In 2019, writer and director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out spun a modern flair on the classic whodunit with an ensemble cast of stars, including Daniel Craig as the distinguished southern Detective Benoit Blanc. Now, Johnson returns to the universe that earned the filmmaker an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, introducing a whole new stacked cast of suspects when tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites his wealthy friends to his Greek island for a puzzling competition.

Blanc is back, and when someone on the island winds up truly dead the New Money crew are forced to forfeit their fun. Alongside Craig and Norton, Glass Onion features Kate Hudson as influencer Birdie Jay, Kathryn Hahn as politician Claire Debella, Dave Bautista as Twitch streamer Duke Cody, Leslie Odom Jr. as the engineer Lionel Toussaint, and Janelle Monáe as Bron’s former business partner Andi Brand. Also attending the revelry are Madelyn Cline as Whiskey, Duke Cody’s girlfriend, and Jessica Henwick as Peg, Birdie’s devoted assistant.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY
Ahead of Glass Onion’s Netflix release, Collider’s Steve Weintraub sat down with Cline and Henwick. During their interview, they discuss Johnson’s directing style, who on set cracked them up the most, what it was like watching the movie with an audience for the first time at TIFF, and who was the most excited they’d joined a Knives Out sequel. You can watch the interview in the video above, or read the full transcript below.

COLLIDER: I’m going to start with congratulations.

MADELYN CLINE: Thank you.

JESSICA HENWICK: Thank you.

Image via Netflix

Movie’s fantastic. When Rian [Johnson] first told you about the movie and there was interest, however it happened, how much did he actually tell you the story and what would be happening? And how much did he say, “Please read the script and let me know what you think.”

HENWICK: He just sent the scripts.

CLINE: Yeah.

HENWICK: There wasn’t really any note for me.

CLINE: No. I just got a script, and I was given two days to read it, and a Zoom with Rian, and that was pretty much it. Well, along with an NDA.

Is this the quickest you’ve said yes to something?

CLINE: Yes.

HENWICK: Yeah, I think so. I think it was, yes. That was the fastest.

The movie’s fantastic and it’s also very funny. When you were reading the script, did you realize how funny it was going to be, or was it the first time you saw it with an audience?

HENWICK: I think I realized how funny it was going to be on set. As soon as Kathryn [Hahn], anytime, Kathryn opens her mouth, you realize, “Oh, she’s going to be hilarious.” And same with Kate [Hudson]. Like everyone, everyone’s hilarious. Yeah. Yeah. (To Madelyn Cline) You have a lot of nice one-liners, little zingers.

CLINE: Little, tiny baby ones. Yeah, no, I agree. I think it was definitely when we got onto set, because the script was already hilarious, but everyone on this cast just stepped into every character’s shoes so well, and was just so entertaining. I think. Yeah, I think it was in watching everybody’s performances.

When you’re looking at the schedule, and you see all your scenes that you have to do, which was the day that you had circled as, “I cannot wait to film the sequence.”

HENWICK: I have a scene with Kate, which didn’t make the cut. I’m not allowed to talk about it. Rian told me I’m not allowed to talk about it. I don’t know why I just brought it up. So, ignoring that scene, my audition scene with Kate is the scene in the bedroom. Again, hard to discuss without giving spoilers, but it was so much fun in my audition. I was excited to see how she did it, and she’s so good.

CLINE: I have one but I’m not going– It’s a spoiler. Which–

HENWICK: Which one is it? (Cline whispers to Henwick) No. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah.

Image via Netflix

Everyone watching this is like, “what are they saying?

HENWICK: What is this interview.

Who can read lips? Put this together. So something you can talk about is the fact that you never know, when you’re making a movie, how it’s really going to turn out. You can have a great script and it’s not good, but this did so well at [Toronoto International Film Festival], it almost won the audience award and everyone loves it. What does it mean to be part of a film that is everyone is just so enjoying?

CLINE: It’s exciting. It’s really, really exciting. I mean, watching it in Toronto was exhilarating, to have that first watch-through with an audience, and have that shared experience in the theater. It is really special.

HENWICK: It’s nice to be something that, part of something that’s so cinematic and just fun. And it kind of reminded me of when I went to the cinema to see Top Gun: Maverick. Everyone was just in commitment.

CLINE: Commitment.

HENWICK: Commitment. That’s what I felt like in Toronto. Everyone was just along for the ride.

CLINE: Yeah.

I am a big fan of Rian’s work, and I’m a big fan of his direction with all of his movies. Can you talk a little bit about what he’s actually like on set? When you haven’t done exactly what he wants is he coming over, and is it a few words? How does he like to direct onset?

HENWICK: He’s an actor’s director.

CLINE: Yeah.

HENWICK: His notes are very concise and small, and a lot of the time the note is just, “Have more fun with it,” or, “Have less fun with it.”

CLINE: Or, “More, bigger, more, more, more.” I think he’s really in tune to how his actors are feeling. A couple [of] times he’s like, “Let’s take a walk.” And we would just talk. We would just talk about it.

HENWICK: That’s nice. I love Rian.

CLINE: He would break down what specifically he was looking for in certain moments, but other times he just let us play.

Image via Netflix

Last thing for you, which of your friends and family were the most excited that you got cast in Glass Onion?

CLINE: My dad.

HENWICK: Aww.

CLINE: My dad. He’s also, he’s a very stoic person, so when he shows emotion or when he even just a little bit raises his voice– I called him to tell him, and he was just so giddy. It was very sweet.

HENWICK: Oh, I think my dad, as well. My dad loves murder mysteries, trying to figure something out alongside the audience. And same, he’s very stoic, but he was probably the most excited out of my family.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is in theaters now, and will be available to stream on Netflix beginning December 23. For more on Glass Onion, here’s our interview with Daniel Craig and Rian Johnson: