TV Discussion: Poker Face ft. Natasha Lyonne (on Paramount +)
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Been hearing the early buzz for this upcoming series of late ...
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www.nytimes.com
www.avclub.com
Poker Face is an upcoming American television series created by Rian Johnson for the streaming service Peacock. It is a "case-of-the-week" mystery comedy-drama.[1] Natasha Lyonne executive produces and stars in the series.[2]
Peacock announced the series in March 2021, with Lyonne attached and Johnson as director.[2] Nora and Lilla Zuckerman were named as co-showrunners.[2]
Poker Face will consist of 10 episodes and is scheduled to debut on January 26, 2023.[1][3]
According to Rian Johnson, the series will be a character-driven, case-of-the-week mystery comedy-drama.[4] Each episode follows the howcatchem format popularized by Columbo.[5]
'Glass Onion' Director Rian Johnson Is Giving Us a 'Knives Out'-Style Mystery Every Week
‘Glass Onion’ director talks about his exciting new Peacock case-of-the-week series starring Natasha Lyonne as a mystery-solving fugitive on the run.
www.rollingstone.com
Rian Johnson’s New Old Show (Published 2023)
“Poker Face” debuts next week. Could the throwback, case-of-the-week format be a cure for streaming woes?
What's on TV this week—premieres for Poker Face, Wolf Pack, The 1619 Project
What's on TV this week—premieres for Poker Face, Wolf Pack, The 1619 Project
www.avclub.com
Poker Face is an upcoming American television series created by Rian Johnson for the streaming service Peacock. It is a "case-of-the-week" mystery comedy-drama.[1] Natasha Lyonne executive produces and stars in the series.[2]
Peacock announced the series in March 2021, with Lyonne attached and Johnson as director.[2] Nora and Lilla Zuckerman were named as co-showrunners.[2]
Poker Face will consist of 10 episodes and is scheduled to debut on January 26, 2023.[1][3]
According to Rian Johnson, the series will be a character-driven, case-of-the-week mystery comedy-drama.[4] Each episode follows the howcatchem format popularized by Columbo.[5]
‘Poker Face’ Scores Season 2 Renewal At Peacock
Poker Face is created by Rian Johnson and stars Natasha Lyonne
deadline.com
I was wondering why I haven't seen any posts on this -
I was gonna remark "Did BGOL miss this?" but did a search & foiund all the hubbub was buried.
My favorite show right now!
It gets better week after week!
She (they) are bringing in a lot of actors who haven't been seen lately.
If you like 'Columbo' style murder solving with funny twists - check it out!
(they wrote in a storyline with a dog playing a mangy MAGA lover!)
I was gonna remark "Did BGOL miss this?" but did a search & foiund all the hubbub was buried.
My favorite show right now!
It gets better week after week!
She (they) are bringing in a lot of actors who haven't been seen lately.
If you like 'Columbo' style murder solving with funny twists - check it out!
(they wrote in a storyline with a dog playing a mangy MAGA lover!)
Last edited:
It's a great show and with the bullshit the networks have been up to recently, including a possible writers strike, it could easily get pulled from behind the paywall and dropped on NBC to fill any programming gaps.
Rian Johnson Wants Poker Face to Break Expectations Without Breaking Form
The creator of Peacock’s howdunit discusses the virtues of episodic structure and the challenges of keeping it satisfying week after week.
www.vulture.com
She cleans up nicely.
'Poker Face' showrunners on the guest stars they're gunning for in season 2
Poker Face showrunners and sisters Nora and Lilla Zuckerman open up about their favorite episodes, the finale, and reveal which famous faces they're seeking out for season 2.
Poker Face showrunners on custom penis rings and the guest stars they're gunning for in season 2
Nora and Lilla Zuckerman also discuss the possibility of season 1 guest stars returning as different characters, Columbo-style.
By Lauren HuffMarch 09, 2023 at 11:00 AM EST
Warning: This article contains spoilers from the season 1 finale of Poker Face.
Charlie Cale has solved her last case... for now.
Thursday's finale of Poker Face's freshman season saw Natasha Lyonne's lie-detecting sleuth wrap up her season-long conflict with the Frost Casino and its boss, Sterling (Ron Perlman). No sooner did she do that — with some light assistance from a dick ring and her newly introduced estranged sister (Clea DuVall) — than she found herself to be public enemy No. 1 of a crime syndicate run by Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman, providing a delightfully sinister voice cameo). Charlie ends the season much as she began it, hitting the road while chucking her phone out the window (as she does).
Ahead of the episode, EW spoke with showrunners (and sisters) Nora and Lilla Zuckerman about their favorite episodes, the finale, and which famous faces they're going to call up for season 2.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The case-of-the-week format lends itself to so many different mini-worlds and characters. Now that the season's all said and done, do you have a favorite episode?
NORA ZUCKERMAN: I think [episode 9] "Escape From S--- Mountain" is obviously our baby. It's the one that we wrote. It's the first episode that we shot, because it takes place in winter, and we needed to shoot the episode before leaves popped up on the trees. We were basically [shooting] in the extremely early spring in New York. So, because it was the first episode, and because Rian [Johnson, series writer, director, and creator] directed it, and we wrote it, there's always going to be a really special place in our heart for that episode. But we had a blast breaking all these episodes. I think the dinner theater episode was the most maybe fun to break in the room.
LILLA ZUCKERMAN: What I'm really proud of, too, is just the tonal range we've been able to bring. You look at episode 5, which takes place in a retirement home, and that is definitely one of our funnier episodes. It's one of our broader episodes, even though there's moments of darkness there. And then you juxtapose that against "Escape from S--- Mountain," which I think is probably our most sinister and thrilling episode, but with elements of humor in it. And yet, they still feel like they're part of the Poker Face world. They are kind of polar opposite ends of the spectrum of tone, but they work together in terms of the season, and I'm just so gratified that we were able to go there.
