Formative Performances: Natasha Lyonne in “But I’m a Cheerleader”

When I first heard about the movie But I’m a Cheerleader back in 1999, I was immediately intrigued. A story about a gay reeducation camp trying to turn kids straight – and it was a comedy? I was all in!

Of course, I didn’t wind up seeing the movie until many, many years later, when I finally got a Netflix account. It was one of my first rentals. I loved the movie even though critics didn’t. It was campy and silly, and camp and silliness are both right up my alley. And I loved Natasha Lyonne in this movie, as the lesbian cheerleader who didn’t know she was a lesbian…because she was a cheerleader.

I was used to seeing Natasha Lyonne play snarky, sarcastic roles, and I expected some of that snark and sarcasm to manifest in her portrayal of Megan, but it never came. Megan is sweet, naive, innocent, and very very gay without realizing it right away. Watching her grow and change over the course of the movie without ever losing her core sweetness is a true delight for me. I am so proud of her at the end of the film (though I won’t say why).

This is where I would normally put a clip from the performance, but some of the scenes from But I’m a Cheerleader need logins and over-18 confirmations to watch them, and others can’t be embedded in blogs. (Sigh.) The more the world changes, right? Instead, I’ve put a clip of the trailer for But I’m a Cheerleader, and you can get glimpses of Natasha Lyonne being cute, as well as Clea DuVall and Cathy Moriarty being hilarious.