"I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or just been one."

August 5, 2013 9:14 AM

Let's Go Apartment Hunting With 'Orange Is The New Black' Star Natasha Lyonne
posted by The Whelk (52 comments total)

Love her on #OITNB. She's a trip.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:28 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Shmmmermerhorn

I am here to tell you that it is actually pronounced Screaminhorn. As in "Catch the GG at Hurt Screaminhorn" and that Luquer is actually pronounced like Lewqueer.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2013

If you were wondering about the penthouse studio with the wraparound terrace in Gramercy. I remember thinking that apartment was incredible if you could make a studio work.
posted by 2bucksplus at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2013

Rather than just copy it here, I'm going to state that there is not a single detail in the fourth paragraph (describing her living situation, her dog, and her boyfriend) that I do not absolutely love.

And the concluding sentence of the piece is just about perfect.

I hate it when I want to be friends with a celebrity I've never met. It makes me feel so lame. But, but, but...
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2013 [3 favorites]

i have always loved her. this just reaffirms it. i also have a lame friend crush on her.
posted by nadawi at 9:34 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Expected to hate that. Completely loved it. Will now read OITNB.

Thanks for posting.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:35 AM on August 5, 2013

Star? Seems like she has about 3-5 lines of dialog per episode. /quibbling
posted by jeff-o-matic at 9:43 AM on August 5, 2013

In a recent American Pie oral history, she had the great line, “Man, did I have terrific tits back then,” she says. “If I had only known what a piece I was, I would’ve done a lot more nudity.”

I literally just started OITNB last night, and she has been great in it so far.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:43 AM on August 5, 2013 [3 favorites]

I've always loved her,but haven't seen OITNB yet - I did randomly catch her on Law and Order: SVU last night and looked her up to see if she was doing all right - so glad to see things are getting better for her addiction wise.

This was a really charming article - her "ugh Brooklyn" stuff was a bit annoying, but at least she's acknowledging that being "ugh Brooklyn" is a really dated attitude and not an on-point upper class joke. It was already dated when Sex and the City was making it.
posted by sweetkid at 9:49 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

The article was definitely cute--like way too long for what it is, but I couldn't stop reading it.

I'm completely devoted to OITNB, and while I haven't traditionally loved Lyonne, she's perfect in her role.
posted by Kimberly at 9:49 AM on August 5, 2013

Ha, I just started OITNB last night as well. Stayed up until 2am after 4 episodes straight. She is amazing. Everybody on that show is. It's incredible.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:49 AM on August 5, 2013

Star? Seems like she has about 3-5 lines of dialog per episode. /quibbling

But she has the *best* ones.
posted by The Whelk at 9:55 AM on August 5, 2013 [9 favorites]

I watched OITNB twice while studying for the bar exam it is one of my favorite shows of recent memory
posted by smackwich at 10:08 AM on August 5, 2013

I'm trying to wrap my head around a Manhattan apartment with a terrace that big for less than half a million. How does that WORK?
posted by bitter-girl.com at 10:24 AM on August 5, 2013

That's one of the most endearing celebrity pieces I've ever read. I've only seen Lyonne's work in the first two episodes of "Orange is the New Black," but I like her performance.

By the way, that show would be much better if the main character was fatally shanked. She could make a dying reference to a currently popular service or trend to remind us how cool she is and how she's just like us. Assuming her death meant that her equally-irritating fiancee could be written out, it would be a much better show. The lead actor is fine, but I don't anyone could make her character likeable. The rest of the characters are superb-- Lyonne's included.
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:31 AM on August 5, 2013 [3 favorites]

I thought use of the phrase "jumped the shark" had... well, jumped the shark.
posted by palomar at 10:37 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

the chicken episode is an unfortunate low point but it gets its footing back very quickly and ends really well
posted by The Whelk at 10:37 AM on August 5, 2013

Ok, instead of writing I just watched another episode of OITNB and guess what? Chicken butt! No really, it was the chicken episode. It's like I'm *supposed* to be watching this right now.

