Natasha Lyonne
Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein is an American actress, director, comedian, producer, writer, and tech executive. Lyonne started her career as a child actress before expanding her career taking on mature roles in film and television, for which she was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, and named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2023.
Lyonne made her first uncredited appearance in Heartburn, had a recurring role in Pee-wee's Playhouse, and a supporting role in Dennis the Menace. She transitioned to taking on teen roles in several independent films such as Everyone Says I Love You, Slums of Beverly Hills, But I'm a Cheerleader, and Party Monster, as well as the American Pie film series.
She found a career resurgence and Emmy Award-nominations for her performances as Nicky Nichols in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, co-created, wrote, directed, and executive produced the Netflix series Russian Doll, and starred in the Peacock series Poker Face and the Netflix film His Three Daughters.
In 2025, she publicly revealed herself as the co-founder of the artificial intelligence film studio Asteria, founded with her boyfriend Bryn Mooser in 2022 with the intent to create animated feature films with AI tools using responsibly sourced data.
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Early life and education
Lyonne was born in New York City, the daughter of Orthodox Jewish parents Ivette Buchinger and Aaron Braunstein, a boxing promoter, race car driver, and radio host. Her mother was born in Paris, to Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor parents.Lyonne has joked that her family consists of "my father's side, Flatbush, and my mother's side, Auschwitz". Her grandmother, Ella, came from a large family, but only she and her two sisters and two brothers survived, which Lyonne has attributed to their blond hair and blue eyes. Lyonne's grandfather, Morris Buchinger, operated a watch company in Los Angeles. During the war, he hid in Budapest as a non-Jew working in a leather factory. Lyonne lived the first eight years of her life in Great Neck, New York. She and her family emigrated to Israel, where she spent a year and a half. While in Israel, Lyonne participated in the 1989 Israeli children's film April Fool, which began her interest in acting. Her parents divorced, and Lyonne and her older brother, Adam, returned to the United States with their mother. After moving back to New York City, Lyonne attended the Ramaz School, a private Jewish school, where she was a scholarship student who took Talmud classes and read Aramaic. She was expelled in her sophomore year for selling marijuana to classmates. Lyonne grew up on the Upper East Side, where she felt she was an outsider. Her mother moved the family to Miami and Lyonne briefly attended Miami Country Day School. She did not graduate from high school, leaving before her senior year to attend a film program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, which she attended for a short time, studying film and philosophy. Her high school graduation depended on completing her first year at Tisch, but she left the program because she could not pay the tuition.
Lyonne was estranged from her father, who was a Democratic candidate for New York City Council for the sixth District of Manhattan in 2013, and lived on the Upper West Side until his death in October 2014. She has said she was not close to her mother, who died in 2013, and has essentially lived independently of her family since age 16.
Career
1986–1999: Beginnings and film breakout
As a young child, Lyonne was signed by the Ford Modeling Agency. She was cast as recurring character Opal on Pee-wee's Playhouse at age seven, where she appeared between September and December 1986, and made her film debut that same year with a small part in the Mike Nichols comedy-drama Heartburn. Of her time working as a child actor, Lyonne later said, "I had to become coherent and a businesswoman at six. By 10, I was a jaded professional... I don't think knew better. It was a decision of built on hopeful ignorance".After playing a supporting role as Polly in Dennis the Menace, Lyonne was cast at age 16 in the Woody Allen-directed musical comedy Everyone Says I Love You, where she co-starred as D.J., the daughter of main character Joe. This led to a headline role in the independent coming-of-age comedy Slums of Beverly Hills, for which she received positive notices for her portrayal of Vivian Abromowitz. Writing for The Washington Post, Michael O'Sullivan said, "Lyonne is marvelous in conveying Vivian's combination of confusion, curiosity, disgust and desire at what body and psyche are going through. After playing a string of people's daughters, Lyonne really comes into her own here as an actress, registering as a person and not merely someone's little girl".
