Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Cast (2022)
Netflix | Mystery / Comedy | 139 minutes | Directed by Rian Johnson
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) is the second standalone film in Rian Johnson's Benoit Blanc mystery series. Tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his inner circle of "Disruptors" — powerful figures from politics, fashion, science, and entertainment — to a murder mystery party on his private island off the coast of Greece. When an actual murder occurs, Benoit Blanc, who received a puzzle-box invitation he was never supposed to receive, is on hand to investigate. The film arrived on Netflix on December 23, 2022 following a brief theatrical run, and broke the platform's record with over 82 million viewing hours in its first week of streaming.
The Glass Onion cast represents a second act of brilliant ensemble engineering by Rian Johnson, this time focused on the world of tech-era billionaires and their satellites. Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc, now more assured and settled into his persona, and faces a mystery more layered and satirically pointed than the first film's. Edward Norton was cast as Miles Bron — an Elon Musk-adjacent tech visionary — and brings the role a specific kind of confidence-as-camouflage that only a performer of Norton's caliber could sustain through the film's final revelations. Janelle Monáe carries the film's most demanding structural challenge: playing two related characters across the same narrative, one of whom is central to every aspect of the mystery. Kate Hudson committed fully to the comedic grotesquerie of fashion influencer Birdie Jay, while Dave Bautista's casting as a men's rights gun influencer called Duke subverted his image as effectively as Chris Evans' Ransom Drysdale did in the first film. Jessica Henwick, as Birdie's long-suffering assistant Peg, became an immediate fan favorite for her reaction-shot work.
Main Cast
Daniel Craig
Benoit Blanc
The celebrated detective who arrives at Miles Bron's murder mystery party uninvited — through a puzzle box he was sent by someone who wanted him there for reasons that only become clear later; Blanc's deductive patience and flamboyant commentary are even more pronounced in this second outing.
Edward Norton
Miles Bron
A spectacularly wealthy tech entrepreneur who built his empire on the ideas of others; the host of the island party, Bron is ostentatiously generous, intellectually posturing, and deeply insecure beneath an impenetrable veneer of disruptive genius.
Janelle Monáe
Andi Brand / Helen Brand
In a dual performance of remarkable precision, Monáe plays both Andi Brand — Miles's estranged co-founder who was pushed out of their company — and Andi's twin sister Helen, who has infiltrated the party under Andi's identity to uncover the truth about what happened to her sister.
Kathryn Hahn
Claire Debella
A state governor with senatorial ambitions who is wholly financially dependent on Miles Bron's continued support; Claire's political career hangs in the balance of the weekend's events, giving her both motive and stakes.
Leslie Odom Jr.
Lionel Toussaint
Miles's chief scientist who oversees the development of Miles's risky new energy technology; Lionel is a man of genuine ability trapped in a position of ethical compromise, and Odom brings considerable dignity to a character caught between integrity and obligation.
Kate Hudson
Birdie Jay
A fashion influencer and model whose career has been repeatedly derailed by impulsive social media posts she doesn't fully understand the implications of; Birdie is obliviously entitled, and Hudson plays her with precise, fearless comedic commitment.
Dave Bautista
Duke Cody
A men's rights advocate and online gun influencer who leverages his relationship with Miles for streaming platform access; Duke's physical presence and simmering grievances make him an imposing and unpredictable element within the group.
Jessica Henwick
Peg
Birdie Jay's perpetually exasperated personal assistant who spends the entire film trying to prevent the next social media disaster; Henwick's reactive performance provides some of the film's most economical and effective comedy.
Madelyn Cline
Whiskey
Duke Cody's much younger girlfriend, who attends the island weekend and proves to be a more complex and ambitious figure than her initial presentation suggests; Cline plays the role with a controlled opacity that rewards close watching.