NORA: Everybody who's experienced the show up until now — I'd be curious once they've seen the finale — everybody has a different take on what's their favorite episode, what's their least favorite episode, which one they connected with, which one they thought was the funniest. And it's all different, and I think we knew that when we were writing it. Everybody is going to have a differing opinion of which episode speaks to them. That's part of the fun of this type of show. There's going to be something for everyone. And because they are, most of them, a very standalone experience, we would love for somebody to call their mom and say, "Oh my God, you have to watch the barbecue episode. That's my favorite." Somebody could come in and just watch that episode and really enjoy Poker Face, and then hopefully that's their gateway drug that makes them watch the whole rest of the series.
I'm glad you brought up the retirement home episode, because a murder in a retirement home — say no more. That concept speaks for itself.
NORA: It's such a great setting because you know that this is a place where people die all the time. So, for somebody to say, "Oh, no, that was a murder," was a great and really fun setup for us. But we also, with that episode, we weren't thinking, "What's the episode that will have the biggest fight sequence in all of Poker Face?" And it's the retirement home episode — that was so unexpected.
So, in the finale there is a ring...
LILLA: The dick ring, I think is the official term.
NORA: I wish I could show the prop email thread on the dick ring, and the back and forth on it. It was extensive. We have an amazing props department run by a guy named Duke Scoppa. When this idea came up — it was really in the script — we knew this is not something you just buy off the shelf. We had to fabricate it, and it had to have the black light glowing ability and all that stuff. So it truly was a custom piece. There were many discussions and we were extremely professional in the way that we went about it.
LILLA: I think we really crafted Rian's vision. [Both laugh]
NORA: I will give all the credit of the dick ring to Rian Johnson, and our props department really executed on it. You love to be on set having a very serious discussion about something ridiculous, and you kind of have to step out of your own body and go, "Is this my job?" And yes, yes, it is.
Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale in the season 1 finale of 'Poker Face'
| CREDIT: PEACOCK
The finale is really the first time we get some of Charlie's backstory, with the introduction of her sister and niece. Tell me about the decision to wait until the finale and if you think we might get more of that in the future.
LILLA: Well, Charlie's backstory is something we touched on while we were breaking the entire season. We always knew that we didn't really want to delve too deeply into her past, and I think moving forward we will always have a light touch with it. But we arrived at this idea of her having a scene with her sister while we were breaking the rest of the season, and I think it was smart for us to save it for the finale. I think that encounter was inspired a little bit by Inside Llewyn Davis, which has this scene where he goes and visits his sister, and Rian really liked the vibe of doing a scene like that, where you don't necessarily understand all of the old wounds between these people — you just get a little peek. Also, just to have Clea DuVall playing the role of her sister, and she is one of Natasha's dearest friends going back decades and decades, it really felt like this beautiful, very real glimpse into Charlie's past. And then we kind of shut the laundry room door on it for a while. I think moving forward into season 2, we will continue to find out a little bit more of Charlie, but we're only going to get little glimpses like we do in the finale.
The finale obviously leaves room open to season 2, but in a way that also feels really complete for season 1. Did you go into writing the finale with a second season in mind?
NORA: I think that was always the intention. You never know when you're writing something what success it will have. You always want to leave the audience with this feeling of hope that this world and that character goes onward; the idea that Charlie is always going to be out there in the world getting justice. I mean, sometimes it can be a little bittersweet. I think of the end of Quantum Leap as one of those things where he never found his way home. But I think [how] we crafted it is kind of perfect in the way that if we hadn't gotten to season 2, you would always believe Charlie was still on the road and you might run into her somewhere. We see Charlie Cale as a shark. She's always moving forward. She's kind of a seeker in that way, and it spoke to that as well.
So now that we know season 2 is happening, can you say if the format will remain the same? Are there certain locations or worlds you hope to explore? Dream guest stars?
LILLA: Well, I think in season 2, we're going to keep doing what works. I believe that this format is a proven format, this "how catch 'em"-style of storytelling. We're going to continue to stay in that tradition. But, much like we did in season 1, we're going to continue to innovate within that format, and hopefully find new and fresh ways to surprise the audience as we take them on these case-of-the-week journeys. In terms of where we want to go next, oh man, we have so many ideas. I have so many ideas percolating that we weren't able to do for season 1. I know that we're gonna have fresh ideas coming off of what we experienced and saw and loved about this past season. Nora, I'll let you speak a little bit about casting, too.
NORA: One of the things we talked about while we were making season 1 was [how] a lot of the actors just had a blast playing these characters. Even when we were talking about it in the writers' room, we loved the idea that, in the tradition of a show like Columbo, you could bring actors back to play different characters in future seasons, and that's something that we would love to do. And because Rian has this lovely group of actors that he has worked with multiple times over the years — having somebody like Adrien Brody, who Rian has a history with from The Brothers Bloom, come back and do the pilot of Poker Face was a real gift. It felt like a family reunion with some of these episodes, because Rian is so close to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, for example. Having them come back feels in a strange way kind of natural. And, of course, there's people we would love to have gotten for season 1 that we would love to get for season 2, and now hopefully that the acting community has seen season 1 and hopefully had fun watching it, maybe we'll get some knocks on our door from people that want to take on a dastardly villainous role for season 2.
Anyone in particular come to mind?
LILLA: We would love to get Jamie Lee Curtis to play a role. And the cast of Knives Out, we're coming for you. The cast of Glass Onion, we're coming for you.
NORA: Pick up the phone when we call. Maya Rudolph is somebody we talked about because she's one of the producers of our show and a partner of Natasha's. So, it's only a matter of time before a van pulls up to Maya's house and we grab her and throw her in a Poker Face episode. It's just really wonderful that Rian already has this community of people that love working with him. It's a very fortunate problem.
