Cynthia Erivo's Wild Poker Face Role Revealed — She's Playing Multiple Characters!?
Find out how the Wicked star outdoes herself in Season 2 of Peacock's Poker Face, starring Natasha Lyonne and a plethora of other guest stars.
Slight spoilers for Poker Face Season 2, Episode 1
Cynthia Erivo is "Defying Gravity" with her recently announced role in Season 2 of Peacock's Poker Face.
Poker Face co-creators Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson (Knives Out) came together with just a handful of the A-list guest stars set to appear in Season 2 during PaleyFest LA 2025, which took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California over the weekend. The director and actress gave fans a preview of the mystery series ahead of its May 2 premiere on Peacock and screened the first episode of Season 2, "The Game Is a Foot," starring the Academy-Award nominated actress.
If you're one of the many who immediately conjure Erivo's voice singing "Unlimited..." from "Defying Gravity" whenever she appears, you're going to double-down on that habit after you see her incredible Poker Face balancing act.
RELATED: Cynthia Erivo, John Mulaney Join Poker Face in Season 2 Teaser - Premiere Date Revealed (WATCH)
Who does Cynthia Erivo play in Poker Face Season 2?
Directed by Rian Johnson and written by Laura Deeley, "The Game Is a Foot" features Erivo playing multiple siblings, with several of them appearing onscreen at the same time. Filming on Episode 1 took place during a break in Wicked's marathon promotional tour in 2024, giving Erivo the opportunity to sneak away to upstate New York to work her magic with Johnson and Lyonne.
Making multiples magic for Poker Face Season 2
During the panel portion of Poker Face's PaleyFest appearance, moderator and former Saturday Night Live cast member Aidy Bryant asked Johnson and Lyonne about how they were able to pull off the old school, Parent Trap-style camera techniques which show Erivo playing the various sisters.
"It's all Natasha and it's Cynthia," Johnson said of his leading ladies. "We had a 10-day schedule to shoot that, which is a very fast schedule for the amount of script it was. It's not like we were using crazy camera technology. It was literally like, leave the camera there, then Cynthia would do half of her scene and she would go and change."
He continued, "[Erivo] somehow kept it all in her head and was the loveliest person in the world while she was doing it."
Lyonne piped up to add that Johnson was being too humble, noting that she's "never seen Rian in quite so his element."
"I would argue that this episode is quite possibly the most Rian Johnson thing to ever Rian Johnson. He had 87 screens within screens to figure out how the whole game and magic trick would work," she joked.
RELATED: Poker Face Season 2: Everything to Know About Guest Stars, Premiere Date & More
Poker Face Season 2 Guest Stars
Erivo is just one of many Season 2 guest stars who will be playing friends and foes to Lyonne's wandering truth-reader, Charlie Cale. Also featured at the Poker Face panel were Season 1 and Season 2 guest stars Clea DuVall, Judith Light, Kumail Nanjiani, John Cho, Melanie Lynskey, GaTa, and Haley Joel Osment.
Johnson spoke with excitement about the case-of-the-week format of the series, explaining that it makes working on the show so "wonderful." He noted that, with the exception of Natasha, there's always "wonderful people coming in every episode."
Of course, Johnson recognizes that having multiple guest stars throughout the season requires "incredible effort" from Lyonne, who is routinely meeting and working alongside new acting partners. "The fact that she makes it look so effortless on the screen and creates a character that you want to travel across the United States with, speaks massively to her," he praised.
How to watch Poker Face
All 12 episodes of Poker Face Season 2 stream exclusively on Peacock. The first three episodes premiere Thursday, May 8, with the remaining episodes dropping every Thursday after that. Want to catch up on Charlie's journey thus far? Stream all of Season 1 right here!
