Laughlin stars in Poker Face, writer-director Rian Johnson’s premier new drama (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery).
It is not mentioned by name. In fact, Poker Face does everything it can to camouflage its surroundings. But the city serves as both inspiration and location for exterior shots for cocktail waitress Charlie Cale’s (Natasha Lyonne) home.
Charlie has a gift: she can tell when someone is lying. It served her well in poker rooms across the country for a while. However, Charlie was eventually found out and blacked out, resulting in her living in a rusty trailer in the desert and slinging drinks at the Frost Casino.
While the casino’s interiors were filmed on sets being built in upstate New York, Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort provided the casino’s exteriors. The rooftop sign was replaced in post-production—just like how the palazzo became a palm tree in HBO Max’s Emmy-winning “Hacks,” or how the downtown plaza became Biff’s fun paradise in “Back to the Future Part II.”
After filming the remainder of the 10-episode series, the cast and crew met in Laughlin, Johnson confirmed in a Twitter post, to film in the city. Traffic on the Laughlin Bridge was restricted to one lane for eight hours on Sept. 19, according to a tweet from the Bullhead City, Arizona Police Department, which made no mention of the shooting.
We shot our location shots at the very end of our schedule, almost 6 months later, in Laughlin, Nevada. It was hot. pic.twitter.com/kY6KPEeMCD
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) January 26, 2023
In the world of Poker Face, Frost Casino is not located in Clark County. Instead, it’s located in Frost County, named after the casino’s founder, Sterling Frost Sr. (Ron Perlman). But there’s a distinct Southern Nevada twist: Incoming phone calls contain the 702 area code before the fake “555” area code.
Considering the events of the “Poker Face” pilot, which is part of a four-part debut on January 26 about Peacock, Laughlin and his fictional counterpart, not much, if any, screen time is likely to progress. (New episodes premiere every Thursday.)
But given the critical reactions to its debut, Poker Face is already more successful than the last TV series with prominent Laughlin connections.
“Viva Laughlin,” a musical mystery manager produced by Hugh Jackman, was canceled by CBS in 2007 after just two episodes.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at [email protected] or 702-380-4567. consequences @life_onthecouch on twitter.