Natasha Lyonne on Poker Face and the genius of Rian Johnson: after owning Netflix with Russian Doll and Orange is the New Black, our favourite anti-hero turns to crime with the Knives Out director

Mar 5 , 2023

After Netflix blockbusters prison drama Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll, actress Natasha Lyonne next appears in the murder-mystery series Poker Face. Photo: AP

After two serial smashes, Natasha Lyonne hunts a third hit with knotty whodunit Poker Face, enticing in guest stars Adrien Brody, Chloë Sevigny, Ron Perlman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Nick Nolte

The style maverick’s eclectic film credits include Woody Allen’s Everybody Says I Love You, Slums of Beverly Hills and Kate & Leopold – as well as a video for Gucci’s The Performers campaign

Natasha Lyonne must be Hollywood’s most in-demand lovable rogue and anti-hero. She’s also no stranger to the fashion world, having starred in Gucci’s 2019 The Performers campaign which traded heavily on her trademark style: effortless, at times irreverent and imbued with subtle nods to the 1970s. More recently, Lyonne’s signature sartorial taste has been spotted front row at New York Fashion Week events, where she rubbed shoulders with Hollywood’s elite including close friend and Russian Doll co-star Chloë Sevigny.

Natasha Lyonne attends the Adeam show during 2023 New York Fashion Week. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

Earliest roles

The 43-year-old actor was born and raised in New York City to parents Ivette Buchinger and boxing promoter, racing car driver and radio host Aaron Braunstein, who together pushed Lyonne onto the stage from a young age. Despite this, she describes landing her first role – on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse at the age of six – as “a very positive moment in my life. That’s when I saw the magic and beauty of acting and letting your mind get caught up in the world of creativity and telling stories,” she tells us.

Lyonne, in a 1999 photo taken at the premiere of American Pie where she made a breakout appearance, playing Jessica. Photo: Reuters

The big screen beckons

With her distinctive red hair, and trademark New York rasp, Lyonne gradually rose up the Hollywood ladder, appearing in various TV series and films including Woody Allen’s Everybody Says I Love You (1996); Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), which has gone on to become something of a cult classic; and Kate & Leopold (2001) starring Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan.

But she was forced to take a step back from the acting world in the 2010s when some of her on-screen antics began to bleed into her off-screen life. Lyonne received drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment, and underwent open-heart surgery in 2012.

Yael Stone starred alongside Lyonne in the smash comedy Orange is the New Black, which began in 2013 and ran for seven seasons. Photo: Netflix

Natasha Lyonne on Poker Face and the genius of Rian Johnson: after owning Netflix with Russian Doll and Orange is the New Black, our favourite anti-hero turns to crime with the Knives Out director

Earliest roles

The big screen beckons

Finding her groove