Sometimes actors won’t always reap the benefits of a career highlight.
When it graced Netflix screens in 2019, Natasha Lyonne’s “Russian Doll” propelled her to an elite realm of television auteurs. Season 2 surpassed expectations in 2022, while Lyonne again seized the spotlight as the lead in Rian Johnson’s Peacock series, “Poker Face”.
However, despite the barrage of success, Lyonne can’t help but ponder why there haven’t been more opportunities coming her way.
READ MORE: Natasha Lyonne Reveals She Almost Landed Roles In ‘Blossom’ And ‘Sabrina The Teenage Witch’
While joining a conversation on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Actors Roundtable published on Tuesday, the 44-year-old icon revealed that “Russian Doll” failed to land her more mainstream Hollywood gigs.
“It’s funny when you are the writer, the creator, the director and the star, and you have 13 nominations or whatever, and it’s not like, ‘Here’s a bunch of Marvel movies,'” Lyonne admitted. “In fact, they’re like, ‘Oh, now we see you as potentially intimidating.'”
Lyonne then observed that prominent men in comparable positions have seldom encountered such obstacles.
“For some reason, it’s much easier to say, ‘Oh my God, this person is brilliant and fun to watch, let’s put them in a bunch of stuff.’ It’s just very different for boys and girls,” she explained.
Lyonne clarified that her grievances extended beyond Marvel and instead wanted to dive further into the conversation about Hollywood stars attempting to transition from critical success to mainstream projects.
“I don’t even mean anything to Marvel,” she said. “And it can be unintentional. I think a lot of it is people trying to be generous, almost saying, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you’d want to do that kind of thing. Like, you created ‘PEN15,’ why would you want to…’ And I don’t know those ladies personally, but I don’t suddenly see them on billboards all over the city for rom-coms or whatever.”