At the end of the season, we don't see her, but we do hear the ominous voice of Beatrix Hasp. Have you had conversations about getting Rhea Perlman in person to be the big bad next season?
NORA: We certainly set her up that way. It's a little early to say how often [we'd see her], but I think much like Sterling Sr. was this kind of looming presence in every episode even if you didn't hear his voice… Again, also, we cast an amazing voice. I think Rhea is such a cool, immediately iconic voice, as was Ron Perlman, so I think you want to see her. She's such an interesting character actor that I cannot wait to see her as the head of the Five Families [crime syndicate].
LILLA: We have Perlman Breaking Bad. It sure helps if she's on board, because I'd love to write it.
NORA: She's a wonderful, scary presence at the end of the finale that you're like, "You'd better get on the road quick, Charlie."
As someone who grew up watching Cheers, it was fun to hear her voice.
NORA: And we have [fellow Cheers alum] John Ratzenberger in the second episode as well. As Lilla said, we're coming for the whole cast of Cheers.
Ted Danson as a Poker Face villain, love it.
LILLA: That phone is gonna ring… [Laughs]
Thursday's finale of Poker Face's freshman season saw Natasha Lyonne's lie-detecting sleuth wrap up her season-long conflict with the Frost Casino and its boss, Sterling (Ron Perlman). No sooner did she do that — with some light assistance from a dick ring and her newly introduced estranged sister (Clea DuVall) — than she found herself to be public enemy No. 1 of a crime syndicate run by Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman, providing a delightfully sinister voice cameo). Charlie ends the season much as she began it, hitting the road while chucking her phone out the window (as she does).
Ahead of the episode, EW spoke with showrunners (and sisters) Nora and Lilla Zuckerman about their favorite episodes, the finale, and which famous faces they're going to call up for season 2.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The case-of-the-week format lends itself to so many different mini-worlds and characters. Now that the season's all said and done, do you have a favorite episode?
NORA ZUCKERMAN: I think [episode 9] "Escape From S--- Mountain" is obviously our baby. It's the one that we wrote. It's the first episode that we shot, because it takes place in winter, and we needed to shoot the episode before leaves popped up on the trees. We were basically [shooting] in the extremely early spring in New York. So, because it was the first episode, and because Rian [Johnson, series writer, director, and creator] directed it, and we wrote it, there's always going to be a really special place in our heart for that episode. But we had a blast breaking all these episodes. I think the dinner theater episode was the most maybe fun to break in the room.
LILLA ZUCKERMAN: What I'm really proud of, too, is just the tonal range we've been able to bring. You look at episode 5, which takes place in a retirement home, and that is definitely one of our funnier episodes. It's one of our broader episodes, even though there's moments of darkness there. And then you juxtapose that against "Escape from S--- Mountain," which I think is probably our most sinister and thrilling episode, but with elements of humor in it. And yet, they still feel like they're part of the Poker Face world. They are kind of polar opposite ends of the spectrum of tone, but they work together in terms of the season, and I'm just so gratified that we were able to go there.
NORA: Everybody who's experienced the show up until now — I'd be curious once they've seen the finale — everybody has a different take on what's their favorite episode, what's their least favorite episode, which one they connected with, which one they thought was the funniest. And it's all different, and I think we knew that when we were writing it. Everybody is going to have a differing opinion of which episode speaks to them. That's part of the fun of this type of show. There's going to be something for everyone. And because they are, most of them, a very standalone experience, we would love for somebody to call their mom and say, "Oh my God, you have to watch the barbecue episode. That's my favorite." Somebody could come in and just watch that episode and really enjoy Poker Face, and then hopefully that's their gateway drug that makes them watch the whole rest of the series.
I'm glad you brought up the retirement home episode, because a murder in a retirement home — say no more. That concept speaks for itself.
NORA: It's such a great setting because you know that this is a place where people die all the time. So, for somebody to say, "Oh, no, that was a murder," was a great and really fun setup for us. But we also, with that episode, we weren't thinking, "What's the episode that will have the biggest fight sequence in all of Poker Face?" And it's the retirement home episode — that was so unexpected.
So, in the finale there is a ring...
LILLA: The dick ring, I think is the official term.
NORA: I wish I could show the prop email thread on the dick ring, and the back and forth on it. It was extensive. We have an amazing props department run by a guy named Duke Scoppa. When this idea came up — it was really in the script — we knew this is not something you just buy off the shelf. We had to fabricate it, and it had to have the black light glowing ability and all that stuff. So it truly was a custom piece. There were many discussions and we were extremely professional in the way that we went about it.
LILLA: I think we really crafted Rian's vision. [Both laugh]
NORA: I will give all the credit of the dick ring to Rian Johnson, and our props department really executed on it. You love to be on set having a very serious discussion about something ridiculous, and you kind of have to step out of your own body and go, "Is this my job?" And yes, yes, it is.
Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale in the season 1 finale of 'Poker Face'
| CREDIT: PEACOCK
The finale is really the first time we get some of Charlie's backstory, with the introduction of her sister and niece. Tell me about the decision to wait until the finale and if you think we might get more of that in the future.
LILLA: Well, Charlie's backstory is something we touched on while we were breaking the entire season. We always knew that we didn't really want to delve too deeply into her past, and I think moving forward we will always have a light touch with it. But we arrived at this idea of her having a scene with her sister while we were breaking the rest of the season, and I think it was smart for us to save it for the finale. I think that encounter was inspired a little bit by Inside Llewyn Davis, which has this scene where he goes and visits his sister, and Rian really liked the vibe of doing a scene like that, where you don't necessarily understand all of the old wounds between these people — you just get a little peek. Also, just to have Clea DuVall playing the role of her sister, and she is one of Natasha's dearest friends going back decades and decades, it really felt like this beautiful, very real glimpse into Charlie's past. And then we kind of shut the laundry room door on it for a while. I think moving forward into season 2, we will continue to find out a little bit more of Charlie, but we're only going to get little glimpses like we do in the finale.