In 1999, Lyonne starred as Megan Bloomfield, a sexually confused teenager, in the satirical romantic comedy But I'm a Cheerleader. Despite a mixed critical reception upon release, the film was instrumental in raising awareness of the harms of conversion therapy, and has since developed a cult following. In the same year, Lyonne played the small but crucial part of Jessica in American Pie —which grossed over US$230 million at the box office—reprising the role in two of the film's sequels. Other film appearances in 1999 included Christine in Detroit Rock City and a headline role in Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby. The latter, a follow-up to the 1996 original, was poorly received due to its violence and vulgarity, but Lyonne's portrayal of teenage prostitute Crystal Van Meuther was praised for its "earthy, hard-boiled" nature.
2000–2010: Mainstream and independent films
Lyonne played the part of Jeanne, a college activist fighting for lesbian equality, in the acclaimed 2000 television film If These Walls Could Talk 2. She then appeared in the well-received Holocaust drama The Grey Zone, and continued to work steadily through the early 2000s, in mainstream projects such as Scary Movie 2 and ''Kate & Leopold, and Blade: Trinity, as well as smaller productions such as Zig Zag, Die, Mommie, Die! and Party Monster, Madhouse, and My Suicidal Sweetheart. Next, she headlined the 2009 experimental dark comedy The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, which was described as "relentlessly strange, courageous, and hyperactive" by The Austin Chronicle. Her portrayal of Debbie Tennis, a psychotic serial killer, in the 2010 horror parody All About Evil was particularly well received, with Film Threat commenting, " rightfully treats Lyonne as the superstar she is, giving us glimpses of the dark residing in that made Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trick Baby the final cult masterpiece of the 20th century", noting that "her ability to unleash firehoses of ferocity is on full display here".Lyonne made her New York stage debut in the 2008 production of Mike Leigh's Two Thousand Years at the Acorn Theatre. She was part of the original cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore—an off-Broadway play by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, based on the book by Ilene Beckerman. In 2010, Lyonne received positive notices for her performance in Kim Rosenstock's comedy Tigers Be Still at the Roundabout Theatre Company, with Charles Isherwood commenting in his review for The New York Times: "Ms. Lyonne a thorough delight in the flat-out funniest role, the grief-crazed Grace, so deeply immersed in self-pity that she has cast aside any attempts at decorum". Lyonne starred in the 2011 production of Tommy Nohilly's Blood from a Stone at the Acorn Theatre. The following year, she participated in a benefit performance of Women Behind Bars''.
2011–2022: career resurgence and awards success
Lyonne had a supporting role in Abel Ferrara's post-apocalyptic drama 4:44 Last Day on Earth, which Movieline called "weirdly compelling". Two years later, she began appearing on the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black; her first television job as a series regular. Critics were effusive about her portrayal of prison inmate Nicky Nichols, for which she received a nomination for the 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, and was twice awarded—alongside her co-stars—the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series.Lyonne's work as hard-partying Lou in Antibirth, a psychedelic horror feature inspired by the films of David Cronenberg, drew special attention; Alex McLevy wrote in a review for The A.V. Club, "The actor has experienced a remarkable resurgence in the past few years... Here, she channels her storied past to play Lou... drug-addled... plays to Lyonne's strengths—a bluntly outsized personality, brash but likable, with a self-destructive streak bigger than the podunk town in which the story unfolds". Other film credits of hers include Sleeping with Other People, Hello, My Name Is Doris, Addicted to Fresno, Hashtag Horror ; Yoga Hosers, The Intervention ; Handsome, Show Dogs, Honey Boy, and James Gray's science fiction thriller Ad Astra.
Lyonne made her directorial debut in the fall of 2017 with a surrealist short film, Cabiria, Charity, Chastity, for fashion brand KENZO. Shot by cinematographer Chung-Hoon-Chung, the film follows Chastity, a vaudeville performer, coming to terms with her past. In addition to writing and directing episodes of Russian Doll and Poker Face, Lyonne directed an episode of Orange is the New Black in its final season, and one episode each of the Hulu shows Shrill and High Fidelity.