(I thought it was great, btw)
posted by iamkimiam at 10:47 AM on August 5, 2013

Kate Mulgrew really sells that one absurd line.
posted by The Whelk at 10:56 AM on August 5, 2013 [4 favorites]

About the chicken power?
posted by iamkimiam at 10:57 AM on August 5, 2013

Lalalalala I'm not listening, spoilers, spoilers, spoilers.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:59 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Ironic no?
full disclosure...I'm a big fan of both Natasha Lyonne and Michael Rapaport.
posted by Jazz.bot at 11:00 AM on August 5, 2013

I just want to eat the chicken and gain its power
posted by The Whelk at 11:00 AM on August 5, 2013 [2 favorites]

for anyone new to lyonne - i think about or quote or replay a scene in my head from slums of beverly hills at least once a week, sometimes more. it's everything that was wonderful about that era and genre/lane of movie making.
posted by nadawi at 11:01 AM on August 5, 2013 [4 favorites]

D'oh, no worries Rock Steady. We shall say no more!
posted by iamkimiam at 11:01 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Rufus Wainwright's lovely song Natasha is about Ms. Lyonne. In case you need a soundtrack!
posted by nicebookrack at 11:02 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Natasha Lyonne is hyper-interesting, I'd watch her read the phone book. I also love her crazy horizontal lion's mane of hair.
posted by Divine_Wino at 11:03 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

i think about or quote or replay a scene in my head from slums of beverly hills at least once a week

[spoiler]

FORK IN THE THIGH
posted by sweetkid at 11:10 AM on August 5, 2013 [2 favorites]

What is wrong with you people? The chicken episode was awesome.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:11 AM on August 5, 2013 [5 favorites]

This is crazy as I thought she'd been dead for at least 2-3 years now. I'm really glad to see she's apparently made it back from the pit her life used to be.
posted by elizardbits at 11:14 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm trying to wrap my head around a Manhattan apartment with a terrace that big for less than half a million. How does that WORK?

If you're talking about her description of her first apartment in gramercy park:

- that was 20 years ago
- 2 semesters at Tisch is like 120k now and was maybe very slightly less then

so crazy as it sounds that is a perfectly reasonable down payment
posted by elizardbits at 11:22 AM on August 5, 2013 [2 favorites]

elizardbits - maybe you're thinking of brittany murphy? both actresses i loved who i assumed would die young. luckily lyonne got her shit together.
posted by nadawi at 11:23 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

also - from the link up thread - the penthouse sold in 2008 for 440k
posted by nadawi at 11:25 AM on August 5, 2013

No I was definitely thinking of Lyonne cause she was a huge noticeable wreck all over the place in NYC, especially when she was living at the Chelsea Hotel. I don't think Brittany Murphy ever lived in NYC?
posted by elizardbits at 11:26 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

I don't know what 's wrong with you people but I *loved* the chicken episode. I am giggling again just thinking about it.

One of the best things that this show does is show how Upper Middle Class White People deal with shit using whatever privileged, milquetoast, emotionally-crippled methods we've learned. The Chicken Episode is exactly the sort of thing that someone desperate to be featured on This American Life would cling to in their darkest moments (in minimum security prison). They would know, in no uncertain terms, that somewhere in the distance, in a Park Slope brownstone, someone was depending on them to keep track of this for inclusion in a memoir someday. Or for retelling at a dinner party. Or for adaptation into a stop motion claymation short that might just win the Oscar.

It's just so self-effacing and mortified and consequently glorious.
posted by jph at 11:27 AM on August 5, 2013 [11 favorites]

But Brittany Murphy was in "Uptown Girls" and that's basically the same as living in New York, isn't it?
posted by jph at 11:27 AM on August 5, 2013 [3 favorites]

(oops, exchange "living at" for "was often seen staggering around outside")
posted by elizardbits at 11:30 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Piper is so concentrated Park Slope I'm pretty sure she can diluted to create a filling vegetarian soup base.
posted by The Whelk at 11:40 AM on August 5, 2013 [8 favorites]

Natasha Lyonne is pretty much just playing herself in OITNB. And there's nothing wrong with that.
posted by elsietheeel at 12:23 PM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Natasha Lyonne is pretty much just playing herself in OITNB. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Yep, down to the same heart surgeries.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:25 PM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

...says Lyonne, in an accent that’s a cross between a Jewish grandma and Marge Simpson’s hard-smoking twin sisters.

