Laura Prepon Says She Left the Church of Scientology 5 Years Ago
Laura Prepon is no longer a practicing Scientologist. The 41-year-old Orange Is the New Black actress reveals in a new interview with People that she left the controversial religion nearly five years ago.
"I'm no longer practicing Scientology," she tells the outlet of the religion, which she joined in 1999. "I've always been very open-minded, even since I was a child."
"I was raised Catholic and Jewish. I've prayed in churches, meditated in temples. I've studied Chinese meridian theory," Prepon continues. "I haven't practiced Scientology in close to five years and it's no longer part of my life."
Prepon isn't the first celebrity to leave Scientology. Leah Remini, Paul Haggis and Jason Lee have likewise done so.
In its place, Prepon says she and Ben Foster, her husband who has never practiced Scientology, have taken up meditation.
"We meditate daily and I'm really liking it because it's something that helps me to hear my own voice and it's something we can do together," she says.
While Prepon doesn't expand on why she decided to stop practicing Scientology, she implies that becoming a mom had something to do with it, noting that having kids "forced" her to "look at a lot of things in my life that I wasn't looking at before." The actress and Foster share two kids, a 4-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.
"If motherhood has taught me anything so far, it's that something can work out for a period of time and then you move on and evolve from that," she says. "As a new mom, I was riddled with anxiety that I had never experienced before. My friends who were mothers with older kids said, 'Laura, this is a phase, you'll move on and then it will be something different.' And that has transcended into other parts of my life. We're all evolving. I always see that with my kids."
As for how she sees her kids "change every day now," Prepon says, "My daughter is outgoing and wonderful and obsessed with mermaids -- it used to be unicorns. She's also very determined and does not give up. My son is beginning to socialize with kids more in small classes. He's much more calm and observant."
On the work front, Prepon has been busy developing a cookware line and writing her third book, but acting isn't on the top of her priority list.
"Orange Is the New Black was so incredible, to work with all of those incredible actors and direct multiple episodes, it's hard to find something that lives up to that," she explains. "Now, my first question is how long is it going to take me away from my family. Now that I have two kids, everything is a family decision. I miss acting but my life is pretty dominated by my entrepreneurial stuff. Right now, it's kind of a one-woman show over here!"
All in all, Prepon says, "Life is slowly starting to have some semblance of normalcy again, so for now, it's just work, family and trying to get a laugh when we can."
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