After the final season of Orange Is the New Black, Lyonne began starring as Nadia Vulvokov—a woman trapped in a time loop at her 36th birthday party—on Russian Doll, a comedy-drama series she created and produced along with Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler. Debuting on Netflix in February 2019, the show was met with rave reviews, with Lucy Mangan of The Guardian calling it "fine impressive," adding, "Nadia is a magnificent creation and Lyonne gives a performance to match". Meanwhile, Alan Sepinwall wrote in his review for Rolling Stone:
Russian Doll has had two seasons, earning Lyonne three Primetime Emmy nominations: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Lyonne portrayed American actress Tallulah Bankhead in Lee Daniels' The United States vs. Billie Holiday, a biographical drama based on the life and career of jazz singer Billie Holiday, in 2021. She made a cameo appearance as herself in the Rian Johnson-directed mystery thriller Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery the following year, and hosted the season 47 finale of Saturday Night Live, where she performed a five-minute monologue about her career and personal troubles.
2022–present: Artificial intelligence film studio and further ambition
In 2022, Lyonne co-founded artificial intelligence film studio Asteria with her boyfriend Bryn Mooser, the company operating with the intent to create animated feature films with AI tools that would author, animate, manage, produce the soundtrack for, and turn out the films using responsibly sourced data.In January 2023, she starred as Charlie Cale—a casino worker with an innate ability to detect lies—on the Peacock series Poker Face. Inspired by television murder mysteries such as Columbo, the series was positively reviewed, with Nick Hilton of The Independent calling it "satisfyingly pacy and pulpy", while saying of Lyonne, " a bundle of unhinged charisma". The show returned for a second season in 2025.
In December 2024, Lyonne voiced the character Byrdie in two episodes of the animated series What If...?. In 2025 she appeared as Rachel Rozman in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
In June 2025, Lyonne publicly revealed the existence of Asteria and her position as its co-founder.
Companies
In 2019, Lyonne co-founded the production company Animal Pictures with Maya Rudolph. Its first greenlit project was the sketch comedy special Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine, which Lyonne directed. The company also produces Russian Doll, Poker Face, Loot, and the animated series The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy. It was announced in October 2023 that Rudolph had parted ways with the company, leaving Lyonne to operate by herself under the Animal banner. In May 2024, she signed a deal with production company Sister, who will collaborate with Lyonne on upcoming Animal projects. In September 2024, Deadline announced that Animal Pictures, along with Objective Fictions, would produce a new "retro series for Sky titled Force & Majeure" starring Lyonne and Matt Berry.Asteria
In 2022, Lyonne co-founded the artificial intelligence film studio Asteria with her boyfriend Bryn Mooser, which aims to create animated feature films using AI tools and responsibly sourced data. In June 2025, Lyonne publicly announced the existence of Asteria and her position as its co-founder to the world at large, speaking of her late neighbour David Lynch's support of her ambition. Asteria is owned by Moonvalley.Style and influences
Regarding her directorial style, Lyonne has expressed frustration with the "simplicity" of modern filmmaking, saying that she likes to counteract this by "filling the frame with an abundance of information", adding: "I do think there's a danger in telling people that brightly lit, crisp things that make perfect sense are good storytelling". She also believes that research is key to a successful narrative: "Read as many books, watch as many movies, and listen to as much music as you can so that you actually understand the stories that you're telling".Lyonne has cited John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Lou Reed, Nora Ephron, and Delia Ephron as being professional inspirations. Her favorite film performances include Giulietta Masina in Nights of Cabiria, Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence, David Thewlis in Naked, and Roy Scheider in All That Jazz.
