We’re kicking things off with Natasha Lyonne. Lyonne plays Nicky Nichols in Orange is the New Black, and is one of the creators and stars of Russian Doll. On I Hate Talking About Myself, she asks herself the tough questions and gives it to us straight. Least favorite food? Ice cream soup. There’s more where that came from, you just have to hit play.
We’re kicking things off with Natasha Lyonne. Lyonne plays Nicky Nichols in Orange is the New Black, and is one of the creators and stars of Russian Doll. On I Hate Talking About Myself, she asks herself the tough questions and gives it to us straight. Least favorite food? Ice cream soup. There’s more where that came from, you just have to hit play.
Catherine Cohen [00:00:03] Hello and welcome to I Hate Talking About Myself. On this podcast your favorite stars from Netflix series and films face their toughest interviewer yet, themselves. We write the questions and then our guests select them in the most scientific way possible. By pulling them out of a bowl of course. We're kicking things off with Natasha Lyonne. She plays Nikki Nichols in Orange Is The New Black and is one of the creators and stars of Russian Doll. She also has very strong opinions about ice cream soup and wearing pants. Things I also feel passionately about.
Natasha Lyonne [00:00:40] Hello I'm Natasha Lyonne. I play Nicky Nichols on Orange Is The New Black and I am now going to proceed to interview myself. Here comes trouble.
[00:00:56] What are the most recently used emojis on your phone and why?
[00:01:00] Well, the interesting part is why. Does Satan come up often? Yes. That little satanic emoji is in there so often. Church of Satan. Mischief. Affection. All-purpose emoji.
[00:01:14] What's your worst fashion mistake?
[00:01:17] You know I'm not big for showing skin and I look back at my youth and I think, show a little flesh kid. Too late now! All blazers for me, thank you.
[00:01:28] What's the first food you hated and why?
[00:01:30] Well, when I was a little girl, which is, I wanna say, ninety-seven years ago, I was on a TV program called Pee Wee's Playhouse with Paul Reubens, Peewee Herman, and I played Opal, who would later be called Opalo, in the very special nicknaming episode of Peewee's Playhouse. I remember there was an episode called Ice Cream Soup and uh, in it– I used to love this show. I had a very, very rocky childhood at home. I had a rocky home life. I used to love going to Peewee's Playhouse and doing my acting work there, it so much fun. It was like an imagination land. Cherry was there, all my friends were there. And I had to eat this ice cream soup one day and I was so excited cause I was like, ooh ice cream.
[00:02:18] It turned out it was some sort of a chalky substance either made out of cardboard and dirt and dust. I can only imagine. It was disgusting and salty and tasted like glue. Sawdust. I hated it. I will never eat ice cream soup again. Next question sir.
[00:02:42] Yes hello. What do you wear to bed?
[00:02:46] Racy question, imaginary bowl of questions. Ah it depends. I usually wear my dog, Rootbeer! And a full leather sweat suit. In case you thought that was a racy answer, no I am fully covered at all times. A turtleneck, footies, gloves. All leather. And Rootbeer.
[00:03:15] What about the future excites you?
[00:03:19] Marbles. No. You know, I guess uh, AI organs that lead to immortality, perhaps? Do check out Yuval Harari's books, they're all stellar. Sort of a futurist and a historian. Oxymoron? It's not.
[00:03:40] Have you ever seen something you can't explain? If so, what?
[00:03:46] The things I've seen. You don't even wanna know these horrors I've seen...
[00:03:52] Have you ever seen a Fellini film?
[00:03:54] If you got trapped with no reception and only had five songs on your phone, what would you hope they were?
[00:04:01] Oooh Baby I Like It Raw; Shake It Like a Salt Shaker; To The Window, To the Wall; I Like It When You Call Me Big Poppa, and so forth.
[00:04:11] What's a relationship deal breaker for you?
[00:04:14] No pants. Put your pants on. No, but seriously if somebody walks around with no underpants and a T-shirt I'm like, I don't want to fuckin see your privates in this context, do me a favor, let's just call it a wrap. When I met you you were wearing bottoms and if you're gonna take off your bottoms you also have to take off your top.
[00:04:34] Next question. What's the most random fact or weirdest piece of history you know?
[00:04:41] Uhh... we're all descended from syrup, which is something I heard recently. So we are actually made of syrup.
[00:04:54] What is your biggest fear?
[00:04:57] Alzheimer's. You know by that I mean the idea of like, not having a mind is terrifying. Eh, the idea of not having a body, like if we were put into little uh, whatever. Soul bubbles or something? And it was just a brain being able to float ideas. That I could understand I think better. Like even the Stephen Hawking scenario where you could still use your mind. But the idea of like, having a body and not knowing that you didn't have a mind I find really unprocessable. Uh, just the idea that that's something that exists in our realm is so, so, so impossible to process.
[00:05:44] So what does the phrase "guilty pleasure" mean to you?
[00:05:46] You know, it means I get to eat a lot of snacks with no consequences. So it's an imaginary idea. Snacks always have consequences. Big trouble. Little China.
[00:05:58] What was your first extravagant purchase?
[00:06:01] 4,000 fur coats. Just kidding. Nobody wears fur anymore, for all the right reasons. I've never purchased a fur coat nor would I. Sometimes I do wear vintage.
[00:06:13] What TV series, movie, or play influenced you to be an acteur?
[00:06:19] I dunno. Y'know, all your Raging Bulls and Rockies and Fish Called Wandas and Scarfaces and Godfathers, I watched those all a bunch. Jessica Lange and Francis What-have-you. And Bette Davis. [00:06:31]Learned was fasten your seat belts it's going to be lumpy nuts. [5.1s]
[00:06:37] What's your party trick?
[00:06:39] Oh you guys have seen this shtick before, if you've kept up with Orange news items. I do a party trick where I acknowledge that I swallowed 50 shekels as a youth living in Israel and then I make this sound. And I tell you that those shekels are still in my larynx to this very day.
[00:07:00] What question do you think should be added to this interview for the next interviewee?
[00:07:05] Dracula or Frankenstein, please do choose. Thanks.
Catherine Cohen [00:07:10] Okay. You know what Natasha if I have to choose I'm gonna go with Frankenstein. He's so tall. Sadly that's a wrap on this interview. We've got a whole season worth of stars right in this feed so make sure to subscribe and check them all out. I hate talking about myself. It's produced by Pineapple Street Media and Netflix. Our music is by Hansdel Soo and it's hosted by me Catherine Cohen. I have the next episode do your cue so you can keep listening to my gorgeous voice. Off for now.
[00:07:40] Oh now I'm just on my cell phone. If you're wondering where I went I went to go look at my cell phone to check in on what happened that's why I said– I thought in my mind I'd be able to do two things at once and quickly discovered indeed I could only do one thing at once. I don't want you to feel abandoned in favor of my cell phone because perhaps you too, are on my cell phone in some form or another. We're all on one another's cell phones. Let this be the ties that bind us until the cloud bursts. Thank you so much.