Natasha Lyonne Reveals All-Female ‘Rusian Doll’ Writers Room Helped Avoid a lot of ‘Dumb’ Questions

Natasha Lyonne is a comedy genius and acting god with a successful career that spans more than two decades. One of Lyonne’s most recent works, as both the lead role and as an executive producer, came on the set of the Netflix comedy-drama Russian Doll. Uniquely, the series was created by an all-female writing team. Here’s a look at why Lyonne says working with an all-female team helps avoid a lot of “dumb” questions.  

A look at Lyonne’s recent roles on ‘Russian Doll’ and ‘Poker Face’ 

At 44-years-old, Lyonne has had an acting career more successful than most. While she is widely recognized for portraying Nicky Nichols on the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black from 2013 to 2019, she actually made her acting debut back in 1986 with a small appearance in the film Heartburn. After starting her career in the late 1980s, she began to really gain prominence in the late 1990s after starring in the 1998 film Slums of Beverly Hills, the 1999 film But I’m a Cheerleader, and the American Pie film series as Jessica. 

Two of Lyonne’s most recent works came in the form of Nadia Vulvokov in the Netflix series Russian Doll and Charlie Cale in the Peacock crime series Poker Face. According to IMDb, Poker Face stars Lyonne as Charlie, a cocktail waitress that somehow entangles herself into several mysterious deaths as she’s on the run. 

According to IMDb, Russian Doll has released a total of 15 episodes across two seasons. The first season, which included eight episodes, was released by Netflix on February 1, 2019. The second season, which included seven episodes, was released over three years later, on April 20, 2022. Lyonne not only portrays the main character in Russian Doll but also serves as an executive producer on the series.  

Lyonne is a huge supporter of an all-female writers’ room 

As an executive producer on Russian Doll, Lyonne has been heavily involved in the creation of the show and determining who makes up the writing team. Early on in the creation of the series, it was determined that the writing room would only be filled with female writers. In an interview with Variety, Lyonne questioned whether perhaps this was the first time a show was created solely by an all-female writing team. However, she also noted, “No one did that research, but I think maybe it was.” 

During her Variety interview, Lyonne went on to discuss how she loved working with an all-female writing team. According to Lyonne, when working with an all-female team, “You end up circumnavigating so much dumb conversation about, well, ‘Does she have a boyfriend? Is she good at her job? What is she wearing? What is she thinking?’ because women sort of intuitively know it’s all the things all of the time.” 

She went on to explain that women simply have the ability to get to the “actual meat and potatoes” of the existential experience on a more specific basis which makes the whole creative process much easier. Lyonne summed up her thoughts by emphasizing the importance of elevating female voices but also noted that she is not opposed to “boy writers.” 

When is the third season of ‘Russian Doll’ being released? 

It’s been about a year now since the release of the second season of Russian Doll. However, there hasn’t been any word yet on whether the series will be greenlit for a third season. Despite this uncertainty, Lyonne isn’t holding back on developing a concept for a new Russian Doll season. 

During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Lyonne told Fallon that she is working on creating a script for Russian Doll season three and is hoping that Netflix gives the green light soon. Given that the first season of Russian Doll was released in February 2019, and the second in April 2022, season three of Russian Doll may not see the light of day until Q1 2025. 

Even if we do have to wait another two years before Russian Doll, if the first two seasons are anything to go by, the wait will certainly be worth it. Here’s hoping that Lyonne and the all-female writing team get the green light from Netflix to move forward on season three of Russian Doll soon!