The finale obviously leaves room open to season 2, but in a way that also feels really complete for season 1. Did you go into writing the finale with a second season in mind?
NORA: I think that was always the intention. You never know when you're writing something what success it will have. You always want to leave the audience with this feeling of hope that this world and that character goes onward; the idea that Charlie is always going to be out there in the world getting justice. I mean, sometimes it can be a little bittersweet. I think of the end of Quantum Leap as one of those things where he never found his way home. But I think [how] we crafted it is kind of perfect in the way that if we hadn't gotten to season 2, you would always believe Charlie was still on the road and you might run into her somewhere. We see Charlie Cale as a shark. She's always moving forward. She's kind of a seeker in that way, and it spoke to that as well.
So now that we know season 2 is happening, can you say if the format will remain the same? Are there certain locations or worlds you hope to explore? Dream guest stars?
LILLA: Well, I think in season 2, we're going to keep doing what works. I believe that this format is a proven format, this "how catch 'em"-style of storytelling. We're going to continue to stay in that tradition. But, much like we did in season 1, we're going to continue to innovate within that format, and hopefully find new and fresh ways to surprise the audience as we take them on these case-of-the-week journeys. In terms of where we want to go next, oh man, we have so many ideas. I have so many ideas percolating that we weren't able to do for season 1. I know that we're gonna have fresh ideas coming off of what we experienced and saw and loved about this past season. Nora, I'll let you speak a little bit about casting, too.
NORA: One of the things we talked about while we were making season 1 was [how] a lot of the actors just had a blast playing these characters. Even when we were talking about it in the writers' room, we loved the idea that, in the tradition of a show like Columbo, you could bring actors back to play different characters in future seasons, and that's something that we would love to do. And because Rian has this lovely group of actors that he has worked with multiple times over the years — having somebody like Adrien Brody, who Rian has a history with from The Brothers Bloom, come back and do the pilot of Poker Face was a real gift. It felt like a family reunion with some of these episodes, because Rian is so close to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, for example. Having them come back feels in a strange way kind of natural. And, of course, there's people we would love to have gotten for season 1 that we would love to get for season 2, and now hopefully that the acting community has seen season 1 and hopefully had fun watching it, maybe we'll get some knocks on our door from people that want to take on a dastardly villainous role for season 2.
Anyone in particular come to mind?
LILLA: We would love to get Jamie Lee Curtis to play a role. And the cast of Knives Out, we're coming for you. The cast of Glass Onion, we're coming for you.
NORA: Pick up the phone when we call. Maya Rudolph is somebody we talked about because she's one of the producers of our show and a partner of Natasha's. So, it's only a matter of time before a van pulls up to Maya's house and we grab her and throw her in a Poker Face episode. It's just really wonderful that Rian already has this community of people that love working with him. It's a very fortunate problem.
At the end of the season, we don't see her, but we do hear the ominous voice of Beatrix Hasp. Have you had conversations about getting Rhea Perlman in person to be the big bad next season?
NORA: We certainly set her up that way. It's a little early to say how often [we'd see her], but I think much like Sterling Sr. was this kind of looming presence in every episode even if you didn't hear his voice… Again, also, we cast an amazing voice. I think Rhea is such a cool, immediately iconic voice, as was Ron Perlman, so I think you want to see her. She's such an interesting character actor that I cannot wait to see her as the head of the Five Families [crime syndicate].
LILLA: We have Perlman Breaking Bad. It sure helps if she's on board, because I'd love to write it.
NORA: She's a wonderful, scary presence at the end of the finale that you're like, "You'd better get on the road quick, Charlie."
As someone who grew up watching Cheers, it was fun to hear her voice.
NORA: And we have [fellow Cheers alum] John Ratzenberger in the second episode as well. As Lilla said, we're coming for the whole cast of Cheers.
Ted Danson as a Poker Face villain, love it.
LILLA: That phone is gonna ring… [Laughs]
Finished season 1 a few days ago. Overall enjoyed it. Some episodes worked better than others. The 2nd half of the season needed a bit more of her as she wasn't around as much. Thought the finale was pretty good. My favorite part was the reality check with the family member. That felt real and honest.
ew.com
The 50 greatest TV and movie detectives of all time
From Lew Harper to Veronica Mars, we rank the greatest detectives in TV and film history.
I'm glad to see her life and career is on track these days. She's been through some shit in years past. Was mentioning the following to some friends & family members previously who were also checking out the series -
When she was 18, Lyonne used the paycheck from her work on Everyone Says I Love You to buy a small apartment near Gramercy Park.[7] During the early 2000s, she experienced legal problems and was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol,[47] and for incidents involving her neighbors.[48] In 2005, she was evicted by her landlord, actor Michael Rapaport, following complaints by other tenants about her behavior.[49]
In 2005, Lyonne was admitted (under a pseudonym) to Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, suffering from hepatitis C, infective endocarditis, and a collapsed lung; she was also undergoing methadone treatment for heroin addiction.[50] In January 2006, a warrant was issued for her arrest after she missed a court hearing relating to her prior legal problems. Her lawyer said an emergency had arisen but did not give details. Later that year, Lyonne was admitted to a drug and alcohol treatment center, and she appeared in court afterward. A judge entered a conditional discharge.[4]
Lyonne underwent open-heart surgery in 2012 to correct heart valve damage caused by her heart infection,[51] which could have resulted in sudden death if untreated.[52] She recovered from the surgery and discussed her past health problems on The Rosie Show in March 2012.[53]
Lyonne lives in New York City's East Village.[54][55] She and Saturday Night Live alumnus Fred Armisen began dating in 2014, but in April 2022, Lyonne confirmed they had ended their relationship.[56]
Apparently this track fit that episode perfectly
Jackie Shane - Wikipedia
Jackie Shane: “Any Other Way”
Taken from an upcoming compilation of the R&B singer’s work
Jackie Shane: Any Other Way
A new box set documents the riveting story of Toronto soul singer and transgender music pioneer Jackie Shane. Hers are songs laced with pain but emboldened by a remarkable sense of self-possession.
