Poker Face Director Adam Arkin Takes Us Inside Season 2's "Sloppy Joseph" (EXCLUSIVE)
Adam Arkin, Poker Face executive producer and director of “Sloppy Joseph,” weighs in on the making of the episode.
In this week’s new Season 2 episode of Peacock's Poker Face, “Sloppy Joseph,” Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) finds herself employed as an elementary school lunch lady. In the seemingly bucolic school hallways, she runs afoul of arguably her greatest mental nemesis yet, young overachiever Stephanie Pearce (Eva Jade Halford).
As the top star earner in her class, Stephanie finds herself blindsided when her fellow schoolmate, Elijah Turner (Callum Vinson), bests her in the class spelling bee. Sadly, that quiet little boy who loves magic becomes Stephanie’s persona non grata for besting her. Livid at her competition, Stephanie embarks on a diabolical plan of revenge (including hamster murder) that Charlie ends up catching wind of because of her highly attuned "bulls--t meter."
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A deliciously dark episode written by Kate Thulin and directed by Adam Arkin (Fargo), “Sloppy Joseph” sets up Charlie to match wits with a child who’s already an expert at psychological warfare. The tone of the episode required Arkin to reference all of his prior experience working in black comedies and directing kids, so that he could land such a wickedly funny installment. NBC Insider got on a Zoom with Arkin to conjure up what he loved best about this particular episode.
Poker Face's "Sloppy Joseph" director talks Charlie Cale versus Stephanie Pearce
As an executive producer on Season 2 of Poker Face, Arkin worked with showrunner Tony Tost and co-creator Rian Johnson to help the roster of directors understand the stylistic voice and visual continuity that is the creative hallmark of the series. Arkin also directed his own episodes, including “Sloppy Joseph,” which he came to find out was a particular favorite of Johnson’s this season.
"I think Rian, initially, had really wanted to [direct] 'Sloppy Joseph' as it was viewed as different,” Arkin tells us. "There was a stylistic requirement built into it which was the two worlds of adults and children. Early on, [Rian] was relishing the idea of getting to play in that arena. My recollection is that when it became clear for schedule purposes that he wasn't going to be able to do that, that he wanted me to do it for reasons I'm very grateful for."
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One of those reasons was Arkin’s experience with directing kids, which he first did back in 2001 with Showtime’s adaptation of My Louisiana Sky. In that film, Arkin directed first-time actor Kelsey Keel, who went on to win an Emmy for her performance as Tiger Ann Parker. In the case of this Poker Face episode, Arkin said he was working with two child performers who already knew their stuff.
“Both of them were just extraordinarily professional, extraordinarily prepared, smart, and really good to work with,” Arkin said of the on-screen elementary school enemies. "Both of them had very specific ideas about who these kids were and they stuck to them. I love directing children. Working with kids when they are kids that really want to be doing this is incredibly satisfying and yields great results."
Arkin also got some help from Lyonne, a child actor whose first gig was as a recurring character on Pee-wee's Playhouse in 1986.
"She was wonderful with the kids,” Arkin said of Lyonne, adding she treated the kids like peers. "I think when you're working with kids who have some level of experience and are invested in the process, they want to be treated like adults and and treated professionally. I really find that, in general, I give them the benefit of the doubt and and assume that they're capable of understanding nuance and entrusting them with the adult responsibility of turning in a performance and doing it in a professional way. At least the kids I've worked with seem to really rise to the occasion and dig that. They enjoy it. And I think that was the case here."
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In particular, Arkin said he loved the kid's work in the talent show sequence, which played out like a heist as Stephanie sabotages Elijah’s magic trick and his hamster friend, with horrifying results.
"The talent show in its entirety was a wonderful sequence to work on,” he shared. “Where it lay in the schedule, it was at a point when it was clear that [the shoot] was going well. It was one of those days where we felt like, ‘We've got something here.' You get a sort of Spidey Sense that even if everything goes awry from this point on, we've done enough that it's clicking and working. Like, there's an episode we're going to be proud of here, and that sequence definitely felt that way. Everything was working from the performances to the environment that our wonderful production designer had created. That was the sequence where we kind of knew."
Poker Face director Adam Arkin on reuniting with Margo Martindale
As is the Poker Face tradition, “Sloppy Joseph” welcomes some amazing character actors as guest stars, including David Krumholtz (Oppenheimer) as Elijah’s custodian dad, Adrienne C. Moore (Orange Is the New Black) as teacher Ms. Dee, and Emmy-winner Margo Martindale (Mrs. Davis) as headmistress Dr. Hamm.
Having also worked as an actor since he was 19-years-old, Arkin said he loved getting to connect with some of the best of the best, including Martindale.
“It is one of the great joys of my life that I've had a really extensive professional relationship with her over many years,” he explained. “I've directed Margo in more projects than any other actor that I've worked, from The Riches, Justified, Sneaky Pete, and The Americans. This was the fifth or sixth project that we've worked on together."
Arkin added that Martindale also worked with his father, Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), and his brother, Matthew Arkin (Law & Order), on the Sydney Lumet series 100 Center Street. "She's like extended family at this point,” he said. "I absolutely adore her and and I'm always looking for more opportunities to work with her because she's gold."
New episodes of Poker Face debut Thursdays on Peacock; head there now to catch “Sloppy Joseph" and the rest of the show's already aired Season 1 and 2 episodes!
