James Bond, the Doctor, and… Charlie Cale? According to a surprising new report from Deadline, mystery maven Rian Johnson wants to extend the life of Poker Face by having a new actor play the role of human lie detector Charlie Cale every two seasons. Apparently, Johnson and co. are shopping around the idea of Peter Dinklage assuming the role originated by Natasha Lyonne. It’s unclear if anyone’s going to bite on this version of the “franchise,” but what is clear is that both Lyonne and Peacock are done with Poker Face.
The cancellation news comes as a surprise, given that Poker Face is one of Peacock’s most high-profile prestige offerings and attracted a ton of A-list talent on its guest star roster. It’s also a surprise because the second season ended on a cliffhanger with Charlie back on the run and her nemesis the Iguana (Patti Harrison) seemingly in the wind. Did Peacock pull the plug because all those Oscar-nominated guest stars got to be too expensive? Or did Lyonne decide to quit, so Peacock did too? These questions do not yet have answers.
Whatever prompted the cancellation, Johnson seems willing to do whatever it takes to keep Poker Face alive—Deadline claims the filmmaker will “do as much writing and directing as he needs to in order to keep it going.” Thus, he landed on the idea of a rotating replacement cast of Charlies, starting with Peter Dinklage. Of course, Dinklage-as-Charlie prompts yet more questions. Would the show pick up exactly where it left off? Would Charlie’s friends and nemeses (Simon Helberg as Luca, Harrison as the Iguana) be played by the same actors, or regenerate themselves like the Master to Charlie’s Doctor? Or would the whole story reset, retaining only the basic premise of “lie detecting mystery solver traveling the country by road”?
If no other network picks up the show, we may never see this vision come to fruition. For now, Johnson and Lyonne (who remains attached to the show as an executive producer) gave this statement to Deadline: “We’ve been germinating this next move together since writing the season two finale. We love our Poker Face and this is the perfect way to keep it rolling. Give us a beat and we may just see Charlie Cale again down that open highway.”
