Hugh Grant has opened up about his queer role in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
On 23 December, the highly anticipated sequel to 2019’s Knives Out was released globally on Netflix after a brief run in cinemas.
The film, which Rian Johnson directs, sees the return of private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he attends a luxurious “murder mystery party” thrown by tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton).
However, the innocent weekend takes a drastic turn when someone actually dies, leading the remaining guests down a mysterious, shocking, and twist-filled journey.
Before Glass Onion’s release, Johnson confirmed that Craig’s character was canonically queer before adding that the new feature would introduce Benoit’s love interest.
“There’s nobody in the world I can imagine in bringing me more joy for Benoit Blanc to be with,” he said at the London Film Festival.
Craig, who was also at the press conference, echoed similar sentiments stating: “No spoilers [but] who wouldn’t want to live with that person?”
Following the film’s release, Grant was revealed as the mysterious actor behind Benoit’s loving partner, Phillip.
In a recent interview with Collider, the Love Actually star gave further insight into the exact status of Benoit and Phillip’s relationship.
“It is true, I’m married to James Bond. 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,” he told the news outlet.
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While Grant’s cameo was short and he and Craig had no shared screen time, it was a hit among viewers – with many praising Johnson for selecting the Two Weeks Notice star for the role.
One fan tweeted: “Rian Johnson knew he won when he cast Hugh Grant as Benoit Blanc’s partner in Glass Onion.”
Another viewer wrote: “I respect Rian Johnson so much for getting Hugh Grant for Glass Onion just to have him in one (1) scene to make it clearer that blanc is not only a detective, but a gay detective.”
Grant’s interview comes a few weeks after Johnson explained why Phillip and Benoit had only one scene in the critically acclaimed film.
“Having Blanc be gay and have a partner just felt like a very natural thing coming out of the first movie,” the acclaimed director explained to Screen Rant in December.
“It certainly wasn’t meant to skirt anything, but it wasn’t driven by COVID in particular. It was just kind of the way the scene was written. It’s the delight of connecting up that moment, when you come back to it halfway, with the moment from the beginning was kind of the idea of it.”
Here’s to hoping that Benoit and Phillip’s relationship will be explored further in the already confirmed third Knives Out film.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now available to stream on Netflix.
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