On the Red Carpet with: The cast of Knives Out 2
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story is one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year, and Sunday night saw London roll out the red carpet as the premiere closed out BFI’s London Film Festival. And amongst all the glitz and glamour, there was The Black Project, talking party games, favourite on set memories, and hypothetical murder with the stars.
Image Credit: Getty Images
The first outing of Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc was in 2019, and it was both a critical and box office success. So much so that Netflix paid $469 million for the rights to two sequels - both written and directed by Rian Johnson. So it had to be asked - how do you even begin to approach that follow up?
Rian Johnson on the Glass Onion red carpet. Image Credit: Brianna O'Reilly
“You sit down and you kinda go like this,” (dear reader, at this point Rian made a noise I can only describe as ?????) “and then your heart races, and then you just get to work.” He went on to say that when they were making the first one, he and Daniel had said if that one went well, it would be fun to continue making these films.
“I also knew with this one that I wanted it to be very different from the first one. I wanted to tell audiences right of the bat, these are all going to be their own deal. So it’s like okay, instead of New England let’s set it on this Greek Island, and let’s have it be this whole separate thing. Once you have that starting point, you can just start working on it and the pressure kind of goes away.”
And how did they unwind from a long day shooting a murder mystery? On a hotel rooftop playing a murder mystery of course.
“We’d get together on our hotel rooftop, we’d get very drunk on the weekends, and we’d play Mafia. I think it’s sometimes called Werewolves. It was insane, Janelle would show up in full costume, dressed as a detective, like with a full moustache and a pipe. I have no idea where she got it she must just bring costumes wherever she goes. But she’d stay in character all night, it was amazing. So that’s probably my new favourite party game.” And Rian isn’t alone in that.
Leslie Odom Jr in Prada on the Glass Onion red carpet. Image Credit: Getty Images
Leslie Odom Jr, who plays Lionel Toussaint, also spoke of games nights hosted by Kate Hudson, games nights that have become infamous across this press tour. “Everything you’ve heard about them is true. But yes Mafia is my favourite party game.”
Team bonding via the medium of party games may be the way forward, because when asked his favourite memory from shooting, Leslie chuckled before answering, “When you see this film, you see there’s quite a lot of ensemble scenes, these big scenes. Which meant we were together in that room, in that house, for weeks. And it got a little - you start to lose track of day and night in there because it’s artificial day and night in that room. So it got a little loopy, and a little whacky. And I cherish those memories, it was a lot of fun, those very sleepy laughs that we had.”
Edward Norton does press on the red carpet of Glass Onion. Image Credit: Getty Images
The big news of the night is of course, that Edward Norton, who plays Miles Bron, loves my hair. And like Leslie, he also loves his ensemble cast, they were his favourite memory from set. “This gang of people, the camaraderie of this group, it was exceptionally fun.”
Jessica Henwick, who plays Peg, stunned on the red carpet in Versace Italia, and she also spoke highly of this cast, but especially her offset days with Madelyn Cline. “Maddie and I would drive around Greece in my tiny car with no AC, and no street lights at night, and almost died several times. I don’t know why I’m listing this as my favourite memory, but it is!”
Kate Hudson stuns on the Glass Onion red carpet in Yves Saint Laurent. Image Credit: Brianna O'Reilly
The big question of the night though? If you found yourself in a real life murder mystery, who in the cast is helping you hide the body, and who is the detective that figures you out straight away? And let’s take a moment to applaud Kate Hudson and her games night skills, because Janelle, Jessica, Leslie, and Edward all agree: She’s too good at Mafia, she would know they were guilty almost instantly. Rian Johnson disagrees though, he says Janelle in full detective get up is figuring him out straight away.
But who is hiding the body? Leslie and Edward go very practical. “(Dave) Bautista, just for the sheer lifting strength alone.” Rian says he’s phoning Jess Henwick for help because “She’s wily, she’s a devious mind! And she’s also a filmmaker, she directs her own movies, so I think her and I could plan it well.” Jessica doubles down on Maddie being her ride or die, and says that’s who would help her hide the body. Janelle says she’s going straight to Edward Norton - but makes it very clear “But I would never do that, only in the movies!” No one gave Daniel Craig this memo though because he doesn’t even hesitate before saying “Janelle!”
Janelle Monáe steals the show in CSiriano. Image Credit: Brianna O'Reilly
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story is out in cinemas for one week only from November 23rd - November 29th. Then you can catch it as many times as you like when it drops on Netflix, December 23rd.