Natasha Lyonne picked her five favourite songs of all time
Natasha Lyonne has been in the acting business since she secured a role in Pee-wee’s Playhouse, aged six. As a child, she starred in several films in minor parts before a role in Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You in 1996 kickstarted her career as an adult.
Discussing her time as a child actor, Lyonne once 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.” However, by getting an early start in the business, Lyonne was able to secure starring roles in multiple cult favourites by the time she was 18, such as Slums of Beverly Hills and But I’m A Cheerleader.
For some time, Lyonne was one of the most-loved stars of indie cinema. Yet, her success began to fade in the early 2000s after a battle with heroin addiction, homelessness, a series of arrests, and severe health issues threatened to destroy her career and her life. Miraculously, Lyonne made it through and has found even greater success over the past decade.
Lyonne is now best known for playing Nicky in Orange is the New Black, which earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress. Lyonne is also the creative force behind the Netflix series Russian Doll, which she directs, writes, executive produces and stars in. Her real-life experiences are channelled into the story of Russian Doll: “My heart and soul laid bare,” as she once explained.
Alongside her best friend, Chloë Sevigny, Lyonne has garnered a cult fanbase, and the pair are seen as alternative visions of cool. Her distinctive scratchy voice, unapologetic nature, wild hair and effortless style separate Lyonne from her contemporaries, which she wholeheartedly embraces. Therefore, it is unsurprising that Lyonne is a massive music lover, once stating, “music really helps me get inspired”.
An eclectic mixture of artists makes up Lyonne’s record collection, spanning 1970s alternative rock to modern rap. In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lyonne shared some of the tracks you could find her listening to on her iPod, giving fans a greater insight into the actor’s tastes.
Firstly, she picked ‘Coney Island Baby’ by Lou Reed, a track taken from his sixth solo album of the same name. Released in 1975, the album is comprised of just eight tracks, yet remains one of the musician’s most outstanding achievements. According to Lyonne, “I don’t even know where to begin with this. I’ll listen to it, stare at the wall, and enter a fugue state. I got to join Lou Reed on his Sirius radio show recently. It was only the heaviest moment in my life. He’s my everything.”
Next, she declared her love for Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s ‘Cold Blooded’. The rapper, who died in 2004, released the track as part of his album N**** Please. Lyonne said: “I always just want to have this around when I’m just hanging out, lurking about. Once upon a time, I wanted to get a tattoo inside my lips: The upper lip would say ‘R.I.P.’ and the lower lip would say ‘ODB.'”
Detailing further, she continued, “Whenever I smoked, I could sort of honour him. It never happened, and now I just feel like I’ll never be that wild again. Maybe I’ll make that one of my requests for the executor of my estate: posthumously give me that inner-lip tattoo. And then I can show up to the pearly gates — like, arrive ready, so when I meet ODB there, I don’t feel embarrassed.”
Her next pick, ‘Always See Your Face’ by Love, takes us back to 1969. “This song always gets me. Generally speaking, it helps when I know there’s some substance and suffering behind the music. Pop music to me [feels] like it’s manufactured from the ether,” Lyonne shared. In stark contrast, the actor picked a track from the now-disgraced rapper R. Kelly as another favourite. ‘My Story’, featuring 2 Chainz, was released in 2013, with Lyonne gushing: “I don’t know how he rhymes the line ‘I went from broke to sleeping in Versace shirts.’ But somehow, it rhymes!”
Finally, a much more obscure pick comes in the form of Charlotte Dada, a Ghanaian musician who began her singing career in the 1960s with the Uhuru Dance Band. As a solo artist, she covered ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ by The Beatles in 1971. Lyonne shared: “It’s like, you get older, and you’re like, ‘What am I going to do with the Beatles?’ So then you start getting involved in John Lennon’s ‘Steel and Glass,’ you know? But covers, as a rule, are not my bag. I don’t enjoy them — except this one.”
Natasha Lyonne’s favourite songs:
- ‘Coney Island Baby’ – Lou Reed
- ‘Cold Blooded’ – Ol’ Dirty Bastard
- Always See Your Face’ – Love
- ‘My Story’ – R. Kelly
- ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ – Charlotte Dada *not on Spotify
