Russian Doll originally had a part written for Jordan Peele
Showrunner and star Natasha Lyonne also imagined a small role for Alfred Molina
As we enter the second season of Netflix’s Russian Doll, Natasha Lyonne’s Nadia remains as single and hedonistic as ever. However, when Lyonne was originally putting together the series for Netflix, Nadia was set to be coupled up. Not only that, she pictured Get Out director Jordan Peele taking on the role of her partner.
“It’s funny to look at that pitch document. It’s so charming, because there’s so much in it that is [different]. First of all, Jordan Peele plays heavily in it as a love interest,” Lyonne tells Entertainment Weekly. “Which is just funny to think that it’s such a pre-Jordan Peele, Oscar-winning auteur era, where we’re just like, ‘Okay, great. So he plays the boyfriend.’”
Of course, these things change as a series starts developing. However, it feels like a role Peele would have aced, especially considering his affinity for science fiction.
Lyonne originally pitched the series with a three-season arc, each with its own time-twisting, universe-shifting, existential crisis. From the pitch document to the screen, Lyonne says this aspect of the show has managed to endure, despite all the other changes.
“I guess, when it’s most like itself is that it’s anthological in nature, meaning we know that we’re going to be kind of playing with these characters, but kind of rotating them in some way into a world that’s not exactly a direct extension from season 1,” Lyonne explains. “It’ll be, at the very least, kind of a new game, and I will say that it was quite similar in that it always was that season 2 was going to deal heavily with [Nadia’s] mom.”
Though season three hasn’t officially been announced yet (come on Netflix with that renewal), it looks like Nadia and Alan may deal with the future as Lyonne dreams about becoming a cyborg.
“I’ve been incredibly open about my desires to become a cyborg, and I would love nothing more than to have a half-silver face with a red eye, and in season 3, just be walking around with my robot neck and stuff. Just imagine how great that would be.”
The second season of Russian Doll is currently streaming on Netflix.