The 5 Best Natasha Lyonne Movies And TV Shows, Ranked

This article contains discussion of addiction.

Certain things in life are just true. The sky is blue. Every year, you're going to struggle to figure out your taxes. Natasha Lyonne is a national treasure. None of these statements are up for debate. 

After getting her start as a child actor in both New York and Israel, Lyonne has been acting for decades, winning audiences over with her notably raspy voice and her wild mane of curly red hair. So what are the best projects featuring Lyonne in a starring role? More specifically, what are her five best projects? 

For this ranking, we unfortunately have to ignore smaller roles and cameos just to elevate the best of the best; that means that her voice cameo in "Uncut Gems" and her very brief appearance in Rian Johnson's 2022 "Knives Out" movie "Glass Onion" don't really count towards this ranking. (That sadly also means that her absolutely wild one-episode guest spot on "New Girl" isn't included either.) From time-bending comedies to a devastating Netflix drama starring two other acclaimed actresses to a sprawling ensemble series, here are five of Natasha Lyonne's best roles on both the big and small screen. (Also, to be clear: all of these are excellent, so while they're ranked, this could also be a five-way tie for first place.)

"But I'm a Cheerleader!" is a classic in the queer cinematic canon, and that's thanks in large part to Natasha Lyonne's central performance as a cheerleader named Megan Bloomfield whose parents send her away to a conversion therapy camp when she starts expressing interest in women. (The other "indicators" that Megan might be queer are that she's a vegetarian and likes Melissa Etheridge, just in case you thought this movie sounded super-serious.) At the camp, called True Directions, Megan meets Graham Eaton (Clea DuVall, a real lifelong friend of Lyonne) and the two are immediately drawn to each other, despite their surroundings. The two fall in love and get kicked out of the camp, and while Megan's parents initially disown her, they come around, and Megan and Graham, now completely in love, are free to be together.

Lyonne plays Megan perfectly, from her early naivete (she says the movie's title at one point in the most bemused voice possible) to her eventual rebellion against her conservative parents and True Directions, and it's a stunning early performance from the young actress. If you somehow missed "But I'm a Cheerleader!" consider this your opportunity to finally check it out.

After years as a supporting character on the small screen, Natasha Lyonne finally got her own starring vehicle in 2019 thanks to "Russian Doll," a Netflix original series created by Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland (who went on to work on the "Star Wars" series "The Acolyte"). The series begins during Nadia's (Lyonne) birthday party, where the game designer notices something strange; she keeps dying and respawning, as it were in front of her bathroom mirror in the middle of the celebration. (Greta Lee's repetitive delivery of "sweet birthday baby" over and over again is a hilarious touch.) No matter how or where she dies, Nadia always ends up back in her bathroom, so during each time loop, she tries to figure out why this is happening in the first place, and ends up meeting a guy named Alan (Charlie Barnett, who actually also ended up on "The Acolyte") experiencing the same "issue."

Season 2 of "Russian Doll" produces somewhat diminishing returns, despite the addition of "Schitt's Creek" veteran and Emmy winner Annie Murphy — honestly, the show would have been perfect as a miniseries — but Lyonne is an absolute delight, even in the lesser of the two seasons. From her most absurd death scenes to her time-travel experience on the 6 train in Season 2, Lyonne brings humor and levity to Nadia, and nobody else could have anchored the show quite as well.

"His Three Daughters" is definitely the saddest entry on this list, but Natasha Lyonne is incredible in the 2024 Netflix movie — and she's paired with Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon as her on-screen sisters, giving her some seriously worthy scene partners. Azazel Jacobs' film, which he also wrote, casts Lyonne as Rachel, the wayward sister of the onscreen family who has been living with Katie (Coon) and Christina's (Olsen) sick father Vincent (Jay O. Sanders) despite the fact that she's not his biological child. Rachel immediately butts heads with Katie and Christina — she keeps trying to smoke weed inside and her sisters insist she go outside, only for various people outside to tell her to then return to the apartment — as they all argue over the rent-controlled apartment and who will own it when Vincent dies.

The movie feels more like a play, and it's a stunning vehicle for Coon, Olsen, and Lyonne, letting three of the most brilliant performers working in the industry today play off each other for over 90 minutes. As the conversation veers to troubling and dark places, Lyonne's natural sense of humor and charisma keeps the whole situation from getting too depressing, and ultimately, the three reach an agreement that ensures that Lyonne's Rachel gets a happy ending.

After "Russian Doll," it was clear that Natasha Lyonne needed to lead another series — and luckily for all of us, Lyonne joined forces with Rian Johnson to create the smart, funny procedural series "Poker Face," an original series for NBC's streaming service Peacock. As Charlie Cale, a casino worker who's trying to evade her boss after someone dies at her workplace, Lyonne is brash, funny, and brilliant — and when Charlie ends up having to solve a different murder in every episode, the audience learns that Charlie has a major talent: she can always tell when someone is lying. This little detail would feel absurd in the hands of less talented actors and writers, but Johnson and Lyonne completely sell the entire endeavor in the show's massively first season, which immediately won audiences over when it premiered in early 2023.

Through Season 1, Lyonne links up with a ton of incredible guest stars — including but not limited to Judith Light, Hong Chau, Chloë Sevigny, Simon Helberg, Tim Blake Nelson, Jameela Jamil, Stephanie Hsu, and Cherry Jones — as she solves a variety of completely wild crimes, and the show is returning for a second season, so fans can rest easy knowing that Charlie will be solving crimes on TV again before long. "Poker Face" is truly the perfect vehicle for Lyonne's bold, brash, and clever vibe, but still — one role outshines all the rest.

Natasha Lyonne has never been better in anything than she was as Nicky Nichols on the Netflix original series "Orange is the New Black." Though the show ostensibly centers around Piper Kerman (Taylor Schilling), Jenji Kohan's audacious series set in a minimum security prison uses Piper as a gateway to put the other inmates front and center, especially queer women and women of color. (The series is basically responsible for the fame and success of Laverne Cox, a transgender actress whose real-life journey inspired her character Sophia's storyline and who has been thriving in the industry since this breakout role). That includes Lyonne's Nicky Nichols, a recovering drug addict who, in one of her very first scenes, can be found between the legs of her fellow inmate Lorna Morello (Yael Stone).

Nicky's past echoes Lyonne's own — the actress struggled with an addiction to heroin and was hospitalized in 2005 for a litany of health problems related to her heroin use — and there's no question that Lyonne's personal attachment to Nicky's journey comes through in her performance. Sure, Nicky is funny, filthy, and entertaining, but some of the show's most gut-wrenching scenes focus on her continued struggles with sobriety; at the end of the day, Nicky is the role that best showcases Lyonne's incredible range as a performer.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).