Natasha Lyonne Says Quitting Smoking Is The 'Worst Decision' She Ever Made

Natasha Lyonne isn't ecstatic over her decision to quit smoking for good.

The actress recently shared that it was "the worst decision" she has ever made and that cigarettes are one of the "greatest loves" of her life. She also mentioned that she has grown softer with age, citing how she got emotional during a vacation with her friends.

Since Lyonne announced that she had quit smoking, several fans and her celebrity friends have sent in words of encouragement. While the actress has remained committed since quitting cigarettes, she admitted in an interview that she would forgive herself if she relapsed.

Keep on reading to learn more.

During her appearance at the NBC Universal Emmys Kick-Off Luncheon, Lyonne told People magazine that her decision to quit smoking wasn't pleasurable.

She described getting rid of the habit as "the worst decision I ever made" before sharing her wish to be once again able to smoke without the significant consequences that are known to bedevil smokers.

"My true and deep hope is that the technology will get there such that I'm able to smoke again consequence-free since it's one of the great loves of my life," the Poker Face actress said, per People.

While she still longs for the old days, Lyonne remains committed to staying clean. However, she did admit that quitting the sticks was a tough one.

"As a destructive person, it really is like committing in a way I cannot deny to signing up for life completely," Lyonne noted, "Like, it was the final gap between, me sort of saying I'm gonna be a participating member of society and really going all the way in."

Describing what motivated her to start the non-smoking journey, Lyonne shared that the decision had much to do with her feelings.

She said, "I still wanna write and direct movies. I still wanna get to make more seasons of Poker Face. I wanna get to have more life. And I think I was genuinely just scared by the reality of it."

The 44-year-old also pointed out that getting older has brought on a weird change in her life which wasn't so in the past.

"I'm becoming a lot softer with age," Lyonne noted. "I was like, tough for so many years — like leather, sunglasses, chain, smoking, tough guy. And I'm noticing that I'm getting much softer."

To buttress her point, the actress gave an instance of getting emotional over her deep connection with a few friends from the "Orange Is the New Black" show during a vacation.

Perhaps to help her stay more committed, Lyonne has often taken to Twitter to give her fans full-on updates about staying cigarette-free.

On March 3, she shared a throwback photo of herself with a cigarette stick in her mouth, with the words "I miss smoking a lot' scribbled across its surface.

She captioned the post, "Not sold, and my phone keeps making memory videos that include smoking like some dark temptress. I'm day 3 no smoking don't @ me."

The actress has received words of encouragement from fans and famous friends to help her continue to stay committed.

Melissa Etheridge said in a post, "hey @nlyonn, I see you are quitting smoking. As a 19year cancer thriver, I want to give you all of the encouragement I can."

A fan noted, "Good for you.. just think about anything else other than smoking.. just keep busy."

Earlier in the month, Lyonne, who is currently on a break from active work, shared that she plans to forgive herself if she relapses soon.

She admitted that getting back on set, where she would be under immense pressure, might trigger the habit.

However, in the meantime, the actress is spending her free time researching filming projects she is interested in pursuing.

"I'm taking this time to get very quiet. I'm dying to direct a feature, so I've been taking a lot of time to read books and see what's worth adapting. I'm also working on my own scripts and rewriting scripts I've already written," she said, per Variety.