Inside the Brilliant Mind of Natasha Lyonne | Boss Behavior | Marie Claire - video Dailymotion

Marie Claire

Our latest installment of #BossBehavior is here—this time with the one and only Natasha Lyonne. From her work style to what makes her feel powerful, Natasha lets us in on the habits, mindset, and quirks that fuel her brilliant, one-of-a-kind career. Get ready to see how her mind works.

Transcript

00:00Who am I? I'm just some schnook in a chair. In Chanel, though.

00:05Hi, I'm Natasha Lyonne, noted eccentric.

00:08My work wives? No shortage.

00:11Certainly Chloe Sathamie, Claire Duvall, Melanie Lensky, Janeksa Bravo,

00:16Poehler, Amy Poehler, Alice Jew, I think of her as maybe more of a work daughter,

00:22because she's younger than me.

00:24I guess I feel like my most powerful, if I can do a Thursday New York Time puzzle,

00:28or it's not always even a Friday or a Saturday.

00:32Other things that make me feel powerful, giant hair.

00:35What makes me feel the most powerful is when I see a man in sort of a thong

00:38that's also shaped as an elephant tusk.

00:40Now that can also be like even a banana with eyeballs.

00:43Well, it felt pivotal.

00:44For me, honestly, it's always hard to trump the experience of Russian Doll

00:48because it was so personal.

00:50I was so invested in the material, and I really got to do a 360 number,

00:54which is being like fully embodied in it,

00:56like the writing and directing and creating and show running.

00:59I love that show so much.

01:01It's like a huge collaboration, a huge undertaking,

01:04and I think I'm always very moved that people connected with it

01:08because it lets me know that it's okay to sing you a little song in your heart,

01:13even if it's not for everyone.

01:14Some people will get something from it.

01:16What keeps me grounded is the memory of the insignificance of it all.

01:21It actually doesn't matter if I personally win or visit life.

01:26Always helpful to remember we all die at the end of the movie.

01:30So get your banana boat tannies now, you know what I mean?

01:35Something I wish more people understood about my job.

01:38Sometimes people say, is it fun?

01:39It's a little bit more like, you know, a great adventure that you're embarking on.

01:43It's a very work-intensive thing,

01:46so the fun is in feeling like you got it.

01:48I think probably the thing I have the most fun with is at the monitor.

01:51When directing and things like all come together,

01:53and you're like, what just happened?

01:56That is very satisfying.

01:57The best piece of advice that I received is to have the talent to back up the talent

02:02because I think a lot of people are gifted,

02:04but you have to like take care of that gift.

02:07I'm a big beach person.

02:09I'm always looking forward to like what I call the Shawshank at the end of the movie,

02:12even if those are TV shows.

02:14And when I get there, I'm like, ha, full Shawshank.

02:17I will say that for sure my happy place is in writing.

02:20I have a lot of like secret scripts and sort of Google Docs

02:24that I work on with some pretty extraordinary people that are writers.

02:28I'm writing something right now with Britt Marling, who I adore.

02:30And our inner children are delighted, and it actually gives a lot of energy.

02:34It almost like doesn't feel like work at all.

02:36It feels like us in a playpen doing our thing,

02:39and it's very invigorating.

02:40My first audition, well, I was so young.

02:46My mom had taken me probably to some commercial or something.

02:49I do recall crime.

02:50I think that since she tried it with my older brother first,

02:53she knew that that was just normal.

02:55So I did go to a second.

02:56If I'm like show running something like Russian Doll,

03:00I'm apt to do a lot of push-ups, Travis Bickle style in the morning,

03:04but to George Harrison's Give Me Love.

03:06Sort of calm and serenity and gratitude before I get going,

03:09but with a nice blend, you know?

03:12Coleman Domingo, not to drop a major name,

03:14he really taught me that it's really nice to just like take a pause

03:18of like a centering self.

03:20Just kind of like settle yourself and take a breath.

03:22And as you guys might have noticed today, I also bring a playlist.

03:25There's a great Peter O'Toole conversation.

03:28He says memorizing lies.

03:30The implication is a sort of how dare you.

03:32You actually like are supposed to spend time with the material

03:35and really like get it in your system such that

03:38kind of like gets in your DNA.

03:40I think that I really found my own curriculum within that

03:43would go on these sort of deep dives.

03:45It's pre-internet.

03:46So now in older life, well, I found Instagram.

03:49So I think I saw something where Anthony Hopkins talks about

03:53how the way he does it is he'll read a script sort of 10 times over.

03:57It sort of has to enter your system.

03:59To prepare for a scene, I like to be completely off book,

04:03mainly for anxiety or exactitude.

04:05And from there, I like to sort of like find the space

04:08for improvisation or surprise.

04:10I think it just makes you looser.

04:11No spoilers, but the finale of Poker Face,

04:13the season which I was lucky to direct,

04:16had a surprise cameo by someone who was very special to me.

04:18It really changed it.

04:20Ryan was there.

04:20We were so delighted.

04:22She got involved and that was completely spontaneous

04:24and it really made the scene.

Inside the Brilliant Mind of Natasha Lyonne | Boss Behavior | Marie Claire

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