Natasha Lyonne sobbed watching Russian Doll after Anthony Bourdain’s suicide

Natasha Lyonne found herself sobbing while watching back her hit TV show Russian Doll following Anthony Bourdain’s suicide, because it reminded her of the fragility of life.
The beloved celebrity chef and travel presenter died in June 2018 in France, where he had been filming material for the new 12th season of his hit CNN show Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Natasha stars as Nadia Vulvokov in Russian Doll, with the series telling the story of the software engineer having to live her life over and over again on the night of her 36th birthday.
Reflecting on the programme, which is expected to be returning to Netflix for a second series in 2020, Natasha told Britain’s The Guardian newspaper that she was unaware of the deeper meaning until she watched it back.
“(When I sat down to watch the show, I was struck by) how much the show was unintentionally about suicide,” the 40-year-old actress said. “About not ‘taking yourself out’. And I think that there are so many ways in which we can take ourselves out of our lives, you know, even just by stopping participating. I found myself crying at the heaviness of it.
“Anthony Bourdain had just killed himself and I felt overwhelmed that the show was really speaking to the search for a meaningful life. But, simultaneously, acknowledging we all feel sort of strange and dirty, and perplexed by what we’re doing here. And you know, that here were these characters willing each other to… stick around.”