Rian Johnson is proving himself to be the modern master of the whodunit. Even though the filmmaker has been making films for many years, the great success of his 2019 mystery dramedy Knives Out about a dysfunctional family searching for their patriarch’s murderer established him as a fine craftsman of mystery. His follow-up of sorts, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, reunites us with Benoit Blanc, the charming southern sleuth Daniel Craig made his own who sets off to solve a new mystery in Greece. Most recently, Johnson has branched out into television with Poker Face, a mystery-of-the-week style series starring Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a human lie detector who travels the country getting mixed up in—and solving—murders.
Because of its unique storytelling style, Poker Face has become a revolving door of great single-episode performances from an eclectic crop of actors. To add to this level of intrigue is the fact that the actors stepping into the spotlight are playing characters you wouldn't typically expect. Judith Light plays a rebellious retirement home resident who, in her heyday, protested against Richard Nixon. Lil Rel Howery smokes meats as a Texas BBQ master and radio host who plots the death of his business-partner brother. Chloë Sevigny quite literally rocks it as Ruby Ruin, a washed-up rock star desperate enough to kill for fame. And The Big Bang Theory star Simon Helberg goes undercover as an FBI agent! But no one can top Hong Chau’s dynamite performance in Episode 2, “The Night Shift.”
Hong Chau Is a Character Actor Extraordinaire
A recent Oscar nominee for her intense and masterful performance in The Whale, Chau is one of the strongest and most chameleonic character actors working. Like a snake hunting its prey, she sneaks into every project and, within seconds of being on-screen, completely destroys the material in front of her. Chau is one of those actors who you know will deliver an impressive performance, no matter the quality or reception of the project.
In HBO’s limited series Watchmen, she plays the enigmatic Lady Trieu, who manages to be both incredibly peaceful and incredibly terrifying. The satirical horror thriller The Menu features Chau as Elsa, the intense maître d'hôtel of the similarly-intense restaurant run by Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). Homecoming, Big Little Lies, and Duck Butter are among some of the other titles filling out her filmography, with Downsizing giving her the opportunity to really show off her comedy chops alongside Matt Damon. All that being said about her abilities and range aside…would you ever peg Hong Chau as a trucker?
Hong Chau Delivers the Best Unsolicited Underwear Advice in 'Poker Face'
You never know who you will meet on the road. In Poker Face, Lyonne’s Charlie Cale has come across quite a few oddballs and has gotten mixed up in some very morally murky situations. “Night Shift” proves that Chau could not only pull off the role of a stereotypical trucker effectively but emphasizes her incredible comedic timing and rhythm. She means business as Marge, a trucker Charlie meets while in the bathroom of a New Mexico convenience store. She emerges from the rickety bathroom stall with zero time for phony pleasantries. Marge has the best character introduction of the series. There’s a determined, almost feral look in her eyes as she heads to the sink and sets up her travel case of toiletries. Before saying a word or even looking at Charlie, she farts. “That’s what happens in here,” she says in her matter-of-fact voice as she reluctantly addresses a stupefied Charlie.
Chau only cranks up the weird from here, and it’s pretty great. She proceeds to give a mini Ted Talk on underwear once she sees Charlie washing her bloody shirt over the sink. “Just because you’re wearing your underwear inside out doesn’t mean it’s really clean. That trick only works once. ‘Cause of, there’s only two sides to the underwear.” Even though she doesn’t wear any signs of interest on her face, she proceeds to interrogate Charlie about her experience on the road. It’s obvious that Marge has seen things, and wants to know what you’ve seen, too.
She white-knuckles an extreme stoicism from start to finish, no matter if the conversation calls for it. This unwavering devotion to the gruff character is actually what makes her charming and surprisingly soft, a side of that sneaks out of her in her truck. Charlie wakes up in her truck extremely confused. She had passed out from blood loss in the bathroom and fortunately, Marge was there to come to her rescue. See, she does have a soft side!
It’s in the truck where Chau really kicks things into gear. She whips out her small gun she’s dubbed baby Roscoe and starts to break down the hindrances of Mace. “One time I accidentally sprayed Mace in here when I was practicing quick draws. Couldn’t stop crying for about a month. Second time in my life I’ve ever cried.” Charlie makes the mistake of asking about the first time she ever cried, but perhaps she misread the room. “That was back when I was none of your f*cking business.” What’s great is that the audience can never quite get an accurate read on Marge, either. She always looks like she’s going to give you some strange morsel of roadside wisdom or give you a succinct yet troubling anecdote from her solitary travels. If you are all aboard the Marge barge, then either response is a total win-win.
Charlie tries her best to feign interest in her cooped-up world by asking her if she ever gets bored. “I got my books on tape on CD,” she mumbles before pressing play on the radio, picking up where she left off. Of course, it’s nothing uplifting, but rather dire food for thought. “All existence is suffering, and the source of suffering is attachment,” the tranquil narrator states. But it’s safe to assume that no one predicted what Marge was ready to whip out of the holster next. After a few awkward seconds that feel like an eternity, Marge squirms in her seat a bit before she musters up the courage to ask, “I’m gettin’ ‘not gonna hook-up’ vibes?” She rebounds from the rejection like a pro and suggests they go across the way to The Roadhouse diner to take advantage of their three-for-ten deal.
The diner is the last bit of quality time we get to spend with Marge, and Chau manages to make it both funny and poetic. We get a peek into how Marge became Marge, which involves “one of those uncles.” She was sent to live with him when she was about 16, which triggered a rebellion. “One day I took his money, pissed on his favorite chair, and ran.” No matter how hard he tried, he never got his money back. Marge, however, got her strength. “I love the life,” explaining, “Out here, Marge is small, weak, fleshy, a target. But when I’m driving? Marge is 80,000 pounds of pure steel.”
Sure, the first thing we heard from Marge was some flatulence, but in the end, Chau transforms her into a multi-dimensional and meaningful character. Some of the guest stars on Poker Face feel like they are pawns in the bigger game who are solely meant to move the story along. Marge, however, proves to be a delightful detour with her cowboy hat, beauty mark, and resilience. Hong Chau’s performance as Marge the no-nonsense trucker reminds us that she is just as capable of making us laugh as she is cry. Let’s hope that Hollywood mines for some more of the actor’s comedy gold very, very soon.