Academy Award-winning actor Adrien Brody is thrilled the world is realizing a truth he’s known for nearly two decades: Rian Johnson is wonderful.
After discovering Johnson’s 2005 directorial debut, Brick — a noir murder mystery starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt — Brody went on to star in Johnson’s second feature film, The Brothers Bloom. The two friends recently teamed up again for Johnson’s first television show, Poker Face, a mystery-of-the-week series that dropped its first four episodes on Peacock on January 26. And in honor of the project, Decider spoke with Brody about his undying love for the creator, his complex character, and his fulfilling time on set.
Poker Face stars Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a cardsharp-turned-cocktail-waitress with the incredible ability to tell when people are being untruthful. Brody plays Charlie’s boss, Sterling Frost Jr., whose father — a powerful casino mogul — entrusted him with running Frost Casino. Shortly after we meet Sterling Jr. in the Poker Face pilot, “Dead Man’s Hand,” he presents Charlie with a proposition. He wants her to use her gift to help him fleece one of the casino’s wealthy “whales,” and though she agrees, let’s just say the deal doesn’t go down as planned.
“This was just so fun to reconnect with Rian. And I’m a fan of Natasha’s. I think she’s just an amazing, talented actress,” Brody told Decider over the phone. “We had a blast. It was such a fun project.”
Read on for the actor’s full conversation with Decider about working with Lyonne, bringing Sterling Jr. to life, his love of Peaky Blinders, and more. But be mindful that major spoilers for Poker Face Episode 1 are ahead.
DECIDER: In addition to creating and executive producing Poker Face, Rian Johnson also wrote and directed the pilot episode that you’re in. What it was like getting to work with him on his first TV show?
ADRIEN BRODY: Well, as you may know, Rian and I have known each other for probably 17 years now because we worked on The Brothers Bloom. I think it was his second film. And I’ve just been a fan of his and an admirer of his since I first discovered his work in Brick. And now the world is really quite familiar with him. He is such a wonderful person. He’s an amazingly intelligent and sensitive man and a wonderful filmmaker. And, really, you see it in the work, in the storytelling, and the caliber of actors that he is able to surround himself with. This was just so fun to reconnect with Rian. And I’m a fan of Natasha’s. I think she’s just an amazing, talented actress. We had a blast. It was such a fun project.
Your episode is especially fun because your character Sterling knows Charlie is a human lie detector. So we get to see him be very selective with his words and calculate ways to evade her questions.
Yeah, it was really fun. There’s a lot of playfulness within the storytelling, and navigating and kind of sowing the seeds for the story. The audience’s understanding of her and all this is related to that backstory that I get to tell. And Rian wrote that so eloquently, so it was really fun to bring it to the story.
That monologue you delivered at Sterling’s desk, the “Once upon a time in Denver” speech was superb. Watching it, I couldn’t imagine anyone else in this role, and I loved that you got to be a sinister, smooth talker, but have comedic moments like “OK, Encyclopedia Brown,” too. Do you have a favorite scene from this episode?
That’s a great question. I mean I liked that very much. It was very — it was challenging, just because it was quite a mountain of dialogue and I’d just come off another project. And I knew how important playing that in the proper way was for the storytelling, but I really enjoyed that. It was such a pleasure to work with Natasha, basically. It’s a dance. You have the privilege sometimes of working with people who really just know how to be free, and she has a wonderful honesty and also this amazing technical understanding of performance, and it was so great to watch her and interact with her. It was a relatively short stint, so everything I kind of soaked up. And also getting to play with Rian again was really a thrill, because it’s been a long time and I have incredibly fond memories of that experience when we worked together as well. So it was all fun. They are all memorable moments for me.
Initially it looks like Sterling Jr. leads this very privileged, ideal life running a casino. But we learn he’s a very flawed character trying to navigate insecurities and a strained relationship with his father. At one point he even says if you Google him you can find bad situations he’s been in. Did you have any sort of backstory in mind that helped shape your performance?
Yeah. You know, I spoke to Rian quite a bit about it. But it’s very easy for me to elaborate upon that material and to really understand the nature of complications that have affected this man in his lifetime, and being the son of a very powerful casino owner in Reno, and the luxuries afforded to him going beyond actual material luxuries, but a level of living above the law, or not feeling the full repercussions of his actions. Those affect someone. And then also the insecurities that he feels, having this powerful foreboding failure and him trying to now step into manhood or a position of ownership and running an establishment of his own and having lived under the shadow of his father. All of that is very palpable to me. He had plenty of trouble, and I think it’s pretty easy to relate to what those circumstances might be.
I’m really not done with him yet! I’m hoping we’ll get to learn more about Sterling Jr. in the finale, which Rian has said will tie back to the pilot and resolve unanswered questions. Speaking of characters I’m not done with, I could have watched you as Luca Changretta on Peaky Blinders for the rest of my life.
[Laughs] Thank you, thank you. I would like to have played that character for more of my life. I really enjoyed that.
On one hand, Sterling Jr.’s death really sets Poker Face into motion — not only by forcing Charlie on the run, but also by encouraging her to use her gift again. But I’m just curious if, like Peaky Blinders, you wish you had more time to explore him and play around in this world Rian created.
Yeah, of course. It’s a hard thing to create and connect to character and then lose him in a short period of time. Obviously, Peaky Blinders was a longer run. But you know, they become part of you, and then you have to let them go. And I love Rian. I just loved it. I really enjoyed the experience. But I also do have my hands full, too. [Laughs] So there are other lives that need my attention, which is exciting. We play our part and we have to find a way to put it to bed and come alive in other ways.
Well before I wrap, I’m curious if you know how Poker Face Season 1 ends.
I actually don’t know a full — I have a general sense of what happens to him. But I don’t think they even had the episode written when I started, so I’ll enjoy it when you do!
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
The first four episodes of Poker Face are now streaming on Peacock with new episodes dropping weekly on Thursdays.
