Glass Onion’sRian Johnsonwrote the script forKnives Outwithout ever envisioningDaniel Craigin the role of Benoit Blanc. While it seems impossible to imagine anyone else filling the eccentric detective’s shoes, Johnson recently revealed that when he started writing the character he was just throwing together various clichés and quirky ideas which all became a bit much, leading to him trimming down the character until he ended up with something that could then be shaped by whichever actor took on the role.
While speaking toQueue, Johnson detailed how he went about developing Blanc to a point before taking away everything other than his purpose to the story. Responding to whether he had a clear vision for who would be playing the character, Johnson said:
“Oh God, no. I wrote the character in a vacuum. Basically, when I started writing the Benoit Blanc character, I screwed myself up because I started thinking that I wanted to create a Poirot or a Sherlock Holmes, so I started loading him up with all these quirks, and he just became ridiculous. Finally, I said, I’m not going to try and create a character on the page beyond what his actions are in the mystery. So the only thing I gave him was, I think I called it a “light Southern drawl.” Then I just wrote to his function in the story, and thought, When I find whoever’s going to play this, then we’ll work together and we’ll create the character. It wasn’t like we changed the dialogue or changed the script or anything — just Daniel inhabiting that role and bringing his vibe to it instantly brought it to life. No eye patch required, thank God.”
Related:Netflix Boss Says Glass Onion’s Theatrical Release Is Just a Promotional Tool
Glass Onion Revealed Benoit Blanc to be Gay
Knives Outleft much about Benoit Blanc a mystery, but, appropriately,Glass Onionhas allowed Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig to peel back the layers of the character. That included the reveal that he lives with another man, who turned out to be played byHugh Grant in a cameo appearance, and opened up a number of new questions about Blanc.
Very early on in promotion for the movie, Craig made it clear that he didn’t want the character’s sexuality to become a “thing” that audiences focussed on. At the time he said:
“The less of a song and dance we make about that, the better, really, for me, because it just made sense. And also, as I said at the [London Film Festival], who wouldn’t want to live with the human being he happens to live with? It’s nice, it’s fun. And why shouldn’t it be? I don’t want people to get politically hung up on anything.”
It seems that Craig was granted his wish as the queerness of Blanc has in no way been taken for more than it is, and the quality ofGlass Onionas a movie has made sure that the focus has remained on the story and the ensemble cast and guaranteed that the movie is a success. Where Blanc’s next case takes him is something that is also currently shrouded in mystery, but Johnson has already started working on the script forKnives Out 3and we should hopefully see the final product sometime in late 2024.
