Poker Face: Kerry Frances Discusses Series, Johnson, Creative Ventures

Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: Poker Face

Poker Face: Kerry Frances Discusses Series, Johnson, Creative Ventures

Kerry Frances (Wake Up Dead Man) spoke with us about her time on Peacock's Poker Face, working with Rian Johnson, and her creative future.

Published Mon, 22 Dec 2025 19:37:03 -0600
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Kerry Frances reflects on her experiences filming Poker Face and working with Rian Johnson.
• Explores differences between shooting TV and film, highlighting Poker Face's unique on-set atmosphere.
• Opens up about her passion for storytelling through acting, singing, writing, and producing.
• Shares ambitions to create modern rom-coms and movie musicals, blending her Broadway and screen skills.

Ever since Kerry Frances made her on-screen debut in Rian Johnson's Knives Out (2019), she has wanted to pursue a similar creative path, not only acting but also producing and directing. Not only did she make the most of the ensemble cast, but she also followed him to his Peacock series Poker Face, and to his latest Knives Out murder-mystery Wake Up Dead Man. While promoting the Netflix film, Frances spoke to Bleeding Cool to reflect on filming the premiere episode of the Natasha Lyonne-starring series, the differences between film and TV, and exploring her creative side, which includes her short film Mama Mama. Poker Face follows the adventures of a drifter and human lie detector, Charlie Kale (Lyonne), as she goes from place to place to solve murders in her travels.

Poker Face: Kerry Frances Reflects on Time on Rian Johnson Series, Embracing Creativity

In addition to your on-screen theatrical debut with Knives Out, you also made your TV debut with Rian with Poker Face. What did you like about that experience?

Learning the difference between TV and film was fun and enjoyable, from the pace to how things are shot. With film, we get to be a bit more leisurely, whereas TV has a bit more restricted schedule. When we filmed [Poker Face], it was very close to where I lived where I grew up in New Jersey, on the border of New York. That was a unique experience, being so close to home. Also, doing one episode instead of the entire film was neat as well, so I did learn a lot from that set, not only from Rian, but from the showrunners, Lilla and Nora Zuckerman, who are wonderful. They're doing the Buffy reboot right now, they really mentored me, took me under their wing, and taught me so much about making TV and making movies.

Where did you film in New Jersey for that episode [Dead Man's Hand]?

Poker Face, we filmed on the border of New York, so it was just crossing into New York.

Is that like Secaucus, Hoboken?

No, it would have been Hudson County, New York.

Gotcha. That's cool. You're also developing your creative side, in addition to acting, singing, directing, and writing. How do you feel about being comfortable with putting on as many hats as you are? Is there one you enjoy doing more than the other that you're finding, or are you still figuring that part out yourself?

Being a storyteller is still being a storyteller, no matter if you are acting, singing, writing, or producing. I come from that place with everything I do. I'm a storyteller first. Acting and singing are so forward-facing for me. That's what people would know me best as, but with writing, directing, and producing, I love putting something together from absolutely nothing into making a whole project. I love all the little details, nuances of producing and finding whether that's my original ideas or books and IP to option, and doing meetings. I also love writing, being able to sit down, and climb into a world that I'm creating that no one else has ever experienced, and I just go away. Same thing with acting. I disappear into these worlds and characters. It's such a beautiful way to spend my time and be creative, so I'm excited about that side of my career too.

Final question: Is there a genre you're hoping to do next?

Absolutely. I would love to create better rom-coms than the ones we currently have. I'm really inspired by the greats of our past, like Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers, so many wonderful films from the '70s, '80s, '90s, and then we've seen a bit of a change in terms of rom coms. They can be dismissed as not being incredible films or incredible TV shows. I don't think that's true. There's a whole world to explore in rom-coms, and then aside from rom-coms, I would love to do movie musicals. That's what I'm here to do to blend my Broadway past with my TV and film present and bring everything that I love together into one thing. That's what I'm most excited to do.

Both seasons of Poker Face are available on Peacock. Wake Up Dead Man, which also stars Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church, is available on Netflix.

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