Laura Prepon - Biography

Laura Prepon (born March 7, 1980) is an American actress, best known for her role as Donna Pinciotti in the long-running Fox situation comedy That '70s Show, for all eight seasons. She is also known for the role of Hannah Daniels on the ABC drama October Road. She has voiced characters in animated TV series such as American Dad! and King of the Hill, as well as a character in the video game Halo 2.

Following her work on That '70s Show, Prepon worked mainly in television, guest-starring in episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Medium, and Castle. In 2011, Prepon began filming the comedy series Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, based on Chelsea Handler's 2008 book of the same name. Prepon plays Handler in the series, which is yet to be released.

Early life

Prepon was born in Watchung, New Jersey, the daughter of Marjorie, a high school teacher, and Michael, an orthopedic surgeon. Prepon's father died during heart surgery in 1993 at age 49; Prepon was 13 years old at the time. Prepon is the youngest of five children. She attended Watchung Hills Regional High School. She studied at Caroline Thomas' Total Theater Lab in New York City. Her father was of Russian Jewish descent and her mother is of Irish Catholic background.

Career

1995–2004

Prepon appeared in such plays as A Woman of Property and Ascension Day while in New York. In 1996, she studied drama with acting teacher Caroline Thomas at Thomas' Total Theatre Lab. Also in 1996, she appeared in the Sneaker Pimps music video for the song "6 Underground". Later, in September 1997, she premiered on a Levi Strauss-developed show called They Go On, an Internet-based soap opera. Prepon has also worked as a model and has done photo shoots in Paris, Milan, and Brazil.

During her hiatus from That '70s Show, Prepon worked on the independent film The Pornographer: A Love Story. The film tells the story of an obsessive relationship between a director and an actress. She was also in the film Slackers, which is about two best friends trying to scam their way through college that eventually get caught. She was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in 2002 for her role in That '70s Show. In 2001 she got her first chance to get in front of a movie camera in the independent film Southlander, a comedy/music film by Steve Hanft starring Beck, Beth Orton and Hank Williams, in which she played a young TV telepathic named Seven=Five.

She was a presenter at many different award shows including, Second Annual TV Guide Awards, in 2000, the 2000 Teen Choice Awards, and the 28th Annual American Music Awards in 2001. She has graced the cover of Maxim twice — once with red hair and once with her hair dyed blonde — and has done a TV advertisement for Gap clothing, although it was never aired. Prepon was named one of Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women In The World" in 2002 and one of Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" in 2005. Prepon also had a cameo voice appearance as a United Nations Space Command marine in Halo 2, which was released in 2004. Her first notable role came in 2004, with the dark drama Lightning Bug which also starred Bret Harrison, Kevin Gage, and Ashley Laurence. Branching into other arenas than acting, Prepon also served as executive producer of the film.

She has been a guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2003 and 2004, and Last Call with Carson Daly in 2003 and 2005. She also appeared on a episode of MTV's Cribs in 2003.

That '70s Show

Prepon is best known for her starring role as Donna Pinciotti on the Fox television series That '70s Show, from 1998 to 2006. That 70's Show is essentially about six friends, Eric Forman (Topher Grace), Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson), Fez (Wilmer Valderrama), Jackie Burkhart (Mila Kunis), and Donna Pinciotti, who are constantly getting into precarious situations and are always hanging out in Eric Forman's basement. Her character, Donna Pinciotti, was the girlfriend of the central character Eric Forman as well as his next door neighbor.

2005–2010

Prepon was an executive producer of E! Hollywood Hold'em

In 2005, Prepon starred in the movie Karla, the true story of Paul Bernardo and his wife Karla Homolka – a couple who kidnapped, sexually abused and murdered three young girls – this was in contrast to her usual lighthearted roles. Prepon was a cast member of the ABC show October Road, which debuted March 15, 2007. The show was canceled by ABC on May 12, 2008, despite strong ratings and a grassroots campaign from the show's fanbase to keep the show alive. In April 2007, she starred in a short film, Once Upon a Time. She has also appeared in the Oxygen movie, Romancing the Bride. She also was the original voice for Hayley Smith on American Dad! and voiced her in an unaired pilot. She appeared as Lauren, Mary's long lost sister, on USA network's In Plain Sight in the episode "A Frond in Need." On February 5, 2010, it was announced that Prepon signed on for Awkward Situations For Men, a pilot on ABC. In 2009 Prepon appeared in How I Met Your Mother as Karen, one of Ted's girlfriends, in the episode "Sorry, Bro." She was also in episodes "The Front Porch" in 2009, and "Say Cheese" in 2010.

2011–present

In early 2011, Prepon was on an episode of Castle, playing an actress studying for the role of Nikki Heat, a character created by Castle. Prepon has been cast as main character Chelsea Newman on Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, based on Chelsea Handler's book of the same name.

Personal life

Her nicknames are Pre, which is short for Prepon, and Snaps.

While on the That '70s Show set, Prepon met Christopher Masterson, who played Francis on the show Malcolm in the Middle and is the brother of Danny Masterson, who played Hyde in That '70s Show. The two started a relationship and eventually moved in together, later separating in 2007. She is now dating Scott Michael Foster who played Cappie on Greek. In a December 2007 interview in Women's Health, Prepon stated that she was a Scientologist.

Filmography

Film and television

External links

• Biography from the That '70s Show website