After a couple of weeks for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery's run on Netflix, Knives Out sequel star Daniel Craig finally shared his reaction to the reveal that his character is married to Hugh Grant.
Two movies in, Rian Johnson's murder-mystery franchise is a certified hit. After the success of the first film, Knives Out, Netflix stepped in and offered the director $450 million for two sequels to his 2019 film.
Glass Onion, the first of these follow-ups, debuted on the streaming service over Christmas, bringing with it another mystery for Daniel Craig's eccentric detective, Benoit Blanc, to decipher.
Along with Craig, the Knives Out sequel featured a number of big names both starring and in cameo form.
One of these cameos came in the form of Benoit Blanc's gay partner, who was played by Hugh Grant.
Benoit Blanc Addresses his Marriage Reveal
After the reveal of Benoit Blanc's gay partner, played by Hugh Grant, in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the actor behind Blanc (Daniel Craig) shared his reaction.
Speaking with W Magazine, Craig joked "Who else could it be?," remarking that his Knives Out character "has excellent taste" in terms of love interests:
"Who else could it be? Benoit has excellent taste! But even though we’ve now seen a bit of his home life, I do hope that Benoit remains something of a mystery. I like that he arrives from some glamorous place and then disappears to another glamorous place, only to reappear again. He has a dream life.”
When asked if the longtime James Bond actor knew there would be a sequel to Knives Out, he lamented that it wasn't "until the film came out and was successful" that it became clear a sequel was possible:
"Not until the film came out and was successful. You can fantasize about returning with this fantastic character, but one never knows what will happen, and that keeps you humble. Also, I avoid all reviews, so I didn’t know for a while that Knives Out was well received."
The actor broke down what went into creating the character of Benoit Blanc as well, he said it was "a combination of Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief and Jacques Tati in Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday:"
"I wanted him to be a combination of Cary Grant in 'To Catch a Thief' and Jacques Tati in 'Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday' with a dash of my superbly dressed agent, Bryan Lourd. Most important, no matter how outlandish the outfit, I wanted to make the clothes feel organic. I recall that for Goldfinger, the director, Guy Hamilton, told Sean Connery that he should go home and sleep in the gray suit that he wears in the film. He wanted Connery, as James Bond, to have the kind of natural elegance that comes from living in the clothes."
And as for the character signature accents, Craig called out playwright "Tennessee Williams" as inspiration before combining it with the "authoritative tone" of "historian Shelby Foote:"
"I started with Tennessee Williams. He had a bit of a dandy’s approach to speech. And then combined it with the historian Shelby Foote, who has an authoritative tone to his voice. Benoit has a certain use of words that mirrors both those men—fancy, but still down to earth."
Blanc's sexual identity has been a subject of conversation for even before Glass Onion's debut. Director Rian Johnson spoke with NME about Craig's character's queerness, answering "Yes, he obviously is" when asked if the detective was queer.
When prodded on if the character's sexuality was something that was decided on his inception or if it came later, the director said "it was something that seemed right:"
“It was something that seemed right. You know; look who he lives with – who wouldn’t want to live with that person?”
Benoit Blanc and Hugh Grant are a Perfect Match
It is funny to say but, Craig is right, Blanc and Grant are a perfect match. Of course, there was no one else that could keep up with Craig's PI than the iconic British movie star.
It was a fun surprise when it happened within Glass Onion, and it will continue to be fun as the franchise moves forward.
It has already been noted that Blanc's sexuality will play a part in Knives Out 3. This likely means thatGrant will be back for the threequel, as the mystery could even come close to home next time with Grant's character being a victim or suspect in the next film's case.
Johnson recently told Netflix's TUDUM blog that he "should only be so lucky" to get an actor like Hugh Grant back for a sequel.
But in the same breath, the director commented that the Knives Out franchise protagonist is not the center of the series, "it's not about diving into who he is or where he comes from," it's ultimately about the mystery. And if Grant or Blanc's romantic interests don't play into that, then it will not happen.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is available to stream now on Netflix.
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