Predicting Who Will Guest Star in 'Poker Face' Season 2
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Natasha Lyonne’s instantly iconic performance as Charlie Cale is the beating heart of Poker Face, but the show’s first season reached even greater heights thanks to a parade of incredible guest stars. In just 10 episodes, viewers saw Adrien Brody, Hong Chau, Ron Perlman, Ellen Barkin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Chloë Sevigny, Judith Light, Lil Rel Howery, Stephanie Hsu, Cherry Jones and Nick Nolte—and that’s not even close to a complete list.
The Peacock series’ “murder of the week” format lends itself to one-off turns from A-listers, and it seems likely that the guest-star roster will only keep growing in Season 2. After the show’s February 2023 renewal, Lyonne and creator Rian Johnson both said they have no plans to change up the show’s episodic format going forward. “It’s just an engine to be able to keep her on the road and keep her moving and keep doing these little mysteries and having exciting people in them,” Johnson told Deadline of Poker Face’s structure in April 2023. “Our goal is to just keep doing that as long as we can.”
Production on Season 2 is still in the early stages (and possibly impacted by the writers' strike), but that doesn’t mean it’s too soon to start dream-casting Charlie’s next round of adventures. While no casting announcements have been made, it’s still fun to predict future guest stars based on Lyonne’s deep bench of famous friends. Read on for a list of possible Poker Face suspects—and their potential victims.
Who will guest star in Poker Face Season 2?
Samira Wiley
Lyonne’s former Orange Is the New Black co-star came right out and told her she wanted in on Poker Face Season 2. “Samira came to the premiere, and then we went out with friends after and it was just me and her and a few other people. And she was like, ‘Just so you know, I would do one of these,’” Lyonne told Variety in March 2023. “And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, I know [you] sometimes ask me to do things, maybe I don’t, but just so you know, this, I would do one of these.’ And I was like, ‘OK, Samira!’”
Related: Where Is Poker Face Filmed?
Fred Armisen
Lyonne confirmed the end of her eight-year romantic relationship with Armisen in April 2022, but the former couple—who’ve collaborated professionally many times—are still on good terms. “We love each other just about as much as two people can love each other and we're still talking all the time,” Lyonne told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. When she hosted Saturday Night Live in May 2022, Armisen joined her for the monologue, so a Poker Face cameo doesn’t seem out of the question.
Greta Lee
Lee plays Maxine, the right-hand woman to Lyonne’s Nadia on Russian Doll, and they have nothing but great things to say about working with each other. A Poker Face appearance for Lee would just feel right. “It just felt like we were this inner circle, and that we are now the holders of this world that we’ve created together. I just like that feeling,” Lyonne said during an April 2022 conversation with Lee for Cultured where they discussed making Russian Doll’s second season. “There’s something to that. We’re just Maxine and Nadia passing the joint the way they would. It’s funny that we are not these characters.”
Carrie Brownstein
Lyonne has a history of working with her friends—see Sevigny’s turn as Ruby Ruin in the Season 1 episode “Rest in Metal”—which means Brownstein could be an easy candidate for a Poker Face role. Brownstein enlisted Lyonne for several episodes of her and Armisen’s show, Portlandia, and tapped her for a short film in 2016, so they have an established history of working together.
Tracee Ellis Ross
Ellis Ross is a longtime friend of Lyonne’s, and she was on hand for the Season 1 premiere of Poker Face in January 2023. While Lyonne was fielding questions from reporters, Ellis Ross crashed her interview and was asked which of Lyonne’s roles is her best. Her answer? Lyonne in real life. “The living one! The real thing,” Ellis Ross told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “I’ll take all the ones on the camera, on the screen, but this one, that’s the best version.”
Eric Bogosian
Bogosian is another of Lyonne’s closest buddies, and the duo worked together on 2019’s Uncut Gems (although Lyonne’s role was very small). When Bogosian released his book 100 (monologues), Lyonne signed on to record herself performing one. Even without a personal connection to Lyonne, though, Bogosian is exactly the type of character actor who works well on Poker Face. Put him in, coach!
Rosie O’Donnell
Lyonne and O’Donnell have been friends since starring in a 2008 production of Nora Ephron’s play Love, Loss, and What I Wore. When Lyonne was making Season 2 of Russian Doll, she needed someone to do a voiceover role as a New York City subway announcer, and co-creator Amy Poehler had the perfect idea. “Amy Poehler had said we should definitely get an iconic New York voice to do this, and Rosie is terrific,” Lyonne explained to The Hollywood Reporter in April 2022. “We did play with changing her voice at different points. She’s just so damn good.” Charlie Cale hasn’t been to the Big Apple yet, but if she ever finds herself there, O’Donnell could be a perfect foil.
Related: What We Know About a Possible Russian Doll Season 3
Amy Poehler
Poehler is the co-creator of Russian Doll and an enthusiastic booster of all things Lyonne. “Natasha and I are hopefully an example of what chosen family looks like,” Poehler said during an April 2022 interview on Today. “You choose the people that are supposed to be in your life and people that are in Natasha’s life know that they love her deeply and she loves deeply.” According to the Lyonne Theory of Friend Casting, some Poker Face involvement from Poehler—whether as an actor or director—seems highly possible.
Danielle Brooks
Lyonne and Brooks starred together on Orange Is the New Black, which aired from 2013 to 2019. The duo became friends in real life after playing inmates Nicky Nichols and Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson, respectively, on the Netflix dramedy, and Lyonne has been open about her respect for Brooks’ talent. “Danielle is devastating this season—I mean, every season,” Lyonne told BuzzFeed News of her colleague after Season 6 debuted in 2018. “I personally take a lot of joy in my life from getting to bask in her golden glow. I find it deeply inspiring as a human being and an artist and everything.”
Aidy Bryant
Bryant first met Lyonne in the early 2010s, and the older actress was happy to offer some advice to Bryant, who was then new to Hollywood. “She explained to me that there will be ups, and you should really try to enjoy them because you can also count on the downs too, but that holding on to yourself and the people you love, you can weather it,” Bryant recalled at Variety’s Power of Women event in April 2023. After that first meeting, Lyonne went on to direct an episode of Bryant’s Hulu series, Shrill, so maybe they’re ready for another collaboration.
Maya Rudolph
Rudolph and Lyonne have been friends for years, so it’s no surprise that Rudolph was on hand for Lyonne’s Saturday Night Live hosting debut in May 2022 (along with the aforementioned Armisen). The duo also co-founded the production company Animal Pictures, which produces Poker Face. Nothing is predictable in the world of Charlie Cale, but a bet on a future Rudolph role seems safe.
Laverne Cox
Like Wiley and Brooks, Cox got close with Lyonne while making Orange Is the New Black, which earned them both Emmy nominations. Cox has mostly played herself on TV over the past few years, so a Poker Face cameo as someone in Charlie’s orbit would be divine.
