James Gray’s new film, Ad Astra, is doing well in theaters with critics, but one cameo is going over particularly well. Natasha Lyonne of Russian Doll and Orange Is the New Black fame, steals the camera away from the wonderful Brad Pitt for a brief moment to drop off her unabashed New York accent. Perhaps more interesting than the cameo, is how it came to be.
Apparently, James Gray is quite the cook. He explained the story to IndieWire during a recent Q&A saying, “Every Sunday night I make dinner. It’s a tradition we like. It’s a nice thing and we invite people over and have a lot of guests. It’s a wonderful thing,” Gray said. “One day I’m walking down the hall and I see Natasha Lyonne walking towards me, and she says, ‘Honey, I know who you are. You’re James Gray.'” Lyonne continues to comment on Gray’s cooking, “I’m smelling it. Every Sunday, I smell it. What’re you doing to me?”
Next Sunday, Lyonne joins Gray for Sunday dinner and, after mentioning Ad Astra, Lyonne grew ecstatic, “Brad Pitt goes to space? What am I doing in it? I’m in it. I’m in it.”
Ad Astra is in theaters now.
