Glass Onion Director Shares Details About Benoit Blanc's Home Life And A Certain Cameo
This post contains spoilers for "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery."
The main goal of Rian Johnson's latest whodunnit is to entertain. Yes, it contains plenty of social satire about the world we live in today, but "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" wants to surprise and delight the audience. Johnson does this through comedy, misdirects, and including a cavalcade of completely unexpected cameos in the film, ranging from the late, great musical theatre legend Stephen Sondheim to the tennis GOAT Serena Williams. When I saw the film for the first time at the Austin Film Festival, the cameo that garnered the biggest reaction from the crowd was easily Hugh Grant, who is revealed to be the romantic partner of Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc.
The cameo is incredibly brief, but it is the first true insight we see into Blanc's domestic life. After all, these stories are not about him. They are about the characters he is investigating, so whatever we learn about him will come in drips and drabs. Seeing that this southern-fried detective is in a relationship with this lovely British man just makes you feel good. And it turns out that was exactly why Rian Johnson wanted Hugh Grant to do this small part.
'They're a couple. His name is Phillip.'
Because Hugh Grant's cameo is so brief, we don't get to learn that much about him or his life with Benoit Blanc. That does not mean that Rian Johnson doesn't have a full picture of who that character is. Speaking on The Empire Spoiler Special Podcast, Johnson delved a little deeper into who that character is — including his name — and what their relationship is like:
"They're a couple. His name is Phillip. I just basically thought who would it give me the most joy for Benoit Blanc to be with, and I thought Hugh Grant. He was such a joy to be with, he came to set for one day, did that one disconnected scene and trusted us to put it in the movie. I also love that he's home baking, trying to make sourdough bread. I don't know if I see him as the Watson to Blanc's Sherlock, but it's good to have separate things, plus that apartment is so nice, I can't imagine Blanc can afford it so I think he has a real job."
Though I of course hope to see the return of Phillip in the third film, I support that he won't be Blanc's sidekick. I just want the best for those two, and separating the personal and the professional is always good for a relationship. Plus, Blanc has a knack for picking up a Watson figure on the case, be it Ana de Armas' Marta in "Knives Out" and Janelle Monáe's Helen in "Glass Onion." Benoit and Phillip's life seems incredibly healthy, and I want to keep it that way. I also don't want Hugh Grant to be in harm's way, which could happen in a murder mystery. Nobody would want that. Especially Benoit.