Natasha Lyonne

 ( 1979 Births ) 

After playing a supporting role as Polly in Dennis the Menace (1993), Lyonne was cast at age 16 in the Woody Allen-directed musical comedy Everyone Says I Love You (1996), where she co-starred as D.J., the daughter of main character Joe (played by Allen). This led to a headline role in the independent coming-of-age comedy Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), 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 in, 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—a role she reprised in two of the film's sequels—in American Pie (1999), which grossed over US$230 million at the box office. Other film appearances in 1999 included Christine in Detroit Rock City and a headline role in . 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.

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 (October 2009–March 2010) 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 is 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.

Lyonne's work as hard-partying Lou in Antibirth (2016), 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 (all 2015); Yoga Hosers, The Intervention (both 2016); Handsome (2017), Show Dogs (2018), Honey Boy (2019), and James Gray's science fiction thriller Ad Astra (2019).

Lyonne made her directorial debut Fall of 2017 with surrealist short film,  Cabiria, Charity, Chastity, for fashion brand KENZO. Shot by cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon, 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 and 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 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.