Sometimes, creating a universally acclaimed streaming series isn’t all it should be.
Natasha Lyonne’s “Russian Doll” catapulted her to the high end of TV writers when it premiered on Netflix in 2019. The show returned for an even bigger 2i season in 2022, and Lyonne followed suit playing Rian Johnson’s case of the week Peacock series “Poker Face”. But while the multi-hyphenate has remained busy, he can’t help but wonder why his recent success hasn’t led to more opportunities.
appear on The Hollywood Reporter Actors’ RoundtableLyonne complained that “Russian Doll” didn’t open the more traditionally commercial doors of Hollywood for her.
“It’s funny when you’re the writer and the creator and the director and the star and you have 13 nominations or whatever, and it’s not like, ‘Here’s a bunch of Marvel movies,'” said Lyonne. “In fact, they’re like, ‘Oh, now we see you as potentially intimidating.'”
Lyonne pointed out that prominent men in similar positions typically haven’t addressed this issue, with the possible exception of Larry David, who she admits is likely in the same boat as her.
“But in my mind, the male writers, and I guess I name names, Bill (Haders) and Donald Glovers — by the way, you’re talking about all the brilliant people I love. In other words, I’m talking about an industry thing, not a personal thing, but for some reason it’s much easier to say, ‘Oh my God, this person is brilliant and fun to watch, let’s put him in a bunch of stuff.’ He’s just very different for boys and girls,” he said. “Although I would say the exception might be Larry David. It could be that he actually isn’t getting many calls from Marvel. Or maybe he is and he’s just like, ‘Um, no thanks.’”
Lyonne also clarified that her complaints had less to do with Marvel than the larger conversation about how artists can move between prestige and commercial projects in Hollywood.
“I don’t even mean anything to Marvel,” he said. “And it can be involuntary. I think a lot of people try to be generous, almost like, “Oh, I didn’t know you wanted to do that kind of thing.” Like, you made “PEN15,” why would you… “And I don’t know those women personally, but I don’t suddenly see them on billboards all over town for rom-coms or whatever.”