@Helico-pterFunk
variety.com
Natasha Lyonne Shows Her Cards: The ‘Poker Face’ Star on Quitting Smoking and Wanting to Play More Feminine Characters
Natasha Lyonne became a star with 'Orange Is the New Black,' 'Russian Doll' and 'Poker Face.' Now she's ready to play more feminine characters.
variety.com
Natasha Lyonne Shows Her Cards: The ‘Poker Face’ Star on Quitting Smoking and Wanting to Play More Feminine Characters
By
Rebecca Rubin
You’ll have to forgive Natasha Lyonne if she’s irritable today. She just quit smoking, which is no small feat for someone who’s so synonymous with the habit that there’s an Instagram account dedicated to the coolness of her taking a drag.
“I’ve been putting it off for so long,” she tells me, pointing to the small Nicorette pack on the coffee table in her East Village apartment. “I’m naturally wired for self-destructive crutches. I fucking love a vice.”
Though she admits there are “immense” consequences of raging nicotine withdrawal, the health benefits far outweigh the discomfort (at least, that’s what she’s telling herself).
Celeste Sloman for Variety
“It might be a symptom of being in a pretty decent place,” she offers of her reason for quitting. “In a way, I want to meet that artistically and emotionally. I want to return the favor and say, ‘OK, maybe I’ll sign up for life for a little bit longer.’”
“A pretty decent place” is underselling Lyonne’s career renaissance.
The 43-year-old actress has always been a crackling presence on-screen, but her early days in Hollywood were marked by star turns in underseen indies such as 1998’s “Slums of Beverly Hills” and 1999’s “But I’m a Cheerleader.” And, of course, she played the wisecracking teenager Jessica in “American Pie,” but she was overshadowed by main cast members (Jason Biggs, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, and Chris Klein).
Pop culture didn’t really catch up to Lyonne’s unorthodox charms until recently, and that’s partly because she finally put herself in the driver’s seat. She co-created the hit 2019 Netflix show “Russian Doll,” an existential time-loop comedy that landed Lyonne Emmy nominations for acting and writing. As jaded New Yorker Nadia Vulvokov, who begins the series by reliving her 36th birthday, “Groundhog Day” fashion, Lyonne got the platform to showcase her spectacular range — with the ability to dole out pithy one-liners in one breath and plumb the depths of her character’s intergenerational trauma in the next.
“People have suddenly become receptive to my eccentricity and idiosyncrasy,” she says, slouched on her couch in a T-shirt and rainbow-pinstripe pants. “It’s a real curiosity that when I turned 40, people were like, ‘We’re down for this.’”
Even after her series took off, she says, creators weren’t falling over themselves to work with her. She thinks she knows why: When men write, direct and executive produce a piece of zeitgeist-tapping entertainment, she suggests, “everybody comes out of the woodwork to be like, ‘How many new roles can we give you?’”
But for a woman, “I think it’s the inverse. When women are doing a lot of those jobs, that can feel intimidating,” she says. “With all the excitement of ‘Russian Doll’ Season 1, Rian was the only person who came to me saying, ‘I really want to come up with something for us to do together’ — and then he followed through.”
Lyonne is referring to “Poker Face,” a case-of-the-week murder mystery series from Rian Johnson, the writer-director of “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion.” Though she’s surrounded by scene-stealing guest stars in the Peacock series — including Nick Nolte, Chloë Sevigny, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Hong Chau — “Poker Face” exists as a vehicle to spotlight Lyonne’s on-screen magnetism.
She stars as Charlie Cale, whose abilities as a veritable human lie-detector put her on the run and into the orbit of a curious number of violent deaths. Viewership is not guaranteed in the age of peak TV, even when high-wattage talent is attached, but “Poker Face” has managed to break through — it’s already been renewed for a second season.
“I had the idea of doing something ‘Rockford Files’ or ‘Columbo’-esque, and I realized those shows always have a charismatic personality at the heart,” Johnson says. “When I saw Natasha in ‘Russian Doll,’ I couldn’t take my eyes off her.”
Lyonne radiates an effortlessly cool vibe, so it’s somewhat surprising when she says her Hollywood persona doesn’t line up with her real self. She’s actually intensely calculated about her craft. She even works with an acting coach, recommended by Sam Rockwell, to make sure Charlie doesn’t blur with Nadia on “Russian Doll” or her other breakout TV role as Nicky Nichols on “Orange Is the New Black.”
“Because I have big, curly hair and a New York accent, you would not think my OCD is quite as strong as it is,” she says. “But I am obsessive about precision. I don’t actually enjoy anything genuinely chaotic or confusing or muddy. I like things that are meticulous, almost mathematic.”
She glances around her living room. “There are books all over, and it seems like there’s no plan,” Lyonne says, gesturing to the shelf behind her. “But also, there’s no dirt in the apartment.”
Lyonne talks exhaustively during our interview, hardly stopping to breathe, and her thoughts take so many twists and turns that it’s hard to remember the question she’s answering. At one point, she stops mid-sentence to say: “Good luck editing it down to whatever this piece is supposed to be about.”
We barely settle into her living room when Lyonne suddenly sits up. “Do you want something to drink? Am I supposed to offer you water?” she asks me. “Don’t writers like La Croix?” I admit with embarrassment that I’m no fan of carbonated beverages. We walk over to her basically empty kitchen (“When people talk about multi-hyphenates, I would not put cooking in there for myself,” she cracks), and she opens the fridge. “What about something interesting? This is pineapple …” she trails off as she picks up a bottle. “No, you don’t want this.” Eventually, we settle on a glass of water.
