“Russian Doll” co-creator, star, writer, director, and exec producer Natasha Lyonne is keeping busy before she heads into production on the second season of her “Groundhog Day”-esque Netflix comedy. The “Orange Is the New Black” alumna is set to helm episodes of Comedy Central’s untitled Awkwafina series and Hulu’s second season of Aidy Bryant-starrer “Shrill,” Deadline reports. The Emmy nominee also recently directed an episode of Hulu’s “High Fidelity” reboot series led by Zoe Kravitz.
“It’s been great,” Lyonne said of the gigs. “I’m getting in my hours. I dropped out of film school when I was 16. I dropped out of Tisch. I was in the filmmaking program as a film and philosophy double major. I really thought that I was going to read all these philosophical works and then I was going to make movies about them. Then I dropped out, and so now I’m getting it all back in. My teenage self is in seventh heaven.”
“Russian Doll” is up for 13 Emmys, including comedy series and writing and acting nods for Lyonne. The existential mystery tells the story of a woman who is forced to relive her birthday party when she keeps dying.
“Orange Is the New Black” just dropped its seventh and final season on Netflix. Lyonne played Nicky throughout the series’ run, and directed an ep of its most recent season.
“One part [of ‘Russian Doll’] was really important to me was for it to be an all-female writers’ room, and to have only female directors,” Lyonne has said. “I happily surrounded myself with people who I knew really understood my trip in a very deep sense, and believed in it enough to want to see that end up on-screen. People like Jamie Babbit, whom I’ve known for 20 years since ‘But I’m a Cheerleader,’ and Amy Poehler, who, as a producer, really helped me maintain control over this project. The incredible thing about true collaboration is when you see how limited your singular view is.”