Poker Face's "Day of the Iguana" Guest Stars Explained: Haley Joel Osment, Taylor Schilling
The guest stars keep coming as we approach the season 2 finale.
Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) is still holed up in New York City, hoping to disappear into the chaos of the city. Unfortunately for her, no matter how much distance you put between yourself and your past, old ghosts have a way of coming back to haunt you.
In the penultimate episode of Poker Face Season 2, “Day of the Iguana,” Charlie and her new friend Alex get pulled into a deadly trap. They both escape with their lives (at least for now) but only to be used as pawns in a much bigger game. To find out what’s really going on, we have to attend a killer wedding with a guest list packed with celebrity cameos.
Justin Theroux as the Iguana/Todd on Poker Face
We open on Todd, an invited guest to the upcoming wedding of an energy drink mogul. He’s watching an instructional video on how to tie a bow tie, when the doorbell rings. Todd wasn’t expecting anyone and isn’t quite ready, but when he answers the door a chauffeur is waiting. The driver invites himself inside, offers to help with the bow tie, then strangles Todd to death.
The chauffeur reveals a large vacuum seal bag filled with a mysterious liquid and zips the body inside. Approaching the mirror, he applies facial prosthetics and takes Todd’s place. By the time he’s finished, the liquid has done its work, and the real Todd has been reduced to a viscous slop of biological goop.
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Theroux pulls double duty as both the short-lived Todd and the killer Iguana. Prior to his stint on Poker Face, you may have seen Theroux as Adam in Mulhollond Dr., as Timothy Bryce in American Psycho, the evil DJ in Zoolander (and Zoolander 2), and John Hancock in the two-episode historical miniseries John Adams. Fans of Parks and Recreation may recognize him as Justin Anderson, an old friend and possible love interest of Ann Perkins. More recently, Theroux appeared as the two-faced Rory in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Haley Joel Osment as Kirby Kowalczyk on Poker Face
The Iguana attends the wedding, having assumed Todd’s identity, in order to get close to Kirby Kowalczyk (Haley Joel Osment). It’s heavily implied that Kirby is responsible for Todd having lost an eye and he’s generally unpleasant to be around. But he’s drowning in money from an energy drink pyramid scheme.
Osment has been famous for most of his life, having terrified audiences as Cole “I see dead people” Sear in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. He also played Trevor McKinney in Pay it Forward and starred as the android David in Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence. As an adult, Osment has appeared as Teddy Craft in Kevin Smith’s aquatic body horror Tusk and a two-episode stint as Topher Delmonico in What We Do in the Shadows, among other roles.
Money might be able to buy you friends, but it can’t protect you from being murdered on your wedding day. The Iguana (as Todd) follows Kirby to the bathroom, injects him with something, and drags him away.
Patti Harrison as Alex on Poker Face
Patti Harrison returns for her third episode as Charlie’s new friend and sidekick, Alex. Shortly after the Iguana carries Kirby away, Alex finds him with an oyster shucking knife buried in his eye socket. Before she has time to do anything about it, the killer sneaks up behind her with another needle in hand.
Moments later, the bride (and everyone else at the wedding) discover Kirby’s body in a boat floating listlessly on the water. That’s when Alex wakes up on the boat with an oyster knife in hand, seemingly having committed the dastardly crime. Which is right around the time Charlie steps in. Fortunately, she’s already at the wedding, having accompanied Alex on an oyster catering gig.
In addition to recent episodes of Poker Face, you may have seen Harrison previously on shows like Broad City, Made for Love, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, and She Hulk: Attorney at Law. Even if you haven’t seen her, you’ve probably heard her. She provided vocal performances for the Tail Chief in Raya and the Last Dragon, Debbie on 12 episodes of The Great North, and Brandy in Trolls Band Together.
Lily Taylor as SAC Darville on Poker Face
Meanwhile, the FBI is outside, preparing to slip inside and monitor the wedding. They’ve set up cameras around the venue, but they aren’t there for any real investigative purposes, but because Kirby just so happens to be the son of Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman), the woman who until recently wanted Charlie dead. These days, they have a more complicated relationship.
The operation is under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Darville. She’s recently gone through sensitivity training and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep a cool head as things fall apart. Taylor has been on the scene and on your screens for decades. She played Corey Flood in 1989’s Say Anything and Sherry in beloved sports film Rudy. She was Nell in The Haunting, the 1999 adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. More recently, you may have seen her in The Conjuring, The Nun, and Hemlock Grove.
Taylor Schilling as Agent Annie Milligan on Poker Face
Darville is directing a moderately sized team of agents in and around the wedding, including Agent Annie Milligan, played by Taylor Schilling. Milligan is frustrated right from the jump, considering this entire mission to be a waste of time. She becomes increasingly frustrated as everything goes sideways.
You may have seen Schilling elsewhere in the role of Christine Mendez in Argo and Erica Boyer in Pam & Tommy. She’s most well known for playing the lead role of Piper Chapman in 91 episodes of Orange is the New Black.
Simon Helberg as Agent Luca Clark on Poker Face
You may have seen Helberg as Vernon or Jerry in the classic college comedies Van Wilder (2002) and Old School (2003). He also appeared in beloved geek culture miniseries Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and The Guild. Helberg is most well-known for playing engineer and astronaut Howard Wolowitz on all 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory. Now, he’s returning as the recurring Poker Face character FBI Agent Luca Clark.
Charlie and Alex sneak into the nearby boat house, escape in a canoe (not without Agent Clark seeing them), paddle to Charlie’s car, and escape into the night. With Alex framed for Kirby’s murder, they face the problem head on, sussing out Beatrix’s location and driving straight for her. What they don’t know is that the Iguana is on their tail, setting up the ultimate showdown for the season 2 finale.
The season 2 finale of Poker Face premieres next Thursday, July 7, 2025. In the meantime, you can catch up on the rest of the series, streaming right now on Peacock.
