Poker Face Creator Sets Sights on Peter Dinklage for Season 3
With Natasha Lyonne gone and Peacock passing on the original format, Rian Johnson is eyeing a boldly unconventional Season 3 of Poker Face built around Peter Dinklage.
Rian Johnson wants to keep Poker Face alive, and his pitch for a potential Season 3 is exactly the kind of swing you either love or blink at: Peter Dinklage stepping in as Charlie Cale. Yes, that Charlie.
The pitch: Peter Dinklage as Charlie Cale
After Natasha Lyonne exited and Peacock chose not to order a third season of the original version, Johnson is shopping a reworked take on the hit mystery series — one that would put the Game of Thrones star in the lead, inheriting Charlie’s wheelman role instead of introducing a new character. He addressed the rumors at the premiere of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and sounded genuinely amped about it.
'Look, it's very early days. We are going to see if we can take it out and get it going.'
'It is a wild swing, and I just feel like it could be so much fun, going forward with the show.'
How we got here
Johnson confirmed he’s actively exploring this version, telling Deadline he’s long wanted to work with Dinklage and would be thrilled to build a new iteration around him. After word spread, Johnson and Lyonne put out a joint note saying they’ve been cooking up this next move since they wrote the Season 2 finale, and that this pivot felt like the right way to keep the series rolling even with a new face up front.
The plan has always been a little left-field
This isn’t just a stunt recast. Johnson has said his long-term vision for Poker Face included rotating the lead every few seasons. In other words, Charlie Cale — the essence of the character and the crime-solving engine — was designed to be passed on, not frozen in amber. Dinklage stepping into Charlie’s shoes is a big creative gamble, but it fits with how Johnson always saw the show evolving.
Quick refresher: who Charlie Cale is and why the format works
Charlie is a former casino employee with a freakishly reliable tell for lies. After she catches the wrong person in a bad truth and crosses a casino boss, she’s forced onto the road in her 1969 Plymouth Barracuda. Each stop turns into a murder-of-the-week she can’t help but untangle, using her lie-detecting instinct as a survival tool as much as a party trick.
So, yeah — swapping leads while keeping Charlie as the role, not just the vibe, is gutsy. If Johnson gets this version off the ground, Season 3 could end up being one of his boldest TV experiments yet. Honestly, if you’re going to swing, swing big.