Meet Chris Cortez — the Hot Mountain Man from 'Poker Face'
On the most recent episode of "Poker Face," Natasha Lyonne's Charlie found herself in a whirlwind romance with a mountain man, played by actor/stunt man Chris Cortez. And who can blame her?
Charlie has had little time for romance on Season 1 of murder-of-the-week comedy thriller. Running from Las Vegas kingpin (Ron Perlman) and his henchman (Benjamin Bratt), she has found herself moving around the country taking odd jobs to survive during the first nine episode. Given that the series, developed by "Glass Onion" director Rian Johnson, is meant to evoke "Columbo," Lyonne also solves a murder in each episode. Her technique comes from her innate bullshit detector — she can tell when someone is lying.
But on the most recent episode, called "Escape from Shit Romance," she is given a romantic idyll. It begins somewhere in the Rocky Mountains with her lost; that is until a dazzlingly handsome, bearded mountain man helps her out. Hi name is Luke (Chris Cortez) and he looks nothing short of the Brawny Man. At first she's wary when he comes on to her with a promise to show her something at a second location, but once he takes his shirt off and reveals his buff physique, Charlie reneges on her rule of never following a man to second location. That turns out to be a lake with what he calls his "magic mountain" in the background. Instantly they become a couple.
"What transpires next is a montage featuring Charlie and Luke as they spend time near a shimmering lake nestled in between the mountains," writes the website Geek Girl Authority. "They make love, go fishing, cuddle by a campfire, and jam on the guitar. An enamored Charlie shouts her love for 'magic mountain' for all the woodland creatures to hear. Unfortunately, the fleeting romance passes, and it's now February on 'shit mountain.'"
How the romance fizzles is never explained, but given Charlie's need to be under-the-radar, it could be because of her need to always on the move. Or perhaps Luke wasn't quite the dream relationship he initially appears to promise. Whatever the reason, Luke does not return to the episode; but certainly gave it eye candy.
Nor is there much known about Cortez. His IMDb profile offers no biographical information. His credits indicate he's a stuntman who has appeared in films ("Black Panther: Wakanda Forever") and television ("The Cleaning Lady," where he appeared in 8 episodes during its first season; "American Horror Stories," and "Welcome to Chippendales").
On his Instagram profile, he writes cryptically: "I'm not completely unbearable to work with." At this moment, the accomplished gymnast (see videos below) has some 3,000+ followers. No doubt his "Poker Face" appearance will increase that number exponentially.