In 2019, Lyonne and Chloë Sevigny helped organize a crowdfund to restore the 1980 film Out of the Blue from its original elements. Both actresses have cited the film as an influence.
Public image
Lyonne has been featured on the covers of magazines including Backstage, Bust, Diva, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, The Hollywood Reporter, Interview, Nylon, Out, Paper, Variety, Venus, and TheWrap.For her position in the LGBT community as a 'straight ally', in 2015 Lyonne was awarded the Human Rights Campaign's Ally for Equality Award.
Personal life
In 1997, Lyonne used her paycheck from Everyone Says I Love You to buy an apartment near Gramercy Park. As of 2023, she lives in New York City's East Village and owns a residence in Los Angeles.Relationships
Estranged from her biological family, Lyonne has discussed the importance of the chosen family she has developed through friends and collaborators. She counts Katherine Waterston, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Janicza Bravo among her personal friends; she is particularly close to Melanie Lynskey and Clea DuVall. She said of her friendship with Chloë Sevigny, " more than my best friend, she might have actually morphed into my sister". Lyonne is also close to Aubrey Plaza.Lyonne identifies as straight, stating that "I look at sex more as... 'hmm, what's this mischief I can get into?'". On 26 January 2026, Lyonne posted on Twitter, "#comingout #queer."
Lyonne dated Edward Furlong in the late 1990s and Andrew Zipern in the early 2010s. She began dating comedian and actor Fred Armisen in 2014, but confirmed in April 2022 that the relationship had ended. By 2022, Lyonne was dating Bryn Mooser, with whom she founded the artificial intelligence film studio Asteria. Lyonne publicly announced the two's status and plans in June 2025.
Health and legal issues
During the early 2000s, Lyonne experienced legal problems and was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, and for incidents involving threatening her neighbors. In 2005, she was evicted by her landlord, actor Michael Rapaport, following complaints by other tenants about her behavior.In 2005, Lyonne was admitted—under a pseudonym—to Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, suffering from hepatitis C, infective endocarditis, and a collapsed lung; she was also undergoing methadone treatment for heroin addiction. In January 2006, a warrant was issued for her arrest after she missed a court hearing relating to her prior legal problems. Her lawyer said an emergency had arisen, but did not give details. Later in the same year, Lyonne was admitted to a drug and alcohol treatment center; she appeared in court afterwards, and the judge entered a conditional discharge. She has not used drugs since December 2006 and has been open about her addiction and recovery. She relapsed in 2026.
Lyonne underwent open-heart surgery in 2012 to correct heart valve damage caused by her previous heart infection. She quit smoking in 2023 but resumed in 2024.
Interests
A fan of crossword puzzles, Lyonne designed a crossword for The New York Times in 2019. During the 2023 WGA strike, she auctioned off the opportunity for fans to solve a New York Times crossword with her to raise money for the Union Solidarity Coalition. Her other interests include philosophy and classic cinema.Lyonne has a pet Maltipoo dog named Rootbeer, who regularly makes appearances on her social media and in interviews.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | Heartburn | Rachel's Niece | Uncredited |
