Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein, better known as Natasha Lyonne, is an American actress.
She is best known for her role as Jessica in the American Pie series and her appearances
in the films Everyone Says I Love You, Slums of Beverly Hills, But I'm a Cheerleader, and
Blade: Trinity.
She currently portrays Nicky Nichols in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.
Early life Lyonne was born in New York City, New York,
the daughter of Ivette Braunstein and Aaron Braunstein, a boxing promoter and radio host
who is a distant relation to cartoonist Al Jaffee.
Lyonne's mother was from France.
Both of Lyonne's maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors.
Lyonne sometimes darkly jokes that her family consists of "my father's side, Flatbush, and
my mother's side, Auschwitz."
Her grandmother Ella came from a big Hungarian family but only she and her two sisters and
a brother survived, which Lyonne says was credited to their blonde hair and blue eyes.
Lyonne's grandfather, Morris Buchinger, had a watch company in Los Angeles.
During the war he was in the underground.
Lyonne grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household.
She spent the first eight years of her life living in Great Neck, New York.
When Lyonne was 8 years old, her parents moved to Israel, where Lyonne spent a year and a
half.
Her parents divorced, and Lyonne and her older brother Adam returned to America with their
mother.
After this move back to New York City, Lyonne attended Ramaz School, also known as The Rabbi
Joseph H. Lookstein Upper School of Ramaz, a private Jewish school, where Lyonne said
she was a scholarship kid who took honors Talmud classes and read Aramaic.
She was expelled for selling pot at school.
Lyonne said she grew up on the Upper East Side and didn't feel like she fit in, felt
like she was an outcast.
Her mother then moved the family to Miami, where Lyonne graduated from Miami Country
Day School.
Lyonne is estranged from her father, who lives on the Upper West Side and in 2013 was a Republican
candidate for City Council for the 6th District of Manhattan.
Lyonne has said she is not close with her mother, and has essentially lived independently
of her family since age 16.
When she was 18 years old, Lyonne used the paycheck from her work on the Woody Allen
film, Everyone Says I Love You to buy a small apartment near Gramercy Park.
She attended New York University for a very short time, studying film and philosophy.
Career As a young child, Lyonne was signed by the
Ford Modeling Agency.
At the age of six, she was cast as Opal on Pee-wee's Playhouse, followed by film appearances
in Heartburn, A Man Called Sarge, and Dennis the Menace.
On working as a very young child actor, Lyonne said: "I didn’t have the best parents.
I don’t think they are bad people.
Even if they were ready to have children, it is kind of a wacky idea to put your child
in business at six years old."
Film When she was 16, Woody Allen cast her in Everyone
Says I Love You, which led to appearances in almost 30 films over the next 10 years,
including starring roles in the independent films Slums of Beverly Hills and But I'm a
Cheerleader.
Lyonne's other films include Detroit Rock City, Scary Movie 2, The Grey Zone, Kate and
Leopold, Party Monster, and Blade: Trinity.
She has also made television appearances on shows such as NBC's Will and Grace.
In what is perhaps her most well known role, she appeared as Jessica in the American Pie
film series.
Lyonne made films The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle and Goyband.
Since then, Lyonne has worked steadily in the New York theatre scene, as well as in
film and television.
Her newer film appearances include All About Evil, 4:44 - Last Day on Earth, Girl Most
Likely, The Rambler, and Clutter.
Theater Lyonne made her New York stage debut in the
award-winning New Group production of Mike Leigh's Two Thousand Years.
Lyonne was in the original cast of the award-winning Love, Loss, and What I Wore, a play written
by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron and based on the book by Ilene Beckerman.
She received rave reviews for her performance in Kim Rosenstock’s comedy,Tigers Be Still
at the Roundabout Theatre Company: "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."
In 2011, Lyonne was in Tommy Nohilly's Blood From a Stone, from the New Group.
Lyonne participated in New Group's benefit performance of Women Behind Bars.
On working in the theater: "There’s something about theater that squashes the self-critical
voices because you have to be in the moment.
