A week ago Monday, Natasha Lyonne quit smoking. A week ago, Tuesday, she regretted her decision. I feel ya, Natasha. This is, in fact, huge. Try to think of the last time you’ve seen a shot of Natasha Lyonne without a cigarette in her hands. Watching Poker Face, which I know is her homage to Columbo who always had a cigarette, I still wonder how they get away with so much smoking. And in Russian Doll the cigarettes were practically another character. But she’s decided to break the habit and she’s tweeting about how hard that is. Fortunately, her famous buddies have her back. Folks like former co-star Lily Tomlin are rooting for Natasha to stick it out.
Natasha Lyonne has some big names in her corner.
As the Golden Globe nominee, 43, documents her journey to quit smoking on social media, she’s been met with some words of encouragement from the likes of Melissa Etheridge and Lily Tomlin.
“Hey @nlyonne I see you are quitting smoking. As a 19-year cancer thriver, I want to give you all of the encouragement I can,” wrote Etheridge, 61, on Twitter. “Your show #PokerFace freaking rocks!! Just like #RussianDoll you are amazing! You got this!! It’s so cool!!”
Lyonne responded: “Woowowow!! Thank you!! So cool!!”
The Poker Face star previously shared a throwback selfie with a cigarette in her mouth, writing: “I miss smoking a lot already.”
She added on Twitter, “Not sold and my phone keeps making memory videos that include smoking like some dark temptress. I’m day 3 no smoking don’t @ me.”
“Chin up, darling,” replied Tomlin, 83, to which Lyonne wrote: “Wow! If getting encouragement from you is a perk of not smoking – I’ll take it!”
“Then we will continue our encouragement. The world needs your artistry and vision, so choose wisely for yourself,” Tomlin added. They previously starred together in 1998’s Krippendorf’s Tribe.
OMG quitting smoking is so hard. I feel like I relived it with Jonah Hill and now I feel like I’m going through it with Natasha. I share her wish for someone would invent a healthy cigarette. I mean, I guess I’m happy I don’t have to inject fillers to combat @$$hole mouth after quitting 20 years ago, but dark temptress indeed.
However, dwelling on how much I’d love a cigarette (yes, even after all this time) is not going to help anyone, so let’s talk about Natasha’s cheerleading team. This is the right way to use social media (one of the right ways, there are many, of course.) I love Lily et al coming out for Natasha to get her over the hump. Sometimes just a little fist bump will get you through that moment. Of course, a fist bump from Lily Tomlin could get me through just about anything. I like that Natasha is documenting her quitting. It will matter to someone else also trying to quit. Like Jonah, admitting how hard it is will let others know they aren’t alone in their struggle. And maybe seeing people support her will help them break their habits as well.
And while I rarely agree with Melissa Etheredge, I do here. Poker Face does, in fact, freaking rock.
Photo credit: Rudy Torres/Image Press Agency and JPI Studios/Avalon
Good for her! I miss drinking and smoking. I quit both because they make me feel like crap. I will have the occasional tequila and soda just to get that nice alcohol flavor hit (I know, but I miss it), but I won’t even touch a cigarette, because I feel so sh*tty the next day. I do wish there was something that was just like a cigarette though with no nicotine. Even with the flavor, but not the lingering smell. Oh well. This is better.
My mom who is 75 yrs old quit smoking 9 months ago, and she was a chain smoker for over 50yrs. She used Nicoret patches for 6 weeks and after that cold turkey.
I tell her every day how proud I am of her of quitting,
She still has urges to smoke, even almost a year later.
Kudos and well wished to anyone battling an addiction with nicotine. Many people don’t realize how difficult is can be. Hang in. We all want your healthy.
Quitting was so hard, it took a few tries for me, kudos to anyone who gets it the first time! My last cig was over 8 years ago- 2 puffs and I got the sickest, my body definitely was done with cigs before my mind was!
I love love love Natasha Leone! Big fan since slums of Beverly Hills, all this success for her is so great. It feels like rooting for a lifelong friend!
I love her.
She’s had such a hard time of it, & she’s still putting herself out there & creating phenomenal content.
Love her! Quitting is so tough, good for her for sharing it. It reminds me of this clip from Drag Race where Jinkx plays Natasha: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxSfQgoPVi38SSA8200ARPrpdF-K1dRnTr
I love Jinx. I love Natasha too. Thanks for posting this.
My ex smoked like a chimney, 2 packs a day, until he went on the patch. Then he quit for over a year. When we broke up he went straight back to it. Addiction is real. Support people who are battling it, because it takes a lot of effort and work, and even just a little encouragement means a lot.
I quit smoking 18 years ago and it was easily a decade before I stopped missing it from time to time. @ KGEO I also quit drinking recently because it made me feel awful, even just having 2 drinks. I hadn’t realized how much of the holiday season marketing is about drinking.
