Natasha Lyonne is Solving Crimes in Rian Johnson’s Mystery Show ‘Poker Face’
Lyonne stars alongside the likes of Adrien Brody, Lil Rel Howery, Ron Perlman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tim Meadows.
Rian Johnson clearly enjoys being a man of mystery. Not in an ‘Austin Powers’ way – he’s a master at coming up with mystery stories.
These days, he’s very focused on the ‘Knives Out’ franchise, having secured a huge two-movie deal with Netflix off the back of the box office success of the 2019 original.
‘Glass Onion’, the latest outing, which sees Daniel Craig back as drawling detective Benoit Blanc, will be in on limited release in theaters from November 23rd, ahead of its launch on Netflix’s servers on December 23rd.
And mystery helped him secure his big break with Sundance success story ‘Brick’ back in 2005. The drama saw a teenage loner pushing his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
It’s perhaps no mystery, then – pun intended – that Johnson would whip up a mystery for his first stab at a TV show, conjured with Natasha Lyonne in the lead role of Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road in her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.
“Never underestimate the power of a good dinner conversation between friends. What started as a discussion over steak frites about detective shows and what made them such a reliable pleasure — the exploration of little worlds within each new setting, the guest stars playing killers and victims, and most importantly, a scrappy protagonist you were always ready to kick back with and see win — ultimately resulted in the creation of Charlie, the driving force behind ‘Poker Face’,” say Johnson and Lyonne in a statement.
“We invite you to follow Charlie on a cross-country road trip as she meets a rogue’s gallery of characters and avenges a new injustice each episode, armed with little more than her uncanny ability to detect lies and a genuine appreciation for her fellow humans (and the occasional dog). Now please leave the overthinking to Rian, who has masterfully crafted ten self-contained puzzles for Charlie to solve. Just jump in the back of her ‘69 Plymouth Barracuda and enjoy the ride,” they add.
And Johnson has rounded up quite the guest cast for the show, with (deep breath) Adrien Brody, Angel Desai, Audrey Corsa, Benjamin Bratt, Brandon Michael Hall, Charles Melton, Chelsea Frei, Cherry Jones, Chloë Sevigny, Clea DuVall, Colton Ryan, Danielle MacDonald, Dascha Polanco, Ellen Barkin, Hong Chau, Jasmine Aiyana Garvin, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Leslie Silva, Lil Rel Howery, Luis Guzmán, Megan Suri, Niall Cunningham, Nicholas Cirillo, Nick Nolte, Reed Birney, Rhea Perlman, Ron Perlman, Rowan Blanchard, S. Epatha Merkerson, Shane Paul McGhie, Simon Helberg, Stephanie Hsu, Tim Blake Nelson and Tim Meadows.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt! However did he score that guy? Oh, right… they’ve worked together multiple times, including on ‘Brick’.
‘Poker Face’ will launch on Peacock with its first four episodes on January 26th. The remaining six episodes will land weekly on Thursdays.