Celeste Sloman for Variety
As we make our way back to the couch, Lyonne sips from a “Tonight Show” mug and picks up where she left off on her creative process. “I like to get really prepared — to be so meticulous that then all of a sudden you can be sloppy,” she says. “It’s through an obsessive work ethic that you can seem so casual and undone.”
Johnson took notice while filming “Poker Face.” “Natasha comes in thinking and overthinking every single detail,” he says. “And then she does a magic trick on set, where she understands to step in front of the camera and live in the moment.”
Lyonne spent much of her early career feeling misunderstood by Hollywood. During most of her 20s, she found herself in a darker frame of mind as she dealt with well-publicized struggles involving alcohol and drug abuse. One of the great comforts of reaching her 40s is that she no longer feels bound by anyone’s expectations.
“Being in your 40s is so much better than being in your fucking 20s and 30s. It’s so much cooler. It’s so much sexier,” she says. “My romantic life is more happening. Back then, I was waiting to be selected. Once you’re in your 40s, you’re like, ‘Who am I attracted to?’ We’re all going to die, right? So I better get my living in quick.”
She admits she doesn’t know how long the smoking cleanse will last, and she’ll forgive herself if she cracks. But right now, it’s been helpful to “raw dog” reality as she determines her next chapter.
“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 says. “I don’t know what smoking is going to look like once I’m back interfacing on set with all the elements.”
Suddenly, Lyonne brings up the Beach Boys song “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times.” She says her recent run of success counters the thesis of the rock band’s misfit manifesto. “In many ways, I feel like, ‘Oh, maybe I was meant for exactly these times’ — just the idea that a woman would be allowed to embody this quintessentially male role on ‘Poker Face.’ And it’s an unspoken thing we’re even doing it.”
Except for maybe the innocent, girly Megan Bloomfield in “But I’m a Cheerleader,” Lyonne’s film and TV personalities skew more “tough guy New York.” She’s now interested in expanding the idea of who or what she’d like to say as an actor.
“I’m curious what it would be like to soften, or to play women. I’ve been playing men this whole time. I’ve been stealing from De Niro my whole life,” Lyonne says, citing Al Pacino and Stanley Kubrick as other early influences. More recently, she’s asking herself, “What would it be like to let my voice register a bit higher? What would it be like to be a bit more vulnerable?”
An example of this is how she went out on a limb last May to host the Season 47 finale of “Saturday Night Live,” a show that she’s always adored. “The single greatest week of my life” is how she remembers it. “It’s so high octane. They literally, like, rip your clothes off and put on something else and then jam braces in your mouth, and you’re back out there. And I was like, ‘I’m fucking born for this thing!’”
Between sketches, Lyonne was remarkably calm as she caught up with long-time pals (Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers) and even an old boyfriend (Fred Armisen). “SNL” producers came up to her saying, “You’re supposed to be all panicked!” She loved being invited because it felt like an opportunity to be part of something bigger than herself. Comedian John Mulaney emailed her suggestions to polish her monologue. Meyers stopped by Studio 8H to offer well wishes. Tina Fey texted after the show to say “Congrats.” “Honestly, the only thing I care about is this family aspect to this business. My parents are dead. I’m not married with kids. They feel like my chosen family.”
OK, our time is up. I’m happy to be ending our conversation on such a hopeful note. Lyonne is grounded and centered — and I decide those nicotine cravings are no match for someone so resilient and, well, badass. I get up to leave with my empty water glass in my hand and, in a moment that will haunt me for the rest of my life, accidentally drop it.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuuck. The glass lands, in slow motion, on the floor and shatters into 10 million pieces over the living room rug. There are shards everywhere — big enough to cut and small enough that not even a vacuum would pick them all up. I sheepishly bend over to clean up this catastrophic mess, but Lyonne insists that I leave it. “I’m going to have somebody come clean it professionally. Because I’m showbiz, baby!” As I race for the door, she sighs and says, “This is going to be the thing that makes me pick up a cigarette.”
By
Rebecca Rubin
You’ll have to forgive Natasha Lyonne if she’s irritable today. She just quit smoking, which is no small feat for someone who’s so synonymous with the habit that there’s an Instagram account dedicated to the coolness of her taking a drag.
“I’ve been putting it off for so long,” she tells me, pointing to the small Nicorette pack on the coffee table in her East Village apartment. “I’m naturally wired for self-destructive crutches. I fucking love a vice.”
Though she admits there are “immense” consequences of raging nicotine withdrawal, the health benefits far outweigh the discomfort (at least, that’s what she’s telling herself).
Celeste Sloman for Variety
“It might be a symptom of being in a pretty decent place,” she offers of her reason for quitting. “In a way, I want to meet that artistically and emotionally. I want to return the favor and say, ‘OK, maybe I’ll sign up for life for a little bit longer.’”
“A pretty decent place” is underselling Lyonne’s career renaissance.
The 43-year-old actress has always been a crackling presence on-screen, but her early days in Hollywood were marked by star turns in underseen indies such as 1998’s “Slums of Beverly Hills” and 1999’s “But I’m a Cheerleader.” And, of course, she played the wisecracking teenager Jessica in “American Pie,” but she was overshadowed by main cast members (Jason Biggs, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, and Chris Klein).
Pop culture didn’t really catch up to Lyonne’s unorthodox charms until recently, and that’s partly because she finally put herself in the driver’s seat. She co-created the hit 2019 Netflix show “Russian Doll,” an existential time-loop comedy that landed Lyonne Emmy nominations for acting and writing. As jaded New Yorker Nadia Vulvokov, who begins the series by reliving her 36th birthday, “Groundhog Day” fashion, Lyonne got the platform to showcase her spectacular range — with the ability to dole out pithy one-liners in one breath and plumb the depths of her character’s intergenerational trauma in the next.
