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'Poker Face' star Natasha Lyonne reveals the TV roles she didn't land
Before Poker Face, Natasha Lyonne tried and failed to land these other iconic TV parts.
These days, Natasha Lyonne is a small screen superstar, thanks to acclaimed work on both Netflix's Russian Doll (which she also co-created) and Peacock's new mystery series Poker Face, which has earned all-around praise and even landed a Super Bowl spot over the weekend. Lyonne's particular style of performing has served her well in both of these shows, but for every actor, there's always the story of the roles that got away, and in Lyonne's case, there are a couple of fascinating stories of what could have been.
Lyonne stopped by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen last week to talk about Poker Face, and in the course of a poker-themed round of rapid fire questions, Cohen asked her about roles she didn't get (but perhaps thinks she should have gotten). To answer the questions, Lyonne took things way back to the early '90s, and revealed three major TV roles that didn't come her way.
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"Gosh, there's a lot," she said. "I mean, how far back do you want to go? Well, I didn't get Six or Blossom [both from Blossom]. I didn't get Sabrina the Teenage Witch."
Cohen and Lyonne's fellow guest, Somebody I Used to Know star Alison Brie, were both shocked by all three revelations, and also shocked when Lyonne revealed that she lost out on the title part in John Hughes' film Curly Sue. Cohen and Brie both noted that Lyonne would have been great, and very different, as Blossom's best friend Six, to which she quipped "It's not too late."
In the end, Lyonne largely stayed away from television early in her career, apart from a stint on Pee Wee's Playhouse in the 1980s. She didn't really pick up steady TV work, apart from guest appearances, until Orange Is the New Black surfaced on Netflix. Then came Russian Doll, and then came Poker Face. Now, she's one of streaming TV's most celebrated performers, so let's make her the best friend on a classic sitcom if she wants it.
New episodes of Poker Face arrive Thursdays on Peacock.
