Laura Prepon talks recreating “That '70s Show ”original“ ”opening credits on “That '90s Show”

Prepon, who directed all of Part 3, also unpacks that dramatic cliffhanger ending.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for That '90s Show Part 3.

Laura Prepon is still hangin' out down the street, doing the same old thing she did last time on That '70s Show, only now on That '90s Show.

The '70s Show alum has been part of Netflix's sequel series from the beginning, returning onscreen in cameos as the now adult Donna, wife of Eric Forman (Topher Grace) and mother to new main character Leia (Callie Haverda). But the actor took on a much bigger role in Part 3 (now streaming on Netflix) as Donna stayed in Point Place with Leia for an extended period of time — and behind the scenes, as Prepon directed all eight episodes.

Below, Prepon tells Entertainment Weekly what it was like helming all of Part 3, recreating the original '70s opening credits in episode 6, and ending the show on that dramatic cliffhanger (Netflix has not yet ordered another season).

Related: That '90s Show's Callie Haverda breaks down Part 2 cliffhanger: 'This is a huge deal'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was it like directing all of Part 3?

LAURA PREPON: When you come in as a TV director, you have to keep with the tone of the show. But I've known all these people for 20 years. They were on '70s, so this was a total love fest. I lived on these sets for so many years that I was able to take that and really reimagine it in this new way with this new cast. It was really fun and they totally trusted me as their director, and there's a ton of empathy and understanding because I'm never going to ask them to do anything I've never had to do myself — literally, physically, and emotionally. So, talk about a deep understanding. I'm like, "I was in your shoes, and I'm not just saying that. Physically, I was standing where you were doing the same thing." So the trust and the love was so there and the support was there, it was a really great experience. I loved it. I hope we get to do more.

What did you want your "reimagined" take on this show to look like?

The thing that's great about the fact that it's in the '90s is that there's no cell phones. These kids aren't sitting there with iPhones and all that, so a lot of the stuff that we did on '70s where we were just "doing nothing" but there was so much going on in the basement, but we were just hanging out, I could take a lot of that stuff and incorporate those things with this new path. Because they're in the same basement with a lot of the same stuff, and I really got to lean in on my history of being on these sets of what we would do in the basement and these relationships and being this age. I was really thankful for my insight and experience having lived on the set for so long.

I'm really proud of how it turned out. I hope people see some Easter eggs. I hope when people watch it, they feel the familiarity, because '70s was like such a warm blanket for people. There's something about a multi-camera sitcom that's comforting, and I hope that that comes across in this show.

This is less of an Easter egg and more an overt callback, but what was it like recreating the original opening credits in episode 6 with everyone in the car singing and dancing to the theme song?

Oh my gosh, that was so awesome. That was totally surreal. And a lot more people had to squish into the Vista Cruiser for this one. It was really fun. The first time they played the song and we were all singing, I just got chills. I'm like, "This is so awesome that they're doing this." And I love that that was written into the show. It just brought me right back — but now, I'm outside of the car directing the scene, and it just filled my heart.

Related: Where Eric and Donna ended up on That '90s Show

I love how Leia is the one to place her hands on the dashboard like Donna did. Very "like mother, like daughter."

Yeah, I know. That was so cute. And that was a decision that we made. We talked about it and it's like, "Do we want Leia to do that or is that too much? Should she not do that?" Because she's her own person, she's not doing a Donna-ism. But she did it and it was great.

What was it like filming that opening sequence back when you did it the first time on That '70s Show?

We shot '70s Show on film — that's why it looks so amazing. '90s looks great too, it's just a different format. But '70s Show was shot on film, and when we filmed those opening credits, we were actually driving down Ventura Boulevard. We were outside, in the car. This was also a very long time ago, but I recall going out and driving down the streets for one of those, because we did a few versions of them over the years. But the first one, we were out on Ventura Boulevard doing it, and it was on film, and that was awesome. And we were just messing around. We were kids, filming on a street.

At that point, when we did the first opening credits ever, we didn't know what the show was going to become. We had no idea. Mila was 14, I'm 18, we were all a bunch of kids just about to have the biggest gifts of our lives, which was the show. Honestly, back then, I didn't know anything about acting. I didn't grow up wanting to be an actor. I totally fell into it. It was one of those things where your destiny is going to find you if you don't already know what it is. And I didn't know what a pilot was. I didn't know what it meant to get picked up. I didn't know any of this stuff. So when we were doing this, I was just enjoying it. I didn't know what was at stake. I honestly was just having fun.

And I think that's another reason that that show was so special. We all really were friends and you could tell that we all liked being together. And it's something that I think works so well on '90s Show. This cast loves being together. It is so great, because let me tell you, I've worked on projects where the cast doesn't like being together and it's awful. I don't want to be around that animosity. You hear all these awful stories about people not getting along, and you're just like, "Guys, come on. We're so lucky." Especially these days when it's even harder to keep something on the air, and these kids really know what an amazing opportunity this is. And I hope it continues on, and of course, I would love to direct more and come back as Donna.

Part 3 ends on the dramatic cliffhanger of Donna, Kitty, and Red catching Leia smoking weed on the roof of the school in the middle of the night. What can you tease about what happens next — if the show returns?

I don't know. I've been fortunate enough to be in this industry long enough to know I'm just grateful for the current job I have. I don't overthink what's going to happen. Is it going to get picked up? Is it not going to? So when I'm asked about the cliffhanger, hopefully that's something that gets to be explored, because they definitely left it pretty open-ended, and hopefully we get a chance to explore that and see. It's really wonderful being able to see how Donna deals with these situations of being a mother and a wife.

It's fascinating because Donna was doing the same — if not worse — things that Leia is now doing, but now she has to be the parent.

[Laughs] I know! It's so fun being able to see a beloved character like Donna, how she is as a mother, how she is as a wife, how she deals with these situations. And I remember Red having this line where, in the pilot of the show, Topher and I were sitting in the kitchen in a scene as Eric and Donna, and Red's like, "You're upstairs people now." It's funny seeing Donna as an upstairs person and how she's dealing with it.

At the end of the show, when she's at the top of the roof where she's like, "Did you think I wouldn't find you? I know all the spots. Who are you trying to kid?!" It's really fun to have the full-circle moment for a character like her, who I love so much, and seeing her as a mother and a wife and an adult. It's fulfilling. And then also, to be Donna in that situation and directing, it's a really, really wonderful experience.

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.