Actor Adam Arkin has learned a lot from working behind the camera, experience which he’s put to good use in directing episodes of Poker Face (season two).
“Actors can show up on set and go like, ‘Okay, the work can begin. We're here. What's going on?’ Arkin jokes. “I knew immediately when I was being exposed to that as a director, it was something that for decades I had been doing myself as an actor. [I’d been] completely [and] blithely unaware of the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that had gone into the project before I even showed up.”
Arkin talks with NPR TV critic Eric Deggans about the challenge of capturing the distinct tone of Poker Face’s first season, how creators Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne trusted him to oversee episodes he didn’t direct, and his candid thoughts on the ongoing nepo baby conversation.