The Truth About Donna's Hair Change At The End Of That 70s Show
By Christopher Ramos
According to The Things, Prepon dyed her hair blond to take on the lead role in Karla, a 2006 flick centered on the crimes and subsequent trial of Karla Homolka, one of the most notorious criminals in Canadian history. Between 1990 and 1992, Homolka helped her husband, Paul Bernardo (portrayed in the film by Misha Collins), sexually assault and murder at least three underage girls, one of whom was Karla's own younger sister Tammy (played by Cherilyn Hayres). The pair infamously videotaped some of their crimes; although the tapes revealed Homolka to be a willing participant in Bernardo's murderous activities, she was allowed to plead guilty only to two counts of manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Bernardo, who was tried separately, was handed a life sentence and declared a "dangerous offender," making him unlikely to ever be paroled. However, Homolka was allowed to go free in 2005 after having served her sentence (via CBC).
Prepon has proven herself to be a gifted dramatic actress, but Karla... how can we put this politely... stunk, according to reviewers. The flick "achieved" a rare 0 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics calling it a work of pure exploitation that failed to do justice to the real-life victims of Homolka and Bernardo's crimes. Prepon appeared in one other feature in 2006 — the Ashley Judd drama Come Early Morning — but stuck largely to television roles afterward, having appeared on the big screen only a handful of times since.
Fans of That '70s Show will always fondly remember Blond Donna, but thanks to the switch, they also have a supposedly terrible film that utterly failed to shed any light on the motivations of its subject — a woman who was found guilty of committing some of the most shocking crimes of the 20th century.
