Natasha Lyonne Says 'Russian Doll' Has Been 'Seven Years In The Making'

Natasha Lyonne made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday (February 13) and revealed that her hit Netflix show Russian Doll has has been seven years in the making.

The 39-year-old actress revealed that she discussed the idea initially with Nora Ephron, writer of Heartburn, When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail – who passed away in 2012 from acute myeloid leukaemia at the age of 71.

“I did this wonderful play with Nora Ephron and her sister Delia Ephron, who I’m still very close with,” Natasha said. “I found this, I don’t even know how I was searching for it, but it popped up with this old email from Nora that was like: ‘What we discussed today. A TV show, you play a character named Nadia.’”

“She chain smokes, she has existential dilemmas and so forth, sex or no sex,’” Natasha recalled about the email. “It’s all written sort of like Nora in a way that was deeply moving.”