How ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Star Laura Prepon Feels About Alex’s Ending

“Orange is the New Black” star Laura Prepon is ready for the end. The Netflix series will conclude with its seventh season, out Friday, and Prepon told International Business Times how she really feels about Alex Vause’s final chapter.

“I feel really good about it. I mean, I didn’t know when we started how Alex’s story was going to end. I’m really happy with the way it does,” Prepon shared with IBT.

Prepon plays Alex Vause, the imprisoned drug smuggler and dealer. Throughout seven seasons of “Orange is the New Black,” the character went from Piper’s (Taylor Schilling) adversary to her wife. Season 7 finds Alex adjusting to life in prison after her love has been freed.

She couldn’t give away much about what’s in store for Vause, but she thinks the audience will be satisfied too. “I think that fans will be happy about how it ends. At least I hope they are. I was happy with it, and Taylor and I both felt really good,” she added. “I don’t want to speak for her, but when we filmed our last scene together, it was really special, and we felt really good about it. I think that the fans will be happy, and I hope they are.”

The star, who is also directing an episode for the third time this season, said it’s hard to say what exactly was her favorite part of being on “Orange is the New Black.” However, she loves how much the Netflix show has affected people. She recalled a recent meet and greet with fans at VidCon, a convention for YouTube fans.

“This girl came up to me and she said, ‘Thank you so much for portraying Alex.’ And she said, ‘Watching you play Alex gave me the courage to come out to my family.’ And I was so blown away by the fact that a character that I played gave this girl the confidence to be able to speak to her family about something that she couldn’t speak to them about,” she recalled.

Over the first six seasons, “Orange is the New Black” tackled a ton of subjects from corruption to racism to immigration to equal rights and more. Prepon appreciates seeing how audiences have been affected by the storylines.

“To be a part of a show that creates these effects on people, that takes on subject matters that nobody else is doing, to be on a show that’s taking on such realistic things that it’s taking on, whether it’s the things that we took on just with the penal system alone. So all the different relationships, and all the different kinds of women that were represented on our show, it’s phenomenal. I mean, we were the first of it’s kind, really. And to be a part of that, it’s not just an acting job, it’s so much more. And for that, I’m truly grateful.”

“Orange is the New Black” Season 7 premieres Friday on Netflix.