On June 5, the IndieWire Honors Spring 2025 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars behind some of the most impressive and engaging television work this season. Curated by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors shines a spotlight on the artisans, performers, and visionaries shaping modern TV. Leading up to the Los Angeles event, the platform is releasing exclusive interviews showcasing their achievements.
A conversation with Natasha Lyonne reveals a gravel-voiced storyteller, delivering a one-woman film school rich with cultural references ranging from The Long Goodbye and Lou Reed to quantum physics.
What sets Lyonne apart — earning her the prestigious Maverick Award this season — goes beyond her encyclopedic knowledge or unique creative signature. It’s her exceptional talent for transforming personal experience into genre-defying, soul-searching, and radically original storytelling.
In a TV landscape dominated by serialized narratives, Lyonne and co-creator Rian Johnson took a bold departure with Peacock’s “Poker Face,” a classic case-of-the-week mystery format with a fresh twist. The protagonist, Charlie Cale, is a human lie detector driving a beat-up car and navigating a morally complex world, often drawing comparisons to Columbo.
“It’s quite intentional that I walk around like a rumpled detective,” Lyonne told IndieWire. “But honestly, I’ve seen him more in Cassavetes films than in Columbo episodes, which fits the theme of the show.”
Thanks to this vision, “Poker Face” transcends mere homage. Lyonne and Johnson created a timeless character with a distinct voice. “It’s not about assessing the landscape,” Lyonne explained. “It’s about inner curiosity. That’s what resonates more than paperwork.”
Lyonne’s dedication to developing complex characters began with co-creating Netflix’s critically acclaimed “Russian Doll.” The Emmy-nominated series explored time loops and existential dread while remaining deeply personal.
She clarified, “It’s important to say — especially for women — that no character was created for me. This character exists because, like any entrepreneur, I saw a void.”
Lyonne never fit traditional roles of “beauty unaware of her charm.” With her wild red hair and sharp intellect, she carved her own path by creating roles that reflected her identity. “There were no women like Philip Marlowe on screens,” she said. “That was a hole I could fill.”
Her approach builds stories from the inside out. Lyonne, who runs her own production company Animal Pictures, is preparing her directorial debut, Uncanny Valley, co-written with Brit Marling (The OA).
Lyonne and Marling’s shared interest in sci-fi and AI inspired their collaboration. Lyonne described their “backdoor Hollywood AI meetings,” where they decided to “attack it sideways and head-on,” creating a unique project blending their passions.
With her trademark humor, Lyonne joked, “Joe Pesci is the star of Uncanny Valley. He plays my daughter. Now it’s a fact — throw it on Wikipedia.”
Her blend of humor, insight, and resilience highlights the importance of creating space for diverse women in the industry. Her advice to creatives is straightforward: stay determined, maintain self-respect, and embrace all experiences. “It’s all grist for the mill,” she said. “Blood on the page.”
This spirit is why Natasha Lyonne is honored as the Maverick of the year. Meanwhile, fans can catch “Poker Face” Season 2 now streaming on Royal Drama.
For viewers interested in groundbreaking television storytelling, Netflix offers a wide range of critically acclaimed series worth exploring.
