Edward Norton on why filming Knives Out sequel Glass Onion was ‘like adult summer camp’

The all-star cast of Glass Onion, the sequel to the 2019 whodunnit film Knives Out, hit the red carpet in London on Sunday night (Monday morning AEDT).

Daniel Craig returns as the world-famous detective Benoit Blanc with an entirely new ensemble cast to unravel another murder mystery as a group of friends gather on a remote island.

Edward Norton tells 9Honey Celebrity filming the movie in Greece during the pandemic had a silver lining of bringing the cast together to play crime solving games off-screen.

Watch the video above

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“It was such a big group and the whole process was like adult summer camp, it really was,” he says on the red carpet at the Closing Gala of the London Film Festival.

“Like about as much fun as you can have making a film… It was COVID lockdown so we weren’t allowed to go out on the weekends, so pretty much we all hung together in one bar and played mafia.”

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For actress and singer Janelle Monae, she was surprised to find the the actor playing Blanc wasn’t as good at solving crimes as his on-screen persona.

“Daniel Craig is not actually good at playing murder mystery games,” she said of filming.

“He’s exceptional in the film, but he’s always like, ‘Oh, what is this? I can’t do it’. So that was fun watching one of the greatest detectives on-screen be like ‘what is this Werewolf game?’

“We had so much fun outside of filming – the director Rian Johnson, who I am so thankful entrusted me with this role, would invite us on the weekends to do these murder mystery parties and do karaoke.

“I would dress up, I remember having like a pipe and a moustache and in full character, so I think it was the bonding actually that happened in Greece that I hold dearly to my heart. I feel like I gained a family.”

Although, Oscar-nominated actor Leslie Odom Jr wasn’t willing to spill too many details about the shoot.

“Yeah, well, some stuff’s got to stay in Greece,” he tells 9Honey Celebrity with a laugh.

“We just really enjoyed each other so much and I think… we were all so grateful to be back to work to be working overseas with each other. So there was a real palpable sense of gratitude and joy that I hoped showed up on screen.”

For actress Kathryn Hahn, who plays a politician who she says is a “mishmash of a lot that is going on in American politics”, it was a chance to take her family along for the ride.

“My daughter had like a baking class for all of the kids,” she tells 9Honey Celebrity on the red carpet.

Hahn says she still dreams about Greek salads after her first visit to the country and calls the movie making experience “just the best. It was the best”.

While Game of Thrones actress Jessica Henwick said the all-star ensemble made her identify even more with her character Peg, who is personal assistant to model-turned-designer Birdie Jay, played by Kate Hudson.

“The characters are very established in their personal and professional lives, they have a world of experience and I felt like a bit of a baby on set because I was working with these actors who are infinitely better than me,” Henwick tells 9Honey Celebrity on the red carpet.

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“And I was just like, yeah, I felt like Peg for sure.”

Writer and director Rian Johnson says the long list of big-name actors taking part in the sequel still surprises him.

“I look down the line and I’m amazed we got this cast together,” he tells 9Honey Celebrity on the red carpet.

“I didn’t write [the script] with any actors in mind except Daniel, who I knew was coming back.

“I’ve learned that’s a path to heartbreak because inevitably, if you have somebody in mind, you can’t get them… so I just finished the script and then we saw who was available, who wanted to work.

“And honestly, I can’t imagine anybody else in these parts.”

For the one returning actor to the film franchise, Craig, it was this line up to rival the original (which featured Christopher Plumber, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans and Toni Collette among others) that he says had him signing up for a sequel.

“Rian Johnson’s the reason I wanted to do it again and also the fact that he got such an amazing, very funny, incredible cast together,” Craig tells 9Honey Celebrity on the red carpet.

“I was just in a very lucky position. I couldn’t say ‘no’.”

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be in cinemas across Australia for one week from November 23 before streaming on Netflix a month later, from December 23.

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