A cross between Julie Kavner and Julie Kavner?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:28 PM on August 5, 2013 [7 favorites]

I'm glad my kid who goes to Tisch and loves Lyonne gets a full ride; otherwise I'm sure she'd be chucking school and buying an apartment with her imaginary tuition money.

And I know that I'd probably be proud as hell for her doing it.
posted by kinetic at 1:16 PM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

I haven't deliberately followed her career (and I had no idea about her personal problems), but I have had a crush of some sort on her since But I'm a Cheerleader and have always been excited when I'd see her in things.

Now I'm going to have to watch OITNB.
posted by MsDaniB at 3:43 PM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

I always confuse her with Lauren Ambrose. Both redheads, about the same age, appeared in teen movies in the late niineties, etc.
posted by bgrebs at 4:02 PM on August 5, 2013

Yes, me too. And I could have sworn that Lorna's character, played by Yael Stone, was Patricia Arquette. Especially in the episode where she made the David Arquette reference. But I'd be wrong.
posted by iamkimiam at 4:16 PM on August 5, 2013

Look, the thing about the chicken. The ... chicken ... is ... a ... metaphor.

Now I feel like Piper felt when she tried to explain Robert Frost. I'll just ... take my laundry.

Yeah, it is an ensemble show, and slightly like an anthology show, and I really feel the attention paid to the Chapman character is intended to make her an object of fun or even Sims-like torture. She's sort of a Candide in that respect, and they've done a good job at keeping her character from having a real comfort zone. Orange, overall, though, is about much more than her and I really enjoy it, with Mulgrew -- despite what at times seems like a high-school-production Russian accent -- being truly remarkable.

But yeah, mark me down for being really impressed with Lyonne, whom I'd been aware of but never paid much attention to as an actress.

Frankly, the only character/ization that I actively dislike is Laura Prepon's Alex. Maybe that's intentional, too, but I'm only about 2/3 through as of yet (I avoid binge-watching anything).
posted by dhartung at 5:35 PM on August 5, 2013 [2 favorites]

Oh, that explains it. I was happy to see her on the newest NTSF:SD:SUV:: and figured she must have something new going on but hadn't gotten around to checking yet. I didn't know much about it, but I've been on the fence about starting OITNB. No more!
posted by Room 641-A at 6:14 PM on August 5, 2013

The ... chicken ... is ... a ... metaphor.

"IT WASN'T A CHICKEN!"
posted by Sys Rq at 6:25 PM on August 5, 2013

Frankly, the only character/ization that I actively dislike is Laura Prepon's Alex. Maybe that's intentional, too, but I'm only about 2/3 through as of yet (I avoid binge-watching anything).
posted by dhartung at 8:35 PM on August 5 [+] [!]

Watching the show I decided that Alex is supposed to be dislikable, much in the same vein as all the characters in "Arrested Development." People have said (and David Cross is famous for noting) that AD was unwatchable by many because all of the characters were just completely awful and unrelatable.

So I think she's written to be a manipulative narcissist because you get so uncomfortable watching her contort herself in various situations.

But I would really love is to see her completely removed from the show, and then by extension her complete dink of a fiance and have Lyonne be the main character. That girl is watchable as hell and brilliant as fuck.
posted by kinetic at 4:50 AM on August 6, 2013

Alex is a manipulative narcissist but she's not wrong about Piper. Piper is not a good person.
posted by Justinian at 12:02 PM on August 7, 2013

Ok, perhaps "not a good person" is too harsh. But she's definitely self absorbed and lacks any sort of self awareness. Though, obviously, part of the arc of the show is clearly gaining some of that.
posted by Justinian at 12:04 PM on August 7, 2013

this interview with laura prepon delves into alex's motivations and how prepon approaches the character - and specifically touches on good person or not.
posted by nadawi at 12:19 PM on August 7, 2013