Laura Prepon
“Orange Is the New Black” star Laura Prepon, pictured Jan. 30, 2016, once tried to lose weight by injecting herself with hormones. Getty Images

“Orange Is the New Black” star Laura Prepon is one of the most popular actresses on the Netflix series. She was such a hit with fans that her character was brought back to the series in Season 3, even though she was originally supposed to leave after Season 2. While fans might love everything about her “Orange” character, Alex Vause, Prepon didn’t always have that amount of love for herself.

Prepon, 35, opened up about her harmful habits during an interview with E! Online Thursday. While she eats healthy and exercises now, it wasn’t always that way. She knows what it’s like to be one of those young actresses in Hollywood “torturing themselves with crash diets.”

During that time she was obsessing about her body, Prepon injected herself with hormones. She was “desperate to look a certain way.” But the Netflix star doesn’t recommend this dangerous method, which “ultimately just ended up backfiring” on her.

Now, Prepon has learned to love herself. “Not to sound cliche,” she started, "[but] truly embrace who you are. Embrace every curve, and embrace everything about yourself.” Part of what helped the actress see her own beauty was working with the women of “Orange Is the New Black.” She said, “All these women are so gorgeous, and we all look so vastly different.”

She echoed a similar sentiment about being diverse when she won a SAG Award in January for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series. “Look at this stage, this is what we talk about when we talk about diversity, different race, color, creed, sexual orientation, thank you so much,” Prepon said.

With Season 4 of the hit series getting ready to make its debut on Netflix in June, Prepon has some more exciting news. She has written a book, “The Stash Plan,” about weight management and nutrition, which is available in stores now.

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