Former BUST cover-gal Natasha Lyonne has been stealing hearts ever since the days of Pee-wee’s Playhouse stardom. Post Pee-Wee, she has been inspiring women everywhere with her sex-positive, witty, and provocative performances in dramedies like But I’m a Cheerleader, American Pie, Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, and Nora Ephron’s play Love, Loss, and What I Wore. The actress has an uncanny ability to portray women without an ounce of the sentimentality so many actresses are asked to exude. She makes genuine heartbreak and tragedy seem gritty, real, and sometimes completely hilarious.
Somehow, I think she could make even her most banal daily activities and thoughts seem relevant and profound. Thank goodness Netflix has asked the OITNB cast to join Twitter; now we can peer into Lyonne’s quirky, fascinating world. She jokes of her tweeting, “They actually sent Kevin Spacey to my house with a swat team, and I was just forced onto Twitter by Netflix,”
Vulture reports that the star is already completely hooked on her account. Lyonne jokes about her “addictive personality” and fears that her newfound obsession with Twitter will cause her to “lose any sense of eye contact in the future.”
Luckily, the star has found strength and wisdom with age, and is candid about her struggles: “I’m so anxious all the time […] I don’t really let it affect my day anymore. I feel like that’s the joy of aging. Now I’ve just gotten comfortable with the ongoing discomfort. And I just keep showing up.” I cannot think of a more inspiring mantra: just keep going.
I doubt Natasha will ever lose her ability to make startlingly direct eye contact. She is skilled because of her ability to connect to others, to be intimately involved with her characters, and I think her Twitter account will just help her to share that (and some amazing hashtags) with the rest of us!
Thanks to Vulture
Images via Natasha Lyonne and AV Club