Supporting & Recurring Cast
| Actor | Character | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noah Segan | Benoit Blanc's Friend | Appears in the opening pandemic sequence alongside Blanc; Segan is a regular Rian Johnson collaborator | Film |
| Ethan Hawke | Cameo | Appears briefly in the film's opening section during the pandemic lockdown; one of several cameos from recognizable faces | Cameo |
| Hugh Grant | Cameo | Appears in the film's opening pandemic sequence alongside Daniel Craig; one of several notable cameos | Cameo |
| Angela Lansbury | Cameo | Appeared in what would be one of her final screen appearances, as part of the lockdown sequence playing a puzzle game | Cameo |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | Cameo | One of the notable celebrity cameos appearing in the opening lockdown sequence with Benoit Blanc | Cameo |
| Stephen Sondheim | Cameo | The late composer appears as himself in the lockdown sequence; one of his final screen appearances before his death in November 2021 | Cameo |
Creators & Production
Rian Johnson
Writer and Director — Johnson set out to make the second Blanc mystery a deliberate expansion in scale and setting, moving from a New England mansion to a Mediterranean island while maintaining the franchise's commitment to a fresh mystery with no narrative connections to the first film.
Ram Bergman
Producer — continued as Johnson's producing partner for the sequel, overseeing production in Greece and the United States; the deal with Netflix for two films was announced in March 2021.
Nathan Johnson
Composer — returned to score the sequel with a larger, sun-drenched sound palette that reflected the Mediterranean setting while retaining the playful mystery atmosphere of the first film's score.
Steve Yedlin
Cinematographer — Johnson's longtime collaborator returned to shoot the sequel, embracing the warmer light and more saturated colors of the Greek island setting, creating a visual tone markedly different from the autumnal New England palette of Knives Out.
Rick Heinrichs
Production Designer — designed the Glass Onion estate, which had to serve as both a monument to wealth-as-art and a practical mystery environment; the estate was shot on location in Greece and on production sets in the United Kingdom.
About the Glass Onion Cast
The casting of Glass Onion was guided by Rian Johnson's desire to populate the film with performers who could embody the specific absurdity of tech-era celebrity wealth. Edward Norton — whose career has included turns as a fighter with a secret identity, a neo-Nazi skinhead, and a vigilante billionaire — was ideally equipped to play Miles Bron's combination of performative vulnerability and ruthless self-advancement. Janelle Monáe, a multi-disciplinary artist known for concept albums and performances that explore identity and duality, was a natural choice for the film's most structurally complex role: two sisters, one of whom must convincingly pass as the other for the film's entire second act. The casting of Monáe reinforced Johnson's commitment to casting performers whose existing cultural personas add texture to their characters without overwhelming them.
Kate Hudson had not taken a role of this comic ambition in years, and her performance as Birdie Jay was celebrated as a reminder of her considerable gifts as a comedic actress. Dave Bautista, who had demonstrated his ability to transcend action-star expectations in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, brought a surprising sensitivity to Duke alongside the character's more outwardly ridiculous qualities. Jessica Henwick, coming off prominent roles in Game of Thrones and The Matrix Resurrections, demonstrated in Peg a gift for reaction comedy that is among the most difficult screen skills to execute consistently. The film was shot primarily in Greece and at Pinewood Studios in the UK, with the Glass Onion estate exterior location providing one of the most visually distinctive settings in the franchise's short history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who stars in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery?
Glass Onion stars Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc alongside an entirely new ensemble: Edward Norton as tech billionaire Miles Bron, Janelle Monáe in a dual role as Andi and Helen Brand, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, and Madelyn Cline.
Who plays Miles Bron in Glass Onion?
Miles Bron is played by Edward Norton. Bron is a tech billionaire who invites his circle of so-called "Disruptors" to a murder mystery party on his private Greek island — an invitation that Benoit Blanc receives despite Bron never having sent it to him.
Who directed Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery?
Glass Onion was written and directed by Rian Johnson, who also created the original Knives Out (2019). Johnson has confirmed that the Benoit Blanc mystery series will continue with additional standalone films.
When was Glass Onion released?
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery had a limited theatrical run in late November 2022 before arriving on Netflix on December 23, 2022. It set a Netflix record by accumulating over 82 million viewing hours in its first week on the platform.
Is Glass Onion a direct sequel to Knives Out?
Glass Onion is a standalone sequel — it features the same detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), but an entirely different cast of characters and a completely new mystery. No prior knowledge of Knives Out (2019) is required to follow the film, though fans of the first will recognize Blanc's signature methods.
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