I got sick in college and quit smoking, not by choice. When I did my follow up with the doctor, they basically said keep it up and don’t go back.
That was about 20 years ago and I still miss it. I didn’t have the cold turkey issues that I’m sure most had, but it was tough for awhile there.
Whenever I quit smoking, I develop central sleep apnea at about hour 14 of withdrawal. I stop breathing for so long that I wake up clutching my chest, screaming that I’m having a heart attack. Then I realize that I’m still not breathing and have to manually make myself until my brain remembers what it is supposed to do automatically. Last time I quit, it happened 40 or so times in five days. Absolute agony and exhausting. It even happens on long-haul flights. Horrible.
Have an appointment with a sleep neurologist in May!
p.s. I only smoke three or four a day! Less nicotine than the lowest dose of the patch 🙁 Just got some of the inhaler cartridges you need a prescription for and am going to start using them next Monday. Hopefully, they will do the trick until we can figure out how to get me off all nicotine safely.
Good luck with your apnea diagnosis. I got diagnosed a couple of summers ago. It took a long time to get my CPAP due to supply chain issues, so remember that as you wait for yours. It makes a huge difference to use the machine and you’ll feel so much better.
My 24 year old little sister smokes and it drives me insane. Her argument is that it’s better than vaping because with cigarettes you know exactly what the risks are, vapes are a big mystery. How about just don’t do either? It’s horrible for your health and it’s also just so filthy and trashy. Every time we hang out she’s constantly going outside to smoke or rolling down the car window to smoke. It’s one thing when older folks are hooked on it, you just assume they didn’t know better. There’s zero excuse for anyone under 35 to smoke.
We grew up going to school reeking of cigs because all the adults in our world smoked like chimneys. Our grandma smoked through her tracheotomy until the COPD complications killed her. My takeaway was that it’s one of the most disgusting yet completely avoidable things you can do to yourself and your loved ones. Hers was apparently that it looks like fun.
Eh, I’m a boomer and we knew it was bad for you. We learned that in sixth grade science class; we had to watch a film, ‘Cancer Ward’, and our teacher showed us slices of human lungs in plexiglas–one was a non-smoker’s lung, one was a smoker’s. We knew. it’s not lack of knowledge alone that makes a smoker, it’s a whole lot of other influences.
I’m not a smoker, but I loved Natasha in Russian Doll. I forgot she had a new show, so I will have to check it out. She’s a phenomenal actress
My husband has smoked for 20 years, and it’s this constant undercurrent of anger and resentment with me. It’s a good reminder to read from Natasha (and everyone else) that it’s really, REALLY hard to quit and stay quit. Good luck to her!
Columbo nerd here to say that Peter Falk’s character was almost always seen with a cigar in his hand or in his mouth but that he hardly ever (maybe never?) actually smoked them.
Good for Natasha Lyonne! The more people are honest about how hard it is to break habits/addictions, the better. Love that she’s getting so much encouragement.
Quitting smoking is so hard. For me it took a cancer diagnosis (in remission) and even THEN it took a year and a half to completely quit! Cig free x5 years now and every now and then I still want one.
I wish they had an affordable rehab to quit smoking sometimes.
For real, every woman who smoked cigs, even after stopping, gets those lines all around the mouth and eyes and all over or else uses fillers, it’s a real b*** Over a thousand in fillers every 8 or 10 months starts adding up fast, even at the cheap place I go to where its not a real doctor.
Omg I hear this. I am a recovering alcoholic (sober 10 years) and quitting drinking was legit easier than quitting smoking (smoke-free 8 years). It took someone close to me dying of cancer to finally say “girl who do you think you are that you can keep playing with this shit?” Love to all who are still addicted. I get it, I really do.
Good luck to her! Also, I f*cking love Poker Face!
Massive Natasha fan. Am really enjoying Poker Face. Former New Yorker and former smoker. I loved smoking sadly. When I moved out of the city, I quit smoking pretty easily but if I went back, it would prob be a challenge not to pick up again. All the best to her and hope everyone keeps the encouragement for her going.
ALWAYS loved her, since I saw her in The Slums of Beverly Hills back in the day. Poker Face is massively entertaining and so is she. She has comic timing like nobody’s business. Good luck quitting smoking, Natasha. You are insanely talented!!!
Love Poker face!! (And former Columbo nerd). If you’re too busy and can only watch one or two eps watch recent episodes 8 and 9, they were great!
I just recently quit smoking pot (and drinking for good measure, but I only drink really in the summer at the trailer)
Today is day 6. I’m 40 this year, I have been smoking pot since I was 14.
It no longer served my mental health.
So far it’s been easy, the hard part will be being around my friends 99% of which smoke A LOT!!!