Poker Face: Rian Johnson Reveals New Details on Peacock Mystery Series

Production has officially begun on Rian Johnson’s upcoming Peacock TV series Poker Face, a show that the Academy Award-nominee calls a “a case-of-the-week mystery series.” Russian Doll star Natasha Lyonne stars in the series, and in the Variety cover story profiling the actress some new details about the show have come out. Speaking with the trade, Lyonne called Johnson a ” “full-blown humble genius,” and teased that the series  “somehow feels both incredibly modern and a perfect throwback to all our favorite things.” Johnson also opened up to the outlet about the role and Lyonne’s place in it, specifically talking about her character’s style.

“‘Poker Face’ is a case-of-the-week mystery series, anchored entirely by Natasha as the ‘detective,’” Johnson said. “The show was created around her, and the whole thing is tailored to Natasha like a bespoke suit. It could only exist with her charisma and presence at the center of it…She’s got a very Fellini-type sensibility, where the funny and absurd is a way into the dark and personal. It’s inspiring to me, seeing how unafraid she is to push further and further in that direction.”

Production on the series, which was given a 10 episode order early last year, is currently set up in Newburgh, New York. Joining Lyonne in the series will be Everything Everywhere All at Once star Stephanie Hsu, The Umbrella Academy’s David Castañeda, Law & Order’s Benjamin Bratt, Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, and frequent Johnson collaborator Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

“Rian Johnson’s distinct sensibility and talent for telling edge-of-your-seat mysteries is a massive gift for Peacock, and we can’t wait for audiences to delve into each case,” said Lisa Katz, President, Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming in a statement when the series was announced. “Paired with the acting genius of Natasha Lyonne, this series will be entertaining and addictive.”  

Johnson previously dabbled in the mystery genre with his blockbuster hit film Knives Out, which nabbed him not only an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay but a two-picture sequel deal at Netflix. While promoting the film back in 2019, Johnson opened up in multiple interviews about his interest in the murder mystery genre so it’s no surprise that it’s something he’s exploring in even more stories beyond his big-screen franchise.

“In the ’30s, when it was really taking root, you think about the state of the world back then, and how much moral uncertainty there was in the world, and that’s something that’s very distinct to the whodunit genre, is the moral certitude of it,” Johnson told Vanity Fair. “It has this comforting thing where the world is thrown into chaos by this crime, and the detective comes in and you know that the good-person detective is going to set the world right by the end of it. Figure it out, restore moral order, and the bad person will go to jail. You can see why that would have felt really, really good in the ’30s. And I think that’s also, that feels really, really good right now.”