Lyonne’s troubled ascent

Natasha Lyonne almost didn’t survive to adulthood, says Robert Simonson in The New York Times. At age 7, her parents turned her into a child actor, and she began her career on Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Later, she landed parts in several movies, and now, at 28, is appearing on Broadway. Along the way, she spent a good chunk of time in jail, hospitals, and rehab. “I definitely felt like I was on a mission,” she says, “and working was not high on my priority list.” Starting in 2001, Lyonne was arrested on a variety of charges, ranging from drunken driving to threatening her neighbor and his dog. Lyonne says she was addicted to “opiates,” a habit that landed her in the intensive care unit two years ago with hepatitis C and a host of other ailments. “I remember being in pain a lot. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, could hardly talk, could barely walk.” But now she’s clean and determined to stay that way. “I didn’t die, so I decided to live, basically. Obviously it’s complicated, but it’s also very simple. I wasn’t dead at 27, so I might as well be 30. You’re already in it. You may as well be in a rocking chair some day eating a lobster club.”