Natasha Lyonne is enjoying something of a career renaissance, and she’s attributing the undeniable success to her female friendships. As she took the stage at Variety‘s annual Power of Women event — on her birthday, no less — she toasted to her “community of women,” among them Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph, who have cheered on each other’s rise in Hollywood.
“It’s pretty eccentric to see how much we grow up together in this business and how meaningful it is to stick together along that ride,” she said on Tuesday afternoon at midtown Manhattan’s The Grill.
Lyonne joked that she and her “dear pal” Rudolph started the production company Animal Pictures to “ensure we’d have time to hang out with each other,” and that she co-created “Russian Doll” as an excuse to “get existential with my friend and co-creator Amy Poehler.”
More recently — as the itinerant sleuth Charlie Cale on Rian Johnson’s case-of-the-week mystery series “Poker Face” — she’s in “heaven” because she gets to work alongside guest stars like Alice Ju, Clea Duvall, Chloë Sevigny and Janicza Bravo.
“I have spent a lot of my adulthood creating places for myself to go,” Lyonne said. “Places to learn, to explore and to connect with other women.”
Lyonne — honored at Tuesday’s fete alongside Judy Blume, Kelly Ripa, Rosie Perez and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez — was introduced by Aidy Bryant, who recalled her first time meeting Lyonne, about a decade ago in Reykjavik, Iceland. At the time, the “Saturday Night Live” alum was newer to Hollywood and worried about “the potential ups and downs” that might come with her new career.
“Natasha is a really great person to worry at because — and this is something I love about her — she has seen some shit,” Bryant said. “She knows. She explained to me that there will be ups, and you should really try to enjoy them because you can also count on the downs too, but that holding on to yourself and the people you love, you can weather it.”
Bryant also praised Lyonne because she uses her celebrity for good, by volunteering at the Lower East Side Girls Club, a community center in Manhattan’s Alphabet City. Lyonne says she finds herself inspired by the organization, which was founded in 1996 to support girls and gender-expansive youth of color through mentorship and programming in STEM, the arts and other areas.
“As a young girl in New York City, I did not always have a place to go or other girls to learn from. That’s why it’s especially moving to be here celebrating the Lower East Side Girls Club,” Lyonne said. “Not just because they are my friends and neighbors, but because there is no other organization like it on the planet. It’s so out of this world that you can literally go there and hang out on Mars or fly through the Milky Way at their planetarium! A planetarium, can you imagine… on 8th Street and Avenue D!”
Lyonne has a proclivity — in her professional and personal life — for people who feel like they don’t belong. She views her hit Netflix series “Russian Doll,” a comedic drama about a woman who relives her 36th birthday again and again, as a metaphor for outsiders coming together to survive.
“Through free, year-round, innovative programming, they connect young people with their passions, celebrate their curiosity and help channel their creative energy,” she said. “You’ve heard the phrase it takes a village to raise a child. But I would raise you one and say it takes a Girls Club to change the world.”
She also mentioned that in 2022, Lower East Side Girls Club opened a 5,000 sq ft. Center for Wellbeing & Happiness. “Wellbeing and happiness, baby — my god, what a concept!” said Lyonne, referring to one of her most quotable lines from “Russian Doll.”
In her Variety cover story, Lyonne also spoke about giving up cigarettes, riding the wave of her career renaissance — thanks to “Russian Doll” and “Poker Face” — and being in her 40s.
“People have suddenly become receptive to my eccentricity and idiosyncrasy,” she said. “It’s a real curiosity that when I turned 40, people were like, ‘We’re down for this.’”
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