Fans of Peacock's inventive mystery series Poker Face were left reeling after the Season 2 finale—and even more stunned by the news that star Natasha Lyonne would be stepping away from the show, with Peter Dinklage taking over the lead role. The series, created by Rian Johnson, was canceled at Peacock but is still being shopped to other platforms. At the second Italian Global Series Festival, Lyonne sat down with Collider's Therese Lacson to discuss her exit and what the future might hold.
Lyonne revealed that she and Johnson originally envisioned Poker Face as a small-scale, long-running series inspired by the classic "howcatchem" format of Columbo. "I think Rian Johnson and I really thought that we're going to be making that show forever," she said. "But we thought we're going to be making it forever with him, like you know, writing and directing all of them and probably doing like six episodes, because you know Columbo ran for like 20 years, but a lot of them were also like home movies."
However, the production quickly grew far beyond those modest expectations. Lyonne explained that the series became a full-blown procedural requiring nine months of filming per season—a scale she hadn't anticipated. That shift ultimately led to her departure. But she remains hopeful about returning someday. "I just don't know that it really occurred to us that it was gonna be like a procedural for like nine months at the time," she said. "And so I actually really would want to see it with, you know, Dinklage. I f***ing love Dinklage. And I've really hoped that some time between now, and I'm assuming that I'm going to die at about 200 and Rian's going to die at about 300, so hopefully in that time, we find our ways, you know, back to each other for like a special TV event or something."
Lyonne also expressed a similar longing for another of her beloved series: "I always have a fantasy that Russian Doll is gonna find its way back home."
What Is 'Poker Face' About?
In Poker Face, Lyonne stars as Charlie Cole, a woman with an uncanny ability to detect lies. The series kicks off with her working as a cocktail waitress; after using her gift to solve a friend's murder, the killer—casino boss Sterling Frost Jr. (Adrien Brody)—commits suicide, sending Charlie on the run in her vintage Plymouth Barracuda. His gangster father (Ron Perlman) vows revenge. Each episode finds Charlie in a new location, inevitably entangled in a murder she solves with her lie-detecting skills. By the end of Season 1, she escapes Frost's revenge only to draw the ire of another crime boss (Rhea Perlman). Season 2 sees her hunted by the assassin known as the Iguana, who may be the first to outsmart her talent.
Even without Poker Face, Lyonne stays busy. She recently guest-starred on the final season of HBO's Euphoria and had a supporting role in the Adam Sandler-produced comedy Roommates. Later this year, she'll star alongside Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams in Taika Waititi's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun. For more on Lyonne's upcoming projects, check out our coverage of Natasha Lyonne Gushes Over Taika Waititi's 'Klara and the Sun'.
Both seasons of Poker Face are currently streaming on Peacock. Stay tuned for future updates on the series' potential new home.
