If there’s one thing to be said about Rian Johnson’s upcoming Peacock series, Poker Face, it’s that it isn’t keeping its cards close to its chest. The series has been lining up its hand, making big casting reveals along the way and now, Deadline has announced that S. Epatha Merkerson and Judith Light are the latest two actors to add their names to the call sheet. The duo joins the murder mystery drama following a previously announced, never ending list of talent that includes Natasha Lyonne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Chloë Sevigny, Dascha Polanco, Lil Rel Howery, Adrien Brody, Stephanie Hsu, Benjamin Bratt, David Castañeda, Ellen Barkin, Jameela Jamil, Tim Meadows, and Benjamin Bratt. The news surrounding Merkerson and Light comes just hours after the announcement that Simon Helberg would also be appearing in the production.
However, unlike the fast and loose casting reveals, Johnson has been more than withholding the details surrounding the plot. We know that the show will center on Lyonne’s character, who will be diving into different murders during each episode of the anthology series, but other than that, mum’s been the word. But, we can’t blame Johnson for not releasing the specifics surrounding the cast as that would probably spoil a lot of the mysterious murders that we’ll watch as the 10-episode series unfurls.
Along with directing, Johnson holds credits as the show’s creator and writer as well as an executive producer where he’ll serve with his T-Street partner, Ram Bergman and president, Nena Rodrigue along with Lyonne under her Animal Pictures banner. Maya Rudolph and Danielle Renfrew Behrens will co-executive produce for Animal Pictures.
Fans of Chicago Med will quickly recognize Merkerson for her role as Gaffney Chicago Medical Center’s Head of Patient and Medical Services, Sharon Goodwin. Prior to her current gig, the actress raked in massive amounts of critical acclaim and awards (including an Emmy) for her role in George C. Wolfe and HBO’s Lackawanna Blues. Poker Face will be the actress’ second foray into the world of crime and murder, as she’s also a very recognizable alum of Law & Order.
A woman of many talents, Light is a well known name from the theaters of Broadway to the sound stages of Hollywood. Along with Poker Face, the Tony and Emmy award-winning performer will also soon be seen in the limited series, Shadows in the Vineyard, of which she’ll also executive produce. With a long list of credits under her belt, Light most recently nabbed roles in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick… Boom! and HBO Max’s Julia.
As of right now, no release date has been set for Poker Face, but stay tuned to Collider for more information.