I’m glad that I didn’t do this before I was ready, before I was capable of showing
up every day.
That is not a skill set I had before."
Television Lyonne has made guest appearances on the series
Weeds, New Girl, and Law & Order Special Victims Unit.
In late 2012, Lyonne was reported to be developing a TV series for Fox Television about a young
girl, who, fresh out of rehab and committed to starting a new life as a sober, responsible
adult, is forced to move in with her conservative brother and young family.
She is currently starring as Nicky Nichols in the critically acclaimed Netflix original
series Orange is the New Black, for which she has received positive reviews.
The role is Lyonne's first television show as a series regular.
She received her first Primtime Emmy nomination for the role in 2014.
As part of the 2014 pilot season, Lyonne has been cast in Amy Poehler's NBC comedy pilot,
Old Soul.
The pilot also stars Ellen Burstyn and will be directed by David Wain, written/exec produced
by Poehler.
Personal life Lyonne lives in New York City.
Legal issues August 2001: Lyonne was arrested for driving
under the influence of alcohol after she ran her rented car onto a Miami Beach sidewalk,
hitting a road sign and causing minor damages.
In August of 2002 Lyonne pled guilty to drunk driving and paid $1,000 in fines and court
fees, performed 50 hours of community service, took part in a victim's panel organized by
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, was placed on probation for one year, and had her license
suspended for one year.
2003: Lyonne was evicted by her landlord, actor Michael Rapaport, following numerous
complaints by other tenants about her behavior.
December 2004: Lyonne was arrested after verbally threatening her neighbor, breaking a mirror
in the neighbor's apartment, and threatening to molest the neighbor's dog.
She spent a night in jail before being arraigned on charges of criminal mischief, harassment,
and trespassing.
The details of this incident did not become publicly known until two years had passed.
In April 2005, an arrest warrant was issued for Lyonne for failure to appear in court
on the charges.
Prosecutors say she attended court, but arrived an hour late and only stayed for 30 minutes.
Police were unable to locate Lyonne until her hospitalization was reported in August.
Charges were later dropped.
Health issues August 2005: the New York Post reported that
Lyonne was in Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan under a pseudonym, and had been
there for over a month after being transferred from Bellevue Hospital.
She reportedly suffered from hepatitis C, a heart infection, and a collapsed lung.
In January 2006, another arrest warrant was issued for her after she missed another hearing.
Her lawyer said an emergency had arisen, but did not give details.
2006: Lyonne was in the Caron Foundation, a drug and alcohol treatment center, and appeared
in court after missing several court dates to face earlier charges of mischief, trespass
and harassment.
A judge sentenced her to conditional discharge.
2012: Lyonne underwent open heart surgery to correct damage caused by her heart infection.
She quickly recovered from the surgery, and discussed her past health problems on The
Rosie Show in March 2012.
Filmography Film
Television Awards
1999: Chicago Film Critics Association Awards nominated for Most Promising Actress for Slums
of Beverly Hills 1999: Teen Choice Awards nominated for Teen
Choice Award, Film - Breakout Performance for Slums of Beverly Hills; nominated for
Teen Choice Award, Film - Funniest Scene for Slums of Beverly Hills, shared with Marisa
Tomei 2000: Young Hollywood Awards, Best Ensemble
Cast for American Pie.
Shared with: Seann William Scott, Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye
Thomas, Mena Suvari, Alyson Hannigan, Tara Reid, Thomas Ian Nicholas
2008: Monaco International Film Festival, Angel Award, Best Supporting Female Actor
for Tricks of Love 2014: Primetime Emmy Award, nominated for
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Orange Is the New Black
Notable interviews Natasha Lyonne at the New Group Tribute to
Wallace Shaw, June 6, 2011 Natasha Lyonne,The Rosie Show, March 2012
Natasha Lyonne WTF with Marc Maron episode 432 - October 14, 2013
Other "Natasha" from Want One by Rufus Wainwright
was written for and about Lyonne References
External links Natasha Lyonne at the Internet Movie Database
Natasha Lyonne on Twitter