“People have suddenly become receptive to my eccentricity and idiosyncrasy,” she says, slouched on her couch in a T-shirt and rainbow-pinstripe pants. “It’s a real curiosity that when I turned 40, people were like, ‘We’re down for this.’”
Even after her series took off, she says, creators weren’t falling over themselves to work with her. She thinks she knows why: When men write, direct and executive produce a piece of zeitgeist-tapping entertainment, she suggests, “everybody comes out of the woodwork to be like, ‘How many new roles can we give you?’”
But for a woman, “I think it’s the inverse. When women are doing a lot of those jobs, that can feel intimidating,” she says. “With all the excitement of ‘Russian Doll’ Season 1, Rian was the only person who came to me saying, ‘I really want to come up with something for us to do together’ — and then he followed through.”
Lyonne is referring to “Poker Face,” a case-of-the-week murder mystery series from Rian Johnson, the writer-director of “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion.” Though she’s surrounded by scene-stealing guest stars in the Peacock series — including Nick Nolte, Chloë Sevigny, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Hong Chau — “Poker Face” exists as a vehicle to spotlight Lyonne’s on-screen magnetism.
She stars as Charlie Cale, whose abilities as a veritable human lie-detector put her on the run and into the orbit of a curious number of violent deaths. Viewership is not guaranteed in the age of peak TV, even when high-wattage talent is attached, but “Poker Face” has managed to break through — it’s already been renewed for a second season.
“I had the idea of doing something ‘Rockford Files’ or ‘Columbo’-esque, and I realized those shows always have a charismatic personality at the heart,” Johnson says. “When I saw Natasha in ‘Russian Doll,’ I couldn’t take my eyes off her.”
Lyonne radiates an effortlessly cool vibe, so it’s somewhat surprising when she says her Hollywood persona doesn’t line up with her real self. She’s actually intensely calculated about her craft. She even works with an acting coach, recommended by Sam Rockwell, to make sure Charlie doesn’t blur with Nadia on “Russian Doll” or her other breakout TV role as Nicky Nichols on “Orange Is the New Black.”
“Because I have big, curly hair and a New York accent, you would not think my OCD is quite as strong as it is,” she says. “But I am obsessive about precision. I don’t actually enjoy anything genuinely chaotic or confusing or muddy. I like things that are meticulous, almost mathematic.”
She glances around her living room. “There are books all over, and it seems like there’s no plan,” Lyonne says, gesturing to the shelf behind her. “But also, there’s no dirt in the apartment.”
Lyonne talks exhaustively during our interview, hardly stopping to breathe, and her thoughts take so many twists and turns that it’s hard to remember the question she’s answering. At one point, she stops mid-sentence to say: “Good luck editing it down to whatever this piece is supposed to be about.”
We barely settle into her living room when Lyonne suddenly sits up. “Do you want something to drink? Am I supposed to offer you water?” she asks me. “Don’t writers like La Croix?” I admit with embarrassment that I’m no fan of carbonated beverages. We walk over to her basically empty kitchen (“When people talk about multi-hyphenates, I would not put cooking in there for myself,” she cracks), and she opens the fridge. “What about something interesting? This is pineapple …” she trails off as she picks up a bottle. “No, you don’t want this.” Eventually, we settle on a glass of water.
Celeste Sloman for Variety
As we make our way back to the couch, Lyonne sips from a “Tonight Show” mug and picks up where she left off on her creative process. “I like to get really prepared — to be so meticulous that then all of a sudden you can be sloppy,” she says. “It’s through an obsessive work ethic that you can seem so casual and undone.”
Johnson took notice while filming “Poker Face.” “Natasha comes in thinking and overthinking every single detail,” he says. “And then she does a magic trick on set, where she understands to step in front of the camera and live in the moment.”
Lyonne spent much of her early career feeling misunderstood by Hollywood. During most of her 20s, she found herself in a darker frame of mind as she dealt with well-publicized struggles involving alcohol and drug abuse. One of the great comforts of reaching her 40s is that she no longer feels bound by anyone’s expectations.
“Being in your 40s is so much better than being in your fucking 20s and 30s. It’s so much cooler. It’s so much sexier,” she says. “My romantic life is more happening. Back then, I was waiting to be selected. Once you’re in your 40s, you’re like, ‘Who am I attracted to?’ We’re all going to die, right? So I better get my living in quick.”
She admits she doesn’t know how long the smoking cleanse will last, and she’ll forgive herself if she cracks. But right now, it’s been helpful to “raw dog” reality as she determines her next chapter.
“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 says. “I don’t know what smoking is going to look like once I’m back interfacing on set with all the elements.”
Suddenly, Lyonne brings up the Beach Boys song “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times.” She says her recent run of success counters the thesis of the rock band’s misfit manifesto. “In many ways, I feel like, ‘Oh, maybe I was meant for exactly these times’ — just the idea that a woman would be allowed to embody this quintessentially male role on ‘Poker Face.’ And it’s an unspoken thing we’re even doing it.”
Except for maybe the innocent, girly Megan Bloomfield in “But I’m a Cheerleader,” Lyonne’s film and TV personalities skew more “tough guy New York.” She’s now interested in expanding the idea of who or what she’d like to say as an actor.
“I’m curious what it would be like to soften, or to play women. I’ve been playing men this whole time. I’ve been stealing from De Niro my whole life,” Lyonne says, citing Al Pacino and Stanley Kubrick as other early influences. More recently, she’s asking herself, “What would it be like to let my voice register a bit higher? What would it be like to be a bit more vulnerable?”
