Hugh Grant discusses his unexpected cameo in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery as Benoit Blanc’s husband and what persuaded him to take part in Rian Johnson’s Netflix mystery sequel. In the follow-up to 2019’s Knives Out, Grant played with Daniel Craig, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Janelle Monáe, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, and Kate Hudson. In Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Benoit Blanc is asked to stay with Miles Bron, the rich inner circle of Norton’s tech millionaire Miles Bron, on his private island in Greece when a game centered on his fake murder becomes deadly as old feuds are revealed.
Grant revealed his unexpected cameo as Phillip, Benoit Blanc’s husband, in sequences showing the pair at home during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic during an interview with Collider where he was talking about his part in the upcoming fantasy film Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. The actor had a fleeting appearance in Glass Onion, but Grant said he joined the project because he liked the first movie. See Grant’s complete statement below:
“It’s the tiniest little moment. I don’t really know why they wanted to do it but anyway, I thought Knives Out 1 was brilliant, and so yeah, I thought why not? I turn up for a few hours…”
How Glass Onion’s References and Cameos Help in Expanding the Knife World
There are several notable cameos in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, including cameos from Noah Segan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who work with Johnson frequently, and other well-known actors who play friends of Blanc’s. Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the late Angela Lansbury may be seen playing Among Us with Blanc in the detective’s opening scene. They express their worries for the detective while in isolation during lockdown after Phillip got in touch with them. While Knives Out established Blanc as a much-discussed and widely known detective by various Thromby family members, Glass Onion helped further establish his celebrity status by highlighting his status as a detective around the world by showcasing a number of famous faces he had become acquainted with.
However, Norton’s Miles Bron frequently mentions real-world celebrities outside his inner circle, including actors Jared Leto and Jeremy Renner, singer Paul McCartney, and composer Philip Glass. Blanc is not the only member of Glass Onion’s cast of characters who have crossed paths with real-world celebrities. References to Renner’s unique spicy sauce and Leto’s kombucha being given to Bron in the hopes of getting a promotion assist illustrate Bron’s actual nature underneath his friendlier façade in addition to establishing his own tech-billionaire status. His interactions with these real-world personalities appear to be more motivated by economic prospects or clout than by true friendship, similar to how Bron leverages his status, fortune, and influence through relationships with his inner circle to benefit himself.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery develops the persona of Benoit Blanc and aids in firmly establishing his position in society through the use of well-known actors in unexpected roles and an abundance of callbacks to well-known celebrities and influencers. As a result, Grant’s casting as Phillip helped shed light on a character whose life, despite making two appearances, is still mostly a mystery. Grant’s unexpected cameo in the subsequent chapter of Johnson’s acclaimed sleuth’s narrative is only one of many noteworthy events, even though the actor was only seen for a brief sequence to answer a door.