Mademoiselle Interview
| Lyonne Queen To look at her shy smile and cherubic curls, you'd never guess that Natasha Lyonne, 20, is a member of one of the most notorious subsets of humanity: former child actors. "I rob dry cleaners. It's not anything I'm embarrassed about," she jokes, not so obliquely referring to some ex-kid stars (think Dana Plato) who've turned larcenous. This quirky sense of humor has helped Lyonne make the transition from child performer (including a stint on Pee-wee's Playhouse) to ingenue (Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You; Slums of Beverly Hills). Now she's poised to be a comic screen queen with next month's American Pie, about high schoolers desperate to lose their virginity, and the upcoming Detroit Rock City, about four road-tripping kids dying to see KISS. I WAS A TEENAGE PIMP: "In American Pie, my character's the only nonvirgin in a group of high schoolers. She pops in and out, convincing people to have sex. That's why I get the big bucks, because I'm so damn good at that." REEL YOUTH CULTURE: "What I liked about Pie is that the kids talk about sex continuously, but in a natural way." SEX AND THE SINGLE TEEN: "If Pie were about the SATs, I would not be telling people to go see it." KISS 'N' TELL: "I got to meet KISS -- Gene [Simmons] is smiling and talking to me, and I'm like, 'Whatever you say, the answer is Yes!'" |
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