'I Hope It Helps People Feel Less Alone': Laura Prepon On Book 'You And I As Mothers' & Orange Is The New Black
(CBS Local)-- The dream for most actors is to be in one hit show, but Laura Prepon has been fortunate to be on two major hits.
Prepon played Donna Pinciotti on "That '70s Show" and Alex Vause on "Orange Is The New Black." The actor and director also just recently released her new book this week called "You and I, As Mothers: A Raw and Honest Guide to Motherhood." Prepon says she wrote the book after going through struggles of her own as a mother.
"So much of my book is about building a community and making sure you are supported," said Prepon in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "I'm so happy that the book is coming out in the middle of all of this because I really hope it helps people feel less alone, much like it did for me when I was writing it."
FULL INTERVIEW:
Prepon's book dives into many issues mothers deal with like self care, guilt, and shame. The actor recently had her second child after a hugely successful run on Netflix's "Orange Is The New Black." The series from Jenji Kohan was one of the streaming platforms first original shows and Prepon still misses playing Vause.
"Alex is a bad ass and I love her and I miss her," said Prepon. "She is on streaming forever and I can't tell you how many people are revisiting it again during all that's going on. Netflix didn't micromanage and they let Jenji do her vision and they let us do our interpretation of the role. Netflix let us do our thing and look at what it became."
While many people know Prepon for her work on "Orange Is The New Black," she became the actor she is today through her experience on "That '70s Show" with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Topher Grace.
"I had no idea what I was doing when I booked That '70s Show," said Prepon. "Because Donna Pinciotti was so similar to who I was, there was this thing in me as a person that was so Donna. The fact that I didn't know how to act didn't really matter because Donna was so me. It was a glove that I could slide right into and it fit perfectly. That was really great for me first role."
Prepon's book is available now wherever books are sold.
Watch all of DJ Sixsmith's interviews from "The Sit-Down" series here.