| 1989 | April Fool | Natasha | |
| 1990 | ' | Arab Girl | |
| 1993 | Dennis the Menace | Polly | |
| 1996 | Everyone Says I Love You | Djuna "DJ" Berlin | |
| 1998 | Slums of Beverly Hills | Vivian Abromowitz | |
| 1998 | Krippendorf's Tribe | Shelly Krippendorf | |
| 1998 | Modern Vampires | Rachel | |
| 1999 | American Pie | Jessica | |
| 1999 | Detroit Rock City | Christine Sixteen | |
| 1999 | Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby | Crystal "White Girl" Van Meuther | Also associate producer |
| 1999 | But I'm a Cheerleader | Megan Bloomfield | |
| 1999 | ' | Rosemary Olson | |
| 2001 | Plan B | Kaye | |
| 2001 | Fast Sofa | Tamara Jenson | |
| 2001 | Scary Movie 2 | Megan Voorhees | |
| 2001 | American Pie 2 | Jessica | |
| 2001 | ' | Rosa | |
| 2001 | Kate & Leopold | Darci | |
| 2002 | Comic Book Villains | Judy Link | |
| 2002 | Zig Zag | Jenna the Working Girl | |
| 2002 | Night at the Golden Eagle | Amber | |
| 2003 | Die, Mommie, Die! | Edith Sussman | |
| 2003 | Party Monster | Brooke | |
| 2004 | America Brown | Vera | |
| 2004 | Madhouse | Alice | |
| 2004 | Blade: Trinity | Sommerfield | |
| 2005 | Robots | Loretta Geargrinder | |
| 2005 | My Suicidal Sweetheart | Grace | |
| 2008 | Tricks of a Woman | Sally | |
| 2009 | ' | Tracy | |
| 2009 | Jelly | Mona Hammel | |
| 2009 | Goyband | Fani | |
| 2009 | Running Away with Blackie | Motel Clerk | Short film |
| 2009 | Outrage: Born in Terror | Molly | |
| 2009 | Heterosexuals | Ellia | |
| 2010 | All About Evil | Deborah Tennis | |
| 2011 | 4:44 Last Day on Earth | Tina | |
| 2011 | Night Club | Mrs. Keaton | |
| 2012 | American Reunion | Jessica | |
| 2013 | 7E | Yael | |
| 2013 | He's Way More Famous Than You | Herself | |
| 2013 | ' | Cheryl | |
| 2013 | G.B.F. | Ms. Hogel | |
| 2013 | Girl Most Likely | Allyson | |
| 2013 | Clutter | Lisa Bradford | |
| 2014 | Loitering with Intent | Kaplan | |
| 2015 | Addicted to Fresno | Martha Jackson | |
| 2015 | Sleeping with Other People | Kara | |
| 2015 | Hello, My Name Is Doris | Sally | |
| 2015 | Bloomin Mud Shuffle | Jock | |
| 2015 | #Horror | Emma | |
| 2016 | Yoga Hosers | Tabitha Collette | |
| 2016 | ' | Sarah | |
| 2016 | Darby Forever | The Baddest Girl | Short film |
| 2016 | Antibirth | Lou | Also producer |
| 2016 | Adam Green's Aladdin | Mom | |
| 2016 | ' | Herself | Short film |
| 2016 | Jack Goes Home | Nancy | |
| 2017 | Girlfriend's Day | Miss Taft | |
| 2017 | Handsome | Det. Fleur Scozzari | |
| 2017 | Cabiria, Charity, Chastity | Jules | Short film; Also producer, writer, and director |
| 2018 | ' | Anne Beatts | |
| 2018 | Family | Rebecca the Juggalette | |
| 2018 | Show Dogs | Mattie | |
| 2018 | Doulo | Rena | Short film |
| 2019 | Honey Boy | Mrs. Lort | |
| 2019 | Ad Astra | Tanya Pincus | |
| 2019 | Uncut Gems | Boston Player Personnel | |
| 2020 | Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics | Herself | |
| 2020 | Irresistible | Tina De Tessant | |
| 2021 | ' | Tallulah Bankhead | |
| 2022 | Sirens | Executive producer | |
| 2022 | Crush | Producer | |
| 2022 | DC League of Super-Pets | Merton | |
| 2022 | Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery | Herself | Cameo |
| 2023 | His Three Daughters | Rachel | Also executive producer |
| 2024 | ' | Pat | Short film |
| 2025 | Smurfs | Mama Poot | |
| 2025 | The Fantastic Four: First Steps | Rachel Rozman | |
