A Complete Timeline of Natasha Lyonne and Fred Armisen's Relationship

From ELLE

When people think of Hollywood comedy power couples, Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman or Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow come to mind. But one of the more underrated pairs is poised to attend their fourth Emmys together on September 22. Fred Armisen and Natasha Lyonne were first linked at an Emmys after party in 2014 and have been quietly dating ever since. Here, a look back at their low-key relationship and all the eventful Emmys outings along the way.

August 2014: On August 7, Armisen shares a photo of Lyonne with the caption, "The beautiful and brilliant Natasha Lyonne @nlyonne #portlandia." Fans assume that Lyonne will be guest starring on his hit sketch show Portlandia, which she does end up appearing on across five episodes between 2015 and 2018.

By August 26, news emerges that Armisen and Lyonne are dating. Us Weekly reports that the couple attended the Variety and Women in Film Emmy Nominee Celebration on August 23 in which an eyewitness said they "were very flirty and talking very closely."

The pair was also seen together at the Emmy Awards afterparties, where the two actors were reportedly "chuckling" with their "arms linked." While walking the red carpet, Lyonne told reporter Ross Matthews that she was sending a sexy text to a partner, possibly Armisen. "This is not a G-rated text message I'm sending right now," she admitted.

In a September 2019 Glamour cover story, Lyonne admits that she and Armisen had met several years before. However, in the midst of her substance abuse struggles she didn't recall her initial introduction to Armisen, by way of Maya Rudolph.

As Armisen tells it, he and Rudolph dropped by Lyonne's apartment and found her chain-smoking in a long silk robe and sunglasses. "I pulled out a copy of [Legs McNeil's oral history] Please Kill Me, autographed it, and was like, 'Welcome, kid. Fred—what a name. Happy birthday. Enjoy the book.' He still has it," Lyonne told Glamour.

January 2015: Several months later, Armisen congratulates Lyonne on her SAG Award win for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for Orange is the New Black.

Towards the end of the month, Lyonne receives a tribute at the SF Sketchfest, with both Armisen and Lyonne posting photos of each other from the evening.

February 2015: The couple makes their first official awards show appearance together at the Independent Film Spirit Awards, which Armisen hosts alongside Kristen Bell.

March 2015: In March, the couple attends The Night Of Too Many Stars live telethon in New York City alongside Lyonne's OITNB co-star Uzo Aduba.

April 2015: The following month, Armisen shares a photo of his girlfriend behind the wheel to Instagram, captioned, "Icelandic bus driver #Reykjavik @nlyonne."

June 2015: In June, this comedic power couple attends the AFI Live Achievement Award Gala for Steve Martin.

July 2015: In July, the couple posts photos of each other while Armisen films episodes of Portlandia. "My favorite people being absolutely delightful, as per usual. #donuts," Lyonne writes alongside a photo of Armisen and Carrie Brownstein dressed in character.

September 2015: About a year after Armisen and Lyonne are first linked, they attend the Emmy Awards again, posting a selfie from their seats to Instagram.

While walking the red carpet, Armisen wears a Freddy Krueger-esque claw. She later tells Variety that her black vintage dress "needed to pair well with Fred, my boyfriend, who was nominated. And he wanted to go as Freddy Krueger. The flashes of fringe at the bottom of the dress really felt like something that Freddy Krueger could have destroyed with his claw."

November 2015: The couple makes public outings at both Smithsonian Magazine's American Ingenuity Awards and the American Museum Of Natural History Gala.

February 2016: Lyonne and Armisen attend the New York City premiere of Zoolander 2.

April 2016: "Happy Birthday @nlyonne !!! ????" Armisen writes alongside a photo of Lyonne for her 37th birthday.

May 2016: Armisen hosts the May 21 finale of Saturday Night Live, marking his first return to host since his departure as a cast member in 2013. Lyonne shares her support on Instagram alongside a photo of Armisen, writing, "Knock em dead, Freddy! Watch this guy @sordociego on @nbcsnl tonight."

June 2016: After he admits to being "a terrible husband" to Elisabeth Moss from 2009 to 2011, on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, Armisen opens up about his new lease on relationships. "Everything is a process to make your life better—everything," Armisen tells Vulture. "I'm trying to be less selfish. I want to give more than I'm used to giving."

August 2016: The couple walks the red carpet for the premiere of IFC Midnight's Antibirth.

September 2016: On September 5, Lyonne captions a backstage photo of herself and Armisen at The Misfits concert, "Boyfriend of the year award, basically."

The following night, Armisen and Lyonne attend a New York screening of Other People, directed by former SNL head writer Chris Kelly.

Lyonne accompanies Armisen to the second season premiere of his IFC series, Documentary Now!, which she would guest star on in 2019.

At that year's Emmy Awards, the couple arrives in a hearse à la Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein, Lyonne told Variety in 2019.

December 2016: Armisen shares a snap of the couple on date night at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

February 2017: Lyonne and Armisen walk hand-in-hand down the Film Independent Spirit Awards red carpet in Santa Monica.

April 2017: For Lyonne's next birthday, the couple heads to Disneyland, clad in Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears. They both share photos of the trip on Instagram.

June 2017: The couple takes date night to the Los Angeles premiere of Baby Driver.

September 2017: In September, the short that Lyonne directed for Kenzo, "Cabiria, Charity, Chastity" is released. Armisen is in the film, alongside Maya Rudolph and Greta Lee.

January 2018: The couple is spotted at an after party for the SAG Awards, where Orange is the New Black was nominated for multiple awards.

May 2018: Armisen supports Lyonne at the premiere of her movie Show Dogs.

They also make time to attend a Netflix event as a couple. Lyonne's two major TV projects came from the streaming service, OITNB and Russian Doll.

September 2018: For the 70th Emmy Awards, Lyonne and Armisen continue their horror-themed red carpet looks. She wears a bright red dress, while he opts for a set of Dracula teeth.

January 2019: Armisen supports Lyonne at a New York City screening of Russian Doll, for which she's nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category.

February 2019: Armisen and Lyonne attend the Grammy Awards together, although they leave their Emmy Awards bit behind. In an interview with ELLE, it's revealed that the couple of nearly five years lives together in New York City.

April 2019: Per usual, Armisen shares a sweet and hilarious post for Lyonne's 40th birthday.

May 2019: During a comedy actresses roundtable for The Hollywood Reporter, Maya Rudolph reveals that it was Lyonne's idea for her to pair up with Armisen in the Amazon series, Forever. "She said that Fred and I should play a couple," Rudolph recalled. "They love each other so much, you know they essentially are—" Lyonne began. "We're comedy married," Rudolph explained.

July 2019: During a W Magazine interview, Lyonne is asked who her cinematic crush is. "I'll tell you this, and my boyfriend, Fred Armisen was there, and so I feel like it's okay," she says. "I do have a crush on him. Fred, I have a crush on, but I'm also actively acting on that crush on a daily basis. And so I say that all as a long way of saying that recently we watched Viggo Mortensen together in Eastern Promises and mamma mia! That sort of scene, I mean. And I sat there with Freddie and I took screen grabs, and I told him that they were for research. I was researching a future picture I have not yet written. Again, I love my boyfriend, but Viggo in the Eastern Promises—really, he looks good in and out of his clothes."

September 2019: On September 15, the couple is photographed at a Creative Arts Emmys after party, signaling that they could be headed to their next Emmy Awards red carpet together. Their horror-themed ensembles for the evening? To be determined.

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