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Russian Doll: Natasha Lyonne explains why Rosie O’Donnell is listed in the season 2 credits

‘She’s the subway announcer,’ co-creator revealed

Inga Parkel
Thursday 21 April 2022 12:26 EDT
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Netflix releases Russian Doll season 2 trailer

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Natasha Lyonne has revealed why Rosie O’Donnell is listed in the credits of Russian Doll season two.

The acclaimed show first aired in 2019, and saw Lyonne starring as Nadia, a New York woman who was constantly dying and reliving her 36th birthday party after becoming trapped in a time loop.

After the series’ made its highly-anticipated return to Netflix on Wednesday (20 April), viewers may wonder why the comedian’s name appears in the rolling credits.

In a recent interview with EW, Lyonne, who also serves as the series co-creator, addressed O’Donnell’s role in the new season.

“She’s the subway announcer. She’s the, ‘Next stop, this is Astor Place. Next stop, 14th street,” Lyonne explained.

As a majority of the second season is centred within New York City’s subway, the star said that it was important to her that whoever voiced the subway announcements had an authentic New York tone.

“I just texted [O’Donnell], because we knew we wanted a real New York accent,” she said.

Russian Doll
Russian Doll (COURTESY OF NETFLIX)

“We were sort of running down the line, we’re like, ‘Rosie Perez, Rosie... Mike Rapaport. Who’s doing this part?’ And so I texted Rosie, and she just would start sending me these little voice memos,” she added.

Read The Independent’s full review here.

Russian Doll season two is available to stream on Netflix.

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