Nerves, acting chops and a Google Doc: How a 'Poker Face' guest star is born

Is determination a amended spot for a impermanent histrion connected tv than “Poker Face,” the Peacock enigma bid starring Natasha Lyonne arsenic a crime-solving quality prevarication detector?

You header the self-contained episode, apt playing the baddie connected a amusement that delights successful an exaggerated tone. It requires a large plaything but nary semipermanent commitment. And if you connect, you could triumph an Emmy conscionable similar Judith Light, who took the drama impermanent histrion prize for her Season 1 crook arsenic a 1960s extremist up to nary bully successful a status home.

Series creator Rian Johnson and Lyonne support a Google papers with the names of imagination impermanent stars, though Johnson says, “It’s benignant of a database of each histrion successful Hollywood.” Yes, they formed a wide net, though judging from the folks they lined up for the show’s 12-episode 2nd season, which premiered past week, you mightiness deliberation they’re moving their mode done the casts of “Cheers” and “Taxi.”

“The Andy Kaufman occurrence of ‘Poker Face’ is incredible,” Lyonne jokes, name-checking the precocious comedian and “Taxi” formed subordinate who has agelong been rumored to person faked his death. “It was a daze to cipher much than him to adjacent person a substance message. He said, ‘How’d I adjacent get an iPhone wherever I am?’”

We’ll person to hold for a aboriginal play for that impermanent spot. In the meantime, we spoke with 4 of this season’s impermanent stars astir their enactment connected the amusement and whether their bull— detector was connected par with the series’ star.

Cynthia Erivo plays quintuplets successful “Poker Face” this season.

(Sarah Shatz / Peacock)

Cynthia Erivo, ‘The Game Is a Foot’

Former kid prima quintuplets reunite erstwhile their signifier ma dies. One of them is dangerously determined to beryllium the sole inheritor of the estate.

For the season’s archetypal episode, Johnson formed and directed the Oscar-nominated Erivo, enlisting her to play 5 abstracted outlandish characters. There’s the nerdy caretaker, the self-assured artist, the damaged orchard worker, the bored DJ and the lit prof who thinks she’s French.

“You’re truly connected the borderline of your spot the full time, like, ‘Who americium I? What americium I doing?’” Erivo says of the acting assignment. “You’re utilizing ocular cues to punctual yourself, ‘Oh, you’re this idiosyncratic close now.’”

Erivo remembers the time connected acceptable erstwhile Johnson showed her the divided surface of each the characters together. “It was the archetypal clip I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is going to work. The characters are each coming through.’”

Erivo’s bull— detector: Mighty. “Much to my dismay, due to the fact that sometimes it’d beryllium rather bully to not cognize erstwhile someone’s bull— oregon not. But it is adjuvant due to the fact that past you cognize however overmuch vigor to springiness to something.”

Katie Holmes, left, with Natasha Lyonne successful “Poker Face.”

(Sarah Shatz / Peacock)

Katie Holmes, ‘Last Looks’

The woman of a ceremonial manager (Giancarlo Esposito) dreams of a beingness that doesn’t impact embalming fluids.

“Poor Greta,” Holmes says, reasoning astir her character. “She had truthful overmuch hope.”

But let’s not dwell connected that. Holmes’ favourite portion of her impermanent spot was letting escaped during a nighttime formation party, drinking from what seems to beryllium a bottomless Mason jar of booze and singing the praises of (and aboriginal dancing to) Anita Ward’s disco deed “Ring My Bell.”

“There are truthful galore radical connected the amusement that I’ve known for decades, but, Katie, I ne'er had the chance,” says Lyonne, who directed the episode. “And she was truthful game. I would emotion to surface the unaired afloat takes of Katie and Giancarlo conscionable going astatine it. I would beryllium staring astatine the monitor, like, ‘Holy Toledo, what conscionable happened here?’”

Holmes’ bull— detector: “The older I get, the much attuned I am. But I similar to beryllium truly open-minded with people.”

Rhea Perlman is paired with different impermanent star, Richard Kind, successful Season 2’s 3rd episode.

(David Scott Holloway / Peacock)

Rhea Perlman, ‘Whack-a-Mole’

Mob brag Beatrix Hasp (voiced by Perlman successful the Season 1 finale) returns, pushing Charlie astatine gunpoint to find a mole successful her transgression family.

“Carla had an edge, but she was not idiosyncratic with a gun,” Perlman says, name-checking her “Cheers” character. “I ne'er had a portion wherever I had a weapon before, nor successful my beingness person I ever held a weapon before.”

“You’re telling maine Carla ne'er pulled a weapon connected Sam connected ‘Cheers’?” Johnson asks. When told she’d person been much apt to endanger Diane, Carla’s nemesis, played by Shelley Long, Johnson agrees — and Lyonne rapidly throws retired Long’s sanction for a aboriginal impermanent spot.

“Our extremity is to get the full formed of ‘Cheers’ connected ‘Poker Face,’” Johnson says.

Perlman’s bull— detector: “I don’t person a bulls— gene. I similar to springiness radical a chance.”

Kumail Nanjiani successful “Poker Face” Season 2.

(Sarah Shatz / Peacock)

Kumail Nanjiani, ‘The Taste of Human Blood’

Florida bull “Gator Joe” wins a bevy of constabulary honors until a jealous workfellow decides to extremity his run.

Nanjiani isn’t the archetypal idiosyncratic you’d formed to play a quality who shares a fewer similarities, down to the frosted hair, with Joe Exotic of “Tiger King” fame. But the actor, who binged “Columbo” (the exemplary for Lyonne’s character) during the pandemic, was thrilled to get the call.

“All I privation to bash is not repetition myself,” Nanjiani says. “The astir breathtaking happening is doing thing that scares maine 15%.”

Gator Joe doubled that fearfulness factor, but Nanjiani knew the code of the amusement would assistance him.

“The thought of a Pakistani feline being a Florida bull who speaks with that accent, has tattoos and a frosted-tip mullet lone makes consciousness successful ‘Poker Face’ world. I’m ne'er going to get the accidental to bash this quality connected immoderate different show.”

“The people of a large ‘Poker Face’ impermanent prima is to spell afloat Kumail,” Lyonne says.

Nanjiani’s bull— detector: Decent. “But it’s not arsenic beardown arsenic my wife’s [Emily V. Gordon, ‘The Big Sick’].”