’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, eventual fiance, and later wife.

Prepon downgraded to a recurring character for season 2, but later returned as a series regular in season 3, and it’s obvious she absolutely loves her character.

21 She’s Actually A Natural Ginger, Not A Brunette (But She Looks Mighty Fine As One!)

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Everyone deserves to change the way they look every once in a while. It’s actually pretty refreshing. If people didn’t change, then we’d still be wearing the same hairdos and clothing styles that our grandmothers wore. But what is it about Prepon that she had to change? It turns out that it’s her hair color. On OITNB, Prepon sports some rather dark sultry locks. But she’s been seen as a brunette, and also a blonde over the years. But we wouldn’t mind seeing her as a redhead, since that’s her natural color.

20 She Loves Playing Alex Vause On OITNB

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Alex Vause is a pretty interesting character who struggles between being the person she was before she was incarcerated and the person she became while she was behind bars.

The show has allowed Prepon to show off a wide range of emotions, and she absolutely loves playing Alex because she’s so fierce and cunning, but she has a heart.

Prepon totally fits into the role, but she almost did something totally different with her life, and it certainly didn’t include acting.

19 Laura Started Modeling In Milan At Just 15 Years Old

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Prepon dove right into the world of acting at a young age. But she had considered a different professional path during her mid-teens. In fact, she was so invested in this option that she was willing to leave the states, altogether. So what did Laura dabble in before embarking on a successful acting trajectory? We’re talking about modeling, of course!

Laura moved to Milan all by her herself when she was just 15. Given her height and bone structure, she undoubtedly could've been super successful at it, too. She spent about a year and a half in Italy, and she was fearless the entire freaking time.

18 The Stunning Leading Lady Is Not Afraid Of Riding Motorcycles. She's Actually Good At It, Too

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They say that if you play a character long enough, their character traits eventually rub off on you. Well, it looks like Alex Vause’s daredevil tendencies have certainly transferred onto Prepon.

Instead of a car, she would much rather drive around in a motorcycle.

In fact, she has a motorcycle license, so if you hear someone burning rubber in Hollywood, it’s probably her. We’d bet that Prepon looks like a total renegade riding a motorcycle with the wind sweeping across her hair.

17 She Was A Major Theatre Geek

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Way before Prepon played Donna Pinciotti on That ‘70s Show she was dipping her toes in the acting pool in New York City’s Total Theatre Lab. The lab is a drama school where actors who take acting seriously can perfect their craft in order to pursue more challenging goals in theater, television or the big screen.

In 2016, she became the pupil of acting teacher Caroline Thomas, who owns the Total Theatre Lab. From there, Prepon started out doing plays like “A Woman of Property” and “Ascension Day.”

16 Apparently, She Finds Poker Oh-So Relaxing

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Playing a role that requires you to be behind bars in an orange jumpsuit is probably stressful. Plus, actors tend to work a lot of insane hours too. On top of it, you've got a million photoshoots and meetings you need to attend, all while trying to stay healthy and find the time to workout.

So how does Prepon de-stress? She plays poker!

Now, most folks would find this game highly stressful. After all, it’s a high-stakes game, and players could end up losing a lot of money. But Prepon is always cool, calm and collected during an otherwise nail-biting gambling game. But if she wasn’t playing poker, she would probably be tweezing something out of people.

15 Laura Has A Thing For Tweezing Other People’s Eyebrows...We Would've Never Guessed!

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On OITNB, Laverne Cox’s prominent multi-dimensional character, Sophia does a superb job at keeping the inmates looking flawless at the salon. But if someone gave Prepon a job a beauty salon, she would probably be tweezing people’s eyebrows. Not only does she tweeze her own brows, but she also tweezes all of her friends’ brows too.

She must be really good at it too because apparently, most of her friends prefer her over a professional beauty salon guru!

14 Laura Actually Wanted To Be A Surgeon (But Can You Imagine OITNB Without Laura? Neither Can We!)

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Most actors and actresses stick to any job that pays the bills until they get a leading role in a Hollywood sitcom or movie. Even if many of them end up working as waiters and waitresses for a while, most of them are pretty sure that acting is their only professional choice. But Prepon wasn’t like that.

It turns out that she had once considered becoming a surgeon, just like her father, who sadly passed away when she was a kid.

So, if she hadn’t ended up working in Hollywood, she might have been a doctor. Still, Laura could make her dream come true, at least partially, if she lands a role on a medical drama like Grey’s Anatomy.

13 Laura Is Not Only Passionate About Acting, But She's Also Great At Directing

The thing about Prepon is that she’s not the kind of gal who likes to just stick to one thing. So while Hollywood offered her the chance to act, she has dabbled in other things like directing as well. She took directing classes at the Art Center College of Design. And she finally got her chance to direct Abide with Me, a short film about a 10-year-old boy who becomes mute after witnessing a life-altering event.

She loved the project so much that she hopes to turn Abide with Me into a feature film someday.

12 She Has A Thing For The Barefoot Contessa, And She's Not Ashamed Of It

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On OITNB, Alex has a thing for women. But in real life, Prepon has a total girl crush on gourmet guru, Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa.

Now, we’re not saying that Prepon is an expert cook herself, but she definitely has some great inspiration from Garten.

She even owns the Barefoot Contessa cookbook, and uses it all the time to whip up something cool for herself and the ones she loves. And as far as Garten is concerned, she undoubtedly feels humbled to have such a big-name celebrity like Prepon being a fan.

