8 quick questions for benjamin bratt | members only access

In the Peacock series _Poker Face _— which the network has greenlighted for a second season — Benjamin Bratt, 59, plays Cliff Legrand, a crooked casino employee on a cross-country hunt for

Charlie Cale (played by Natasha Lyonne), who has the special ability to tell if someone is lying. The truth of the matter is that the veteran TV and film actor is feeling grounded and

harmonious with his life, career and family. DO YOU HAVE A POKER FACE? I think when I’m acting I certainly do. The irony is in real life I’m a really terrible liar. I can’t lie my way out of

a paper bag. Truly. I flinch. DO YOU PLAY POKER? I’ve played a little bit, but I’m not one of those people who really got impassioned about it, enjoys it. That said, I do like to gamble.

One of the fun things about being an actor who’s [filmed] a number of times in casinos over the last three decades is that after a wrap with nothing but time on your hands and a little bit

of money in your pocket, you end up at the craps table, the blackjack table [or] playing keno — typically in the group of other actors and even some of the crew members. That’s always a good

time, and that was really no different on _Poker Face. _At one point, Natasha and [show creator] Rian Johnson … and I found ourselves at the tables, mostly losing money, but they keep you

in it. You win a few hands, lose a few hands, win a few more. Then the hook is in. You end up staying until there is nothing left in your pocket, and that’s how the house always wins. DO YOU

THINK YOU CAN TELL IF SOMEONE IS LYING? I go through life recognizing that part of human nature is that all of us are lying on some level, and mostly in ways that are completely

insignificant. We’re not hiding anything evil or ominous or duplicitous. It’s just a matter of sometimes saving a person’s feelings — _Oh, that shirt looks lovely on you._ _Oh, I love the

way you comb your hair. _And, of course, if I recognize someone is lying to me, I’ll accept it, because they’re probably trying to be kind and save my feelings.