‘I wanted to be Kate Moss’: Orange is the New Black’s Natasha Lyonne on how she learned to rebel against being ‘perfect wallflower fantasy’

‘I wanted to be Kate Moss’: Orange is the New Black’s Natasha Lyonne on how she learned to rebel against being ‘perfect wallflower fantasy’

It’s not very easy to miss Natasha Lyonne in a crowded room. Despite only being 5’3’’ tall, her incredible style, laid-back bravado and booming voice commands your attention.

By her own admission, she refers to herself as a ‘cross between Andrew Dice Clay and Bette Midler’ – and it’s something that’s become an integral part of her character and career. Never more so than in Nicky Nichols, the loud-mouthed inmate of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.

But speaking to Metro.co.uk, Natasha, 39, admits that when she was younger, all she ever wanted to be was invisible.



‘There’s been a sort’ve shame of ‘taking up space’ that happens to women and this idea that we can just be homogenised,’ she explained. ‘I can remember my biggest regret as a 12-year-old was just “Oh, I wish I could be a wallflower….If I was just shy”.’


Nicky is reunited with her fellow inmates in Max this season (Picture: Netflix)

Her eagerness for acceptance, or at least blending in, became her raison d’etre as she hit her teenage years. And yet, despite her best efforts, she was never quite able to commit to it.

Natasha explained: ‘I remember Kate Moss was quite big at the time, and I was like “if I could just be like this willowy waif then the boys would like me, because I could be seen as non-intimidating and talk too much and won’t take up too much space in the room.”

‘Did you ever see that episode of Family Guy where Kate Moss just turns sideways and disappears? It was almost like that! Like that was the fantasy of being the ideal woman and we all fell for it.’

I was like “if I could just be like this willowy waif then the boys would like me, because I could be seen as non-intimidating and talk too much and won’t take up too much space in the room.

However, it seemed that fate had a different plan for her – and from the outset, she was never destined to someone to fade into the background. It was literally rooted in her.

‘I can remember being a little girl and my mother brushing my hair was a nightmare,’ she tells us. ‘It was a full day’s worth of work, and it was just me crying – and all she was doing was trying to brush my little curls out.’

‘Just let the record show that I could very easily have dreadlocks, and I have before!’ she laughed. ‘I remember in some of my wilder years, I just had this giant dreadlock and I just had to cut it out and be like “well, I guess that’s that”.’

Natasha says she wanted to be ‘waif-like’ like Kate Moss as a young girl (Photo by Ricky Vigil M/GC Images)

However, as her acting career took off, it was her individuality that saw her through the numerous auditions and roles. It eventually led her to Nicky – the highly-troubled junkie from a rich but loveless background, whose gobby attitude hides a vulnerability and need to feel loved.

Natasha explained: ‘I remember with Orange is the New Black is that when I first got the script that I was so confused that they wanted me to try out for Nicky – because to me she was like some delicate, hipster, junkie…so I was like “oh they mean like Kate Moss”.



‘I thought of her as this much more waify kind of thing. So just in general it’s been an incredible journey to be part of this show,’ she added.

In the six seasons that have passed, Nicky has been seen forming her own strong bonds with those around her – in particular Red; a Russian mother figure, and Lorna Morello; her best friend and sex partner for their stay in Litchfield prison.

Natasha now calls old ideals of being a woman ‘outdated’ and has embraced all aspects of her feminism (Picture: Getty)

She has also been seen relapsing on heroin, struggling with addiction, and turning to violent means in order to survive life in the penitentiary. It’s a role that requires little to no make up or personal maintenance due to the simple fact that eyeliner and a decent mascara is hard to come by in prison. But far from being put off by lack of vanity, Natasha admits it’s something that’s become part of the joy of playing the role.

‘Something that’s really fun is that getting famous for your rawest sort of work as opposed to your most shellac-ed fakest version of yourself…it sort’ve creates a relationship with the world where you’re not scared to take the subway and run into someone, because no matter what you do, after Orange you come out and people are like ‘Wow. You look so much better in person!’

‘No matter what you do, after Orange you come out and people are like ‘Wow. You look so much better in person!’

‘You could be on your way to the gym and you have some sort’ve weird butt roll happening and whatever and people are really impressed with how great you look,’ she laughed.


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‘It’s a very healthy thing in a way, to be sort’ve stripped of artifice and have that be your way in as opposed to the other way around,’ She added. ‘Then, you have a lifetime of trying to keep up with a fake version of yourself.’

‘I think that we’re just seeing such an incredible moment for women of just the death of old ideas that had to go,’ she smiled. ‘There’s this real and beautiful impactful thing, and the show is at the forefront of us understanding that there is a beauty to be had everywhere.

‘We’re finally starting to see reflections of ourselves and on a personal level.’

Orange is the New Black season six airs in full on Netflix this Friday.

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