| 2025 | Doom / "Susan" | ||
| 2026 | Shopkeeper | Post-production | |
| Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | Pee-wee's Playhouse | Opal | 6 episodes |
| 2000 | Will & Grace | Gillian | Episode: "Girl Trouble" |
| 2000 | If These Walls Could Talk 2 | Jeanne | Television film |
| 2001 | Night Visions | Bethany Daniels | Episode: "If a Tree Falls" |
| 2002 | Grounded for Life | Gretchen | Episode: "Relax!" |
| 2007 | ' | Female Co-Star | Episode: "Operation: Rent Money" |
| 2009 | Loving Leah | Esther | Television film |
| 2011 | New Girl | Gretchen | Episode: "Wedding" |
| 2011 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Gia Eskas | Episode: "Educated Guess" |
| 2012 | Weeds | Tiffani | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | NTSF:SD:SUV:: | Mrs. Barbato | Episode: "Comic Con-Air" |
| 2013–2019 | Orange Is the New Black | Nicky Nichols | Main role; 81 episodes; Director: "The Hidey Hole" |
| 2015 | Girls | Rickey | Episode: "Iowa" |
| 2015 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Katie | Episode: "Dax Shepard Wears a Heather Grey Shirt and Black Blazer" |
| 2015 | Sanjay and Craig | Chido | Episode: "Bike-o Psycho" |
| 2015–2016 | Inside Amy Schumer | Various | 2 episodes |
| 2015–2018 | Portlandia | Various | 5 episodes |
| 2016 | The $100,000 Pyramid | Herself | Episode: "Natasha Lyonne vs. Terry Crews" |
| 2016–2019 | Steven Universe | Smoky Quartz | 3 episodes |
| 2016–2022 | ' | Sophie Krustofsky | 4 episodes |
| 2018–2023 | Ballmastrz: 9009 | Gaz Digzy | Main role; 21 episodes |
| 2018 | Corporate | Gretchen | Episode: "Corporate Retreat" |
| 2018 | Animals. | VHS Copy of Can't Hardly Wait | Episode: "Stuff" |
| 2018–2022 | Big Mouth | Suzette; Nadia Vulvokov | 7 episodes |
| 2019–2022 | Russian Doll | Nadia Vulvokov | Main role; 15 episodes; Also executive producer, writer, and director |
| 2019 | Documentary Now! | Carla Meola | Episode: "Long Gone" |
| 2019 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Herself | Episode: "L.A.D.P.!" |
| 2019 | ' | Herself | Episode: "New Minimum Length" |
| 2019 | Explained | Narrator | Episode: "Pirates" |
| 2019 | Steven Universe Future | Smoky Quartz | Episode: "Guidance" |
| 2019 | Cake | Gretchen | Episode: "Cache Flow" |
| 2019 | John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch | Herself | Television special |
| 2020 | Shrill | Director: "WAHAM" | |
| 2020 | Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens | Woman in Hair Salon | Episode: "Not Today"; Director: "Paperwork" |
| 2020 | High Fidelity | Director: "Weird... But Warm" | |
| 2020 | Crossing Swords | Norah | Episode: "Eat Plague Love" |
| 2020 | Bless the Harts | Debbie Donatello | Episode: "Violet's Secret" |
| 2020 | Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine | Director | |
| 2021 | Ten Year Old Tom | Irene | Episode: "The Principal is Banging My Mom/Elderly Gerbil" |
| 2022 | Saturday Night Live | Herself | Episode: "Natasha Lyonne/Japanese Breakfast" |
| 2022–present | Loot | Executive producer | |
| 2023–2025 | Poker Face | Charlie Cale | Main role; 22 episodes Also executive producer, writer and director |
| 2023 | ' | Herself | Episode: "Don't You Say A Word" |
| 2023 | HouseBroken | Various voices | 2 episodes |
| 2024–present | Nurse Tup | Main role; Also executive producer | |
| 2024 | Fantasmas | Suzanna | 2 episodes |
| 2024 | What If...? | Byrdie | 2 episodes |
| TBD | Force & Majeure | Jennifer Majeure |