112 InSTYLE FEBRUARY 2019
NATASHA LYONNE: Jenni Konner, as I live and breathe.
JENNI KONNER: Hello! I have to tell you that I’m on the
sixth episode of your new Netflix show, Russian Doll. I love
it so much. We’ll get back to that. But first, do you remem-
ber how we met?
NL: I was 16, and I was with my BFF, Jake, who was also 16.
Jake was a huge music fan, and I was always tagging along.
Your husband at the time was Beck’s tour manager. I dis-
tinctly remember us being at the Tibetan Freedom concert,
which was put together by the Beastie Boys, probably in, like,
- It was the most magical event of my 16 years. Suddenly
we were hanging out on Beck’s tour bus. I didn’t really know
what to do with myself, in that way that teenagers are just
like, “What is a body, why do I have one, and how do I recon-
ci le it with my mind? ” A nd I just remember t a l k ing to you
and being like, “Yeah, this is my [new] friend Jenni!”
JK: I remember you being one of the most self-possessed peo-
ple I’d ever met. You’re so well-read, and I remember listen-
ing to you years ago on a Marc Maron podcast and being like,
“She’s ma k ing some references that I don’t even k now how to
look up. How does she know so many things?” You were men-
tion ing shor ts by Fel lin i, wh ich con nects to you r show, r ig ht?
NL: Yes, the movie you’re referencing is Toby Dammit,
starring Terence Stamp. It’s in Italian and part of a [1968]
trilogy called Spirits of the Dead, which is based on short
stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Russian Doll is influenced by it.
There’s something about it that, for me, really encapsulates
the way the subconscious experiences a life and how it’s a
series of trigger points just coming at you constantly. I love
references. I went to NYU briefly for film and philosophy.
I dropped out. Instead, I just spent all my time at Film
Forum, watching all the movies, and then I would read all
the books. It’s the only language I really understood.
JK: OK, so when did you start acting?
NL: I have a SAG card from 1985, and by 1986 I was a series
regular on Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which I think of as the
greatest job of my career. I don’t think I’ll ever do better
work. It ’s good to have that ha nd led by the time you’re 6.
JK: What wa s you r fi rst “ big g irl” role?
NL: I was in Dennis the Menace when I was 12. I played
Dennis’s babysitter. That show was exciting because it was
with Wa lter Mat thau, Joa n Plowr ig ht , a nd Ch r istopher
Lloyd. And then, I don’t think he’s too popular anymore,
but the big event was being in Woody Allen’s Everyone Says
I Love You when I was 16.
JK: Right. That was it. That was the really big one.
NL: I remember becoming very close with [actress] Gaby
Hoffmann. We’ve maintained a friendship 25 years later.
We had a lot of kind of wild nights; we played sisters with
Natalie Portman and Drew Barrymore in that movie.
There were so ma ny g reat people in that fi lm—Gold ie
Hawn, Tim Roth, Ed Norton. That was definitely the movie
where I was like, “This is what I’m going to do for a living.”
JK: Aside from Pee-wee, do you have a favorite experience?
NL: It’s funny. I didn’t really have a hi gh school or college
experience, so a lot of my time on set became the formative
events of my rea l li fe. Slums of Beverly Hills was very familial,
and I’m still in touch with all those people. That was very
personal for me, playing [the role of Vivian, based on the life
of ] Tamara Jenkins, who is the writer-director of that
movie. I’m still very close with her.
JK: Yeah, I know how that goes. I had similar experiences
while working on Girls.
NL: Orange Is the New Black has been huge. The way you
have such close working relationships with people for six
years of your life and the fact that you see each other
through all your human frailties and joys and breakups...
I can’t imagine my life without these girls anymore.
JK: That ’s such a g reat way to descr ibe what it ’s li ke to
work on a series, actually. You directed the finale of
Russian Doll, right?
NL: Yeah, and now I’m also directing the next episode of
Orange. Laura Prepon, who has directed a couple of episodes
too, came over to my house and spent two hours just walking
through the whole process of directing that show, telling me
all these special things, tricks to
N
Being honest about
where you’re at and
not feeling like you
need to hide your true
self is pretty badass.”
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 134)