Natasha Lyonne Biography

NATASHA LYONNE

Date of Birth: April 4, 1979

Born in New York, Lyonne began her professional career at the age of six, after demonstrating her aptitude by reading newspapers outloud on the subway. Her parents found her an agent and soon she was cast as Opal in the original Pee-Wee's Playhouse. After a stint as a contact player on As the World Turns, she made her feature film debut as Meryl Streep's niece in the Mike Nichols film Heartburn, based on the book by Nora Ephron. When her parents marriage began to fall apart, the family moved to Israel while they tried to patch things up. Upon return, and the eventual split of her parents, Lyonne lived with her mother in Manhatten and was sent to a posh private school, which was an unpleasant experience. She then landed a role in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You (1996) and the school suggested that she leave. After the film, she applied to NYU and was accepted a year early after reading her essay comparing T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men to working on Woody Allen's movie. But projects kept coming up and to date, Lyonne has deferred three times.

She was next seen as Richard Dreyfuss' daughter in the comedy Krippendorf's Tribe (1998). But Tamara Jenkins' Slums of Beverly Hills (also 1998) offered the rising star one of her best screen roles to date as a teenager coping with the onset of puberty and herd ysfunctional (all male) family's constant movement from apartment to apartment. The young thespian delivered a winning and assured performance that garnered her a Chicago Film Critics nomination as Most Promising Actress. She followed with a decidedly supporting turn in the horror comedy Modern Vampires (1999). That same year, she also appeared in the teen sex romp comedy American Pie.

She then appeared in Detroit Rock City, opposite Edward Furlong, which is set in 1978 and focuses on four young teenagers who embark on a wild adventure to attend a KISS concert. Lyonne then segued immediately into Matthew Bright's indie pic Confessions of a Trick Baby, the story of two young women who meet in prison and plot their escape to freedom, followed by But I'm a Cheerleader, opposite Clea DuVall, in which she plays a naive 17-year-old who is sent to a "re-hab camp" when her family and friends suspect that she may be a lesbian.

In August 2005, Lyonne was takent to New York City's Beth Israel Hospital's intensive care unit, reportedly suffering from hepatitis C, a heart ailment and a collapsed lung.

After several years off to recover, she returned to films with roles in films such as Outrage (2009) with Michael Madsen, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2010) and 13 (2010), with Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke. In 2012, Lyonne reunited with her American Pie co-stars for the series' fourth instalment, American Reunion. She then took on the role of Nicky Nichols on the Netflix show Orange is the New Black, staying with the series for seven seasons until it concluded its run in 2019.

Other film appearances include supporting roles in Loitering with Intent (2015), Kevin Smith's Yoga Hosers (2016), Shia LaBeouf's Honey Boy (2019) and the hilarious big budget motion picture Irresistible (2020) starring Steve Carrell, which was scheduled to hit theaters, but was eventually released online instead due to the pandemic.

Filmography:

Irresistible (2020)
Ad Astra (2019)
Honey Boy (2019)
Show Dogs (2018)
A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)
Girlfriend's Day (2017)
Adam Green's Aladdin (2016)
Jack Goes Home (2016)
The Intervention (2016)
Antibirth (2016)
Loitering with Intent (2015)
Orange is the New Black: Season 3 (2015)
Clutter (2013)
Imogene (2012)
American Reunion (2012)
4:44 Last Day on Earth (2011)
Night Club (2011)
All About Evil (2010)
Heterosexuals (2010)
13 (2010)
Jelly (2010)
Outrage (2009)
Running Away with Blackie (2009)
The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009)
Goyband (2008)
Tricks of Love (2008)
Crazy for Love (2005)
Robots (2005) (voice)
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Madhouse (2004)
America Brown (2004)
Die, Mommie, Die! (2003)
Party Monster (2003)
ZigZag (2002)
The Grey Zone (2002)
Kate & Leopold (2001)
American Pie 2 (2001)
Fast Sofa (2001)
Night at the Golden Eagle (2001)
Plan B (2001)
But I'm a Cheerleader (2000)
Rat Girl (1999)
When Autumn Leaves (1999)
The Auteur Theory (1999)
Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby (1999)
Detroit Rock City (1999)
American Pie (1999)
Rat Girl (1999)
When Autumn Leaves (1999)
Modern Vampyres (1998)
Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
Krippendorf's Tribe (1998)
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Dennis the Menace (1993)
Heartburn (1986) (uncredited)