‘Poker Face’ Finale: Clea DuVall Wants a Bigger ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’ Reunion in Season 2
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Poker Face, Season 1, Episode 10, “The Hook.”]
Poker Face has come to its Season 1 conclusion, and the series continues to peel back layers of Charlie’s (Natasha Lyonne) life.
The character with a knack for detecting BS was forced to reunite with more than one person from her past in the episode titled, “The Hook.” While one included Sterling Frost Sr. (Ron Perlman), viewers got a glimpse into Charlie’s past with the introduction of her sister Emily, played by Lyonne’s friend and former But I’m a Cheerleader costar Clea DuVall.
Sneaking into Emily’s house as she flees authorities, Charlie is forced to reckon with the consequences of her long-term absence in Emily’s life.
Although Charlie’s innocence in Sterling’s death is proven to the authorities that seek her, she winds up back on the run as the mob family Cliff collaborated with to kill Sterling want their own revenge. Still, the door is seemingly open for another family reunion between Charlie and her sister Emily. Below, DuVall opens up about hopes for a return in Season 2, and shares which guest star she’d like to see sign on for Season 2.
(Credit: Peacock)
How was this opportunity first introduced to you and what drew you to the role of Emily Cale?
Clea DuVall: Well, Natasha texted me and she said, “Do you wanna come do this role on Poker Face?” I was doing post[-production] on a show called High School at the time, so I was very busy. I was like, “I don’t know if I can.” And you know, there was never a world where I wasn’t gonna do it because getting the opportunity to work with Natasha… she is one of my favorite people to work with. She had sent over the script and it was just so good. I remember when Natasha first told me about the show that Rian created for her, and it just sounded like such a fun idea, but then getting to actually read the script and see what they had been doing, it was so fun and exciting.
You’ve acted with Natasha before, but what was it like getting to see her in a creative role behind-the-scenes of Poker Face?
It was really cool. I never got to visit her when she was making Russian Doll, so, this was the first time really seeing her in that behind-the-scenes role and she wears it very well. She has such a big brain that can really hold entire worlds inside of it. And seeing the way she was able to juggle everything was really. I was so proud of her.
As Emily, you and Charlie have a challenging relationship. How much of their history as sisters was defined before filming?
It was just written as is. Natasha and I had a couple of conversations about the backstory and what certain things meant. We really both went into it with our own take on what the history was, much like with real families where everybody has their own take on events.
Is there hope that Emily will return since Poker Face has been renewed for Season 2?
I mean, I think as an audience member, I wanna know more about Charlie and where she came from, like her personal history. So I think it would certainly make sense to have more Emily involved in that.
There’s clear resentment towards Charlie on Emily’s side of things. Is it more about Charlie just being an absent family member, or is it about something more specific she’s done in the past within the family?
I think it’s both. I think the fact that Charlie is not around is really hurtful to Emily. As contentious as their relationship is, as much as Emily is like Charlie’s only family, Charlie is Emily’s only family. There’s part of Emily that has had to learn to live without, and having Charlie just show up again starts this cycle of, how long is she gonna be here now? And then knowing that once she’s gone, there’s gonna be pieces to pick up right in her wake.
(Credit: Lions Gate Films / Courtesy Everett Collection)
Despite her anger, Emily still helps Charlie escape authorities. Is that just a gesture of genuine human decency or is it deeper?
Yeah, I think it definitely comes from a place of love and wanting to be to help. It’s like wanting to help Charlie while still preserving herself. Giving Charlie the shoes is as much as she can do. She knows that if she opens up anymore, she’s gonna like fall down a rabbit hole and it’s gonna be bad. So it’s really just trying to love Charlie as much as she can. As much of it is safe to do.
Emily begs Charlie to leave and never come back, and she appears to go on the run once more before the final moments play out. Do you hope Charlie returns to create some more chaos, or for Emily’s sake, stay away?
I think a little bit more chaos would be fun. But probably for the safety of Emily and her childhood, [it wouldn’t be good].
This show has so many wonderful stars involved. Looking ahead to the future, are there any guest stars you’d like to see pop up in Season 2?
Yeah, I would love to see Melanie Lynskey join just to get the But I’m a Cheerleader trifecta. I mean that what’s so cool about this show. It is fun to just see all these people [onscreen]. I’m really just trying to think of the people that we’ve known that would be fun to get to play with [and it’s] Melanie.
Poker Face, Season 2 Premiere, TBA, Peacock
