Laura Prepon From ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Credits Scientology For Her Acting Chops, ‘It’s Magic’

Orange is the New Black star Laura Prepon credits the controversial religion Scientology for her award-winning performances, according to an interview Prepon did with the exclusive Scientologist magazine Celebrity.

The magazine, which keeps members apprised of the goings-on of the religion’s celebrity believers, is typically given to members only, but the owner of the Laura Prepon fan-made Instagram account @laurapreponpower got a copy and posted the interview online.

In the interview, Prepon claims the process of auditing is what has allowed her to give the often-emotional performances needed on OITNB.

“I feel a lot of the auditing that I’ve had helps me to be willing to go there and be free and vulnerable and really jump into these scenes wholeheartedly,” Prepon says. “There are days where it’s like, okay… let’s do this! And you have to drop all of your pre-conceived ideas, or mis-emotions, or being uncomfortable and just go there. Auditing has helped so much in getting me to this place.”

Auditing involves the subject, in this case, Laura, holding a pair of electrodes that are attached to an e-meter while being asked questions. The questions probe Prepon’s past in a search for engrams which register on the e-meter as electrical pulses. Engrams are believed to be painful memories — from this lifetime or past ones — that hinder the subject’s current incarnation.

Laura Prepon, who played Donna Pinciotti on That 70s Show, says that Scientology has allowed her to gain control over her career and not the other way around.

“This is my career but it does not define me,” Prepon told the interviewer. “I am so much bigger than this career and industry. It’s my job and it’s very important to me, but, when I have huge wins in session, and when you really cognate that you are a thetan and you have a mind and body, and that the MEST universe does not control you—it puts things into perspective.”

Prepon also claims to have converted an unnamed producer she once worked with, who had some skewed views on the religion.

“After he worked with me,” Prepon alleges, “he came up said, ‘If you’re a Scientologist, I want to know about it, because you’re an amazing representation of what you’re doing over there.'”

The interview concludes with Laura saying of Scientology, “It’s magic, it really is.”

Did you know that Laura Prepon was a member of the Church of Scientology? Does the fact that Laura counts herself among such other eccentric Scientologists like Tom Cruise and John Travolta change your perspective on her?

[Photo Credits: Header — Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, Body — Instagram/@laurapreponpower]