11 She Has The Perfect Running Companion

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Aside from eating well, Prepon finds that exercising is also very important. And what better way to burn off a few calories than by doing some running? But she doesn’t do it alone. She actually runs with her dog, who’s 135 pounds and huge. They’re seriously the perfect match because she has long legs and he has a perfect gait, so the two of them can actually keep up with each other while they’re running together.

In the end, it’s an amazing workout for both human and owner.

10 She Used To Be Very Strict With Food Until She Learned To Relax

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The Barefoot Contessa is known for cooking some delicious meals that may have a few extra carbs in them. But Prepon doesn’t mind indulging in the occasional guilty-pleasure treat. However, she didn’t always have this mindset. When she was younger, she loved fad eating plans.

But as she got older and wiser, she realized that restricting calories was not the way to go.

Now she sticks to smart eating programs like "the Zone," which fuel her body and keeps her health in check. This probably inspired her to become a wellness author, too.

9 She Wrote A Wellness Book That's Sort Of Like Her Baby

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It turns out that Prepon has had struggles with digestive, energy, and body issues since she was a little girl. So, as an adult, she decided to work with nutritionist Elizabeth Troy to come up with the best possible meal plan. And it seems to have worked out great for the OITNB actress, because she chose to share all of her findings with the rest of us.

So, with Troy’s help, she came up with a book called The Stash Plan. And a lot of Prepon’s fans are praising her for her wellness book initiative.

8 Laura's Sweet As Pie, But She's A Spider’s Worst Nightmare

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If you’ve watched all of the OITNB episodes that had Alex Vause in it, then you know that Prepon’s character is one tough cookie who fears very little, except maybe ending up behind bars, but that’s done, so we’re sure she’s over it.

However, there’s one thing that Prepon herself is afraid of, and that’s spiders.

Those creepy crawly eight-legged creatures are a total nightmare for her. So, if you hear tapping anywhere in her vicinity, she’s probably stomping the heck out of a spider.

7 Laura Thinks Nicole Kidman And Gwyneth Paltrow Are Total #BodyGoalz (And We Can't Blame Her!)

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Prepon has plenty of things that keep her centered when it comes to fitness like her nutritionist and her workout buddy, her dog. But even a super-talented celebrity like Prepon needs someone to look up to. Fortunately, she has two: Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow. She loves the actresses’ long, lean, and healthy body types. But she also appreciates strong, gorge bodies like the ones that Evangeline Lilly and Jessica Biel have.

She understands the amount of discipline and effort these wonderful women put into staying healthy and vibrant at any age.

6 She’s A Wife And A Mommy

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Pinterest.comAlex Vause’s life might be a mess, but Prepon has her life pretty together. She had a baby with the love of her life, former X-Men actor Ben Foster in 2017. It was a little girl who they named Ella, and just when life couldn't get better for Prepon, she married Foster in 2018.

Now, as a working mom, she’s expressed the joys and the struggles of trying to balance the demands of her Hollywood responsibilities with motherhood.

But we're sure she was able to find the balance and continue working on her projects all while changing diapers and reading bedtime stories.

5 Apparently, Laura Has A Thing For Hobbits

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As far as cookbooks go, The Barefoot Contessa takes home the cake in Prepon’s home. But as far as favorite fantasy books are concerned, the OITNB actress has one all-time favorite: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. She simply can’t get enough of it, and she can most likely tell you interesting tidbits about the book that weren’t in the movie trilogy.

Who knew that someone who plays a mastermind behind bars could have a place in her heart for Hobbits?

4 She Pulls All Nighters Playing Halo

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First, we learned that she had a thing for The Hobbit and now we’ve learned that she is totally geeking out on games like Halo.

The military science fiction video game is oh-so popular and Prepon is a major fan.

Just imagine how cool she must be like as she struggles to save humanity from the aliens known as the Covenant. She’s even admitted that she’s stayed up for days on end trying to beat the insane levels. Now that takes dedication!

3 She’s A Born And Raised Jersey Girl And Is Super Proud Of Her Roots

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Shows like The Jersey Shore and Jerseylicious are so over-the-top and out there that they might make some actors deny they’re from New Jersey. But Prepon has nothing to hide. She’s proud of the fact that she was born in New Jersey, and raised there as well. As a matter of fact, she owns a home in Watchung, New Jersey, which she’s been known to frequent when she’s not working in Hollywood.

But there’s one thing she’s obsessed with more than New Jersey.

2 She’s Obsessed With Raw Almond Butter

They probably don’t have a lot of culinary options in the big house. But Alex Vause could undoubtedly make a special request from Red, if she still ran the kitchen, which she doesn’t, by the way.

But Prepon herself has a very unusual food fix: raw almond butter!

She simply can’t get enough of it, and she probably craved it throughout her entire pregnancy. It’s chock full of protein and flavor, making it the perfect snack for a busy mother/actress, so we totally get why she loves to munch on this delicious buttery treat!

1 She Might Have Dated Tom Cruise (Which Wouldn't Really Be That Surprising, Would It?)

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Prepon is now happily married, but back in 2013, stories suggested that she was low-key dating Tom Cruise.

It probably didn’t help that they were spotted having dinner at LA’s Manor Hotel.

Some even suggested that they were still together even after the rumors began to dissipate. But Prepon and Cruise’s PR reps both denied that the two were involved in anything romantic. If anything, it seemed like the only thing that connected them was their affection for scientology, nothing more, nothing less.

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