An example of this is how she went out on a limb last May to host the Season 47 finale of “Saturday Night Live,” a show that she’s always adored. “The single greatest week of my life” is how she remembers it. “It’s so high octane. They literally, like, rip your clothes off and put on something else and then jam braces in your mouth, and you’re back out there. And I was like, ‘I’m fucking born for this thing!’”
Between sketches, Lyonne was remarkably calm as she caught up with long-time pals (Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers) and even an old boyfriend (Fred Armisen). “SNL” producers came up to her saying, “You’re supposed to be all panicked!” She loved being invited because it felt like an opportunity to be part of something bigger than herself. Comedian John Mulaney emailed her suggestions to polish her monologue. Meyers stopped by Studio 8H to offer well wishes. Tina Fey texted after the show to say “Congrats.” “Honestly, the only thing I care about is this family aspect to this business. My parents are dead. I’m not married with kids. They feel like my chosen family.”
OK, our time is up. I’m happy to be ending our conversation on such a hopeful note. Lyonne is grounded and centered — and I decide those nicotine cravings are no match for someone so resilient and, well, badass. I get up to leave with my empty water glass in my hand and, in a moment that will haunt me for the rest of my life, accidentally drop it.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuuck. The glass lands, in slow motion, on the floor and shatters into 10 million pieces over the living room rug. There are shards everywhere — big enough to cut and small enough that not even a vacuum would pick them all up. I sheepishly bend over to clean up this catastrophic mess, but Lyonne insists that I leave it. “I’m going to have somebody come clean it professionally. Because I’m showbiz, baby!” As I race for the door, she sighs and says, “This is going to be the thing that makes me pick up a cigarette.”
Finished it.
It had some dips but overall I enjoyed it a lot.
That final episode where her sister never told ONE lie was to me their high point. And I liked that sometimes the bad guy got away.
I think if you go in with a glass onion mindset you'll enjoy it more ignoring the more absurd aspects.
Thanks for the update, Playa. Really enjoyed hearing from the sister too. That was some real, genuine shit. Someone who has their guard up for very good reason. I hope we get more of that explored in season 2.
@playahaitian
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Villain or Victim, Why Top Actors Jumped to Guest-Star in ‘Poker Face’
With their twist on the ‘Columbo' murder-of-the-week format, the Peacock series’ creator Rian Johnson and star Natasha Lyonne lured an eye-popping roster each week, including Adrien Brody, Nick Nolte and Stephanie Hsu, just to name a few.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
‘Poker Face’ Star Natasha Lyonne Speaks Nothing But the Truth
The Emmy nominee, who developed the project with producer Rian Johnson, also wrote and directed an episode in the first season.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Clea DuVall on Coming in for Key Finale Storyline in ‘Poker Face’
"We’ve worked together several times and I really always love it, because it just feels so alive," says DuVall of working onscreen again with Natasha Lyonne for the Peacock murder mystery series.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
‘Awards Chatter’ Podcast — Natasha Lyonne (‘Poker Face’)
The self-described "oddball" actress/writer/director/producer reflects on child stardom, her years away from the business due to addiction, and her remarkable run over the past decade with Netflix's 'Orange Is the New Black' and 'Russian Doll' followed by an acclaimed new Peacock series.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Hollywood Flashback: Lee Grant Killed It on ‘Columbo: Ransom for a Dead Man’
The guest star earned an Emmy nom for the procedural that inspired 2023 Emmy contender 'Poker Face.'
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Anatomy of a Contender
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Poker Face Season 2: Confirmation, Story Details & Everything We Know
Details on the next season of Poker Face.
screenrant.com
Judith Light Wins First Primetime Emmy for Guest Role in 'Poker Face': This 'Means So Many Different Things'
At the 75th annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday, Judith Light won her first Primetime Emmy for guest actress in a comedy series for her performance in 'Poker Face,' beating other nominees Becky Ann Baker, Sarah Niles, Harriet Walter and Quinta Brunson
After I watched OITNB, I developed a fascination with her that I've never had with another actor or actress. Listened to a lot of her interviews, she's not just charismatic but open & interesting.
Agreed - she seems cool & definitely has a story to tell, as she's seen some shit in her life.
More than just a "no personality" celeb.
Natasha Lyonne Joins Chorus of Women Calling Out James Woods
The actress also recalled Marlon Brando feeling her up on the set of “Scary Movie 2” before he was replaced by Woods.
Natasha Lyonne Claims 'Republican Psychopath' James Woods Hit on Her in 'Full Monster Makeup' as a Teen
Natasha Lyonne recalls James Woods allegedly making a pass at her 'as a teenager' while they filmed 'Scary Movie 2.'
themessenger.com
Natasha Lyonne: James Woods "hit on me as a teenager in full monster makeup" while filming Scary Movie 2
Natasha Lyonne has revealed James Woods creepily hit on her while filming Scary Movie 2 while riffing on the history of sexual assault in Hollywood.
consequence.net
Natasha Lyonne shares tale of Marlon Brando holding her boob during 'Scary Movie 2'
Natasha Lyonne shares wild tale of Marlon Brando holding her boob while filming exorcist scene in 'Scary Movie 2.' The actor ultimately dropped out of the movie for health reasons.
Looking for a new show to watch and I started Mayor of Kingstown this past week.
Definitely had some potential but I was not hooked at all. It wasn't bad, it wasn't not good but I'm not interested in it yet.
This shit is good from the first ten minutes. Very easy and compelling watch.
I thought the ending on the first episode was a bit far-fetched but I'm into it.
Definitely had some potential but I was not hooked at all. It wasn't bad, it wasn't not good but I'm not interested in it yet.
This shit is good from the first ten minutes. Very easy and compelling watch.
I thought the ending on the first episode was a bit far-fetched but I'm into it.
I hate how often twitter links go dead...
I googled twitter 1750421862562111495 based on the URL and retrieved the video...