'Orange is the New Black:' Jenji Kohan Talks About Laura Prepon's Rumored Exit, Differences Between Show and Memoir [EXCLUSIVE]
Orange Is The New Black creator Jenji Kohan spoke to Enstars about Laura Prepon's rumored exit and the differences between the TV adaptation and Piper Kerman's memoir, at the inaugural Paley Fest in New York.
Kohan, who also created Weeds, looked very distinctive with her hair dyed phosphorescent green at the event, which celebrated the success of the first season of the Netflix show. Recently there was a lot of buzz surrounding Laura Prepon, who plays Alex Vause, a sophisticated heroine-dealer and Piper Chapman's lesbian lover, exiting the show during the second season. Reports suggested Prepon was to appear only in a few episodes of the second season but her character would eventually be written off.
When asked about if Prepon was actually leaving the show and what motivated the decision, Kohan was non-committal and didn't get what all the fuss was about.
"She'll be in the second season and we have plans with her, and you know, everyone has their stories and hers will unfold and people will see," she said. "And I think it is a non-story this Laura thing. You have to be patient."
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Kohan also discussed the issue of differences between the memoir and the the television adaptation that had been highlighted by the press in the past.
"I mean truthfully the book was sort of source material for us. It was an inspiration but after the first episode we flew off, I still talk to Piper a lot about facts and if this happened, technical issues but we left the book behind early on," she said.
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She also suggested that, in a way, the fictionalized adaptation was probably the better route to take not only for the audiences but also for the author of the book.
"We never spoke about it specifically but we talked about it later and she was relieved because who wants to see their life, sort of reflected back at them week after week? And it is a different form, it's its own thing," Kohan said.
