Natasha Lyonne To Star In ‘Poker Face’ From Rian Johnson For Peacock
Natasha Lyonne is just finishing up filming Season 2 of her brilliant Netflix series ‘Russian Doll’, but already has her next project lined up as she lands the lead on Rian Johnson’s first tv project, ‘Poker Face‘, which has just been ordered to series by streaming service Peacock.
There aren’t a huge amount of details about the show at the moment, other than it is described as a “mystery series”. Johnson did give a little more info, saying “I’m very excited to dig into the type of fun, character-driven, case-of-the-week mystery goodness I grew up watching. It’s my happy place. Having Natasha as a partner in crime is a dream, and we’ve found the perfect home at Peacock.”
The 10-episode series will be Johnson’s first original show for tv, having previously worked on films such as ‘Knives Out’, which saw him nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, sci-fi movie ‘Looper’, and the fan-dividing middle ‘Star Wars’ movie ‘The Last Jedi’. He has directed for tv before on shows such as ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Terriers’, but this marks his first series where he is creator, writer and director.
“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,” adds Lisa Katz, President, Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “Paired with the acting genius of Natasha Lyonne, this series will be entertaining and addictive.”
Natasha Lyonne will serve as an executive producer via her Animal Pictures along with Co-Executive Producers Maya Rudolph and Danielle Renfrew Behrens. She is currently filming and starring in Season 2 of Netflix’s ‘Russian Doll’ in which she also serves as co-creator, co-writer, executive producer, and director. The dark comedy earned her both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. Prior to that, she starred in ‘Orange Is The New Black’, the ‘American Pie’ films, and recently executive produced and directed ‘Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine’. If that wasn’t enough, she can currently be seen in Lee Daniels’ ‘United Stated vs Billie Holiday’, which is available now on Sky Cinema.
‘Poker Face’ is produced by Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T-Street, who are currently working on a follow-up film to ‘Knives Out’, and Netflix’s ‘Three Body Problem’, alongside MRC Television, who are currently in production on the fourth and final season of ‘Ozark’ for Netflix, the second season of ‘The Great’ for Hulu, the limited series ‘The Shrink Next Door’ for Apple, ‘The Terminal List’ for Amazon, and will next start production on ‘Shining Girls’ for Apple.
“Rian is a gifted writer and director who draws you in with his unique approach to mystery and we’re so proud to partner with him, and Ram, and to have Natasha Lyonne as our lead, and land this phenomenal show at Peacock with a talented team,” said MRC Television President, Elise Henderson.
‘Poker Face‘ will air on Peacock in the USA. No news on a UK broadcaster yet, although, there is a chance it may end up on Sky in the UK, due to them sharing a parent company in Comcast. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
