Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery director Rian Johnson reflects on the opportunity he had to film a scene with Dame Angela Lansbury before her recent passing. Lansbury is an iconic actress of the stage and screen whose career spanned 8 decades and multiple genres, from the 1944 thriller Gaslight to the 1986-1994 murder mystery series Murder, She Wrote to the 1991 Disney animated musical Beauty and the Beast, in which she performed the title song as the anthropomorphic teapot Mrs. Potts. She is also the winner of multiple Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes, among other accolades. Unfortunately, Lansbury passed away this week on October 11 at the age of 96.
It was recently revealed that both Lansbury and Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim (who passed away in November 2021) will be making posthumous appearances in Glass Onion, the upcoming sequel to the hit murder mystery film Knives Out. Their appearances will see their characters video chatting with the leads of the film - which includes Daniel Craig returning as the detective Benoit Blanc and a whole new crop of suspects played by stars like Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, and Kate Hudson. These appearances are references to both icons' murder mystery legacies, including Lansbury's stint on Murder, She Wrote and Sondheim's 1973 film The Last of Sheila, which inspired elements of Glass Onion.
Per Deadline, Johnson addressed Lansbury's Glass Onion role during a press event at the London Film Festival recently. During the event, he revealed his reflections on having the opportunity to work with both Lansbury and Sondheim on Glass Onion. He was shocked and honored that both of them said yes, sharing that "personally just being able to have 10 minutes with each of them to tell them what their work has meant to me was really special." Read his full quote below:
They were so kind and so generous. We thought, my God, would either of them ever do it? We didn’t think they would. And both of them were so cool.
For both of them, besides just the honor of having them in the movie, personally just being able to have 10 minutes with each of them to tell them what their work has meant to me was really special.
Glass Onion Might Be Angela Lansbury's Final Film Appearance
Lansbury's career has spanned over 100 different film and television credits, and Glass Onion could very well be her final appearance. The actress had stepped back from performing somewhat in the final years of her life, and before her role in Glass Onion, she hadn't performed since 2018, when she played Balloon Lady in Mary Poppins Returns and voiced Mayor McGerkle in The Grinch. Part of the reason she agreed to appear in Glass Onion after several years off the screen was the short production schedule and the fact that they filmed in her own home.
For the moment, it seems that Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will indeed be her final posthumous performance. Although it's possible that she filmed other roles from her home or will appear in a project that has stalled in post-production for more than half a decade, both of these options are somewhat unlikely. It certainly seems that the mystery's November theatrical release (ahead of a Netflix drop on December 25) will be the last new Lansbury performance to hit theaters, something that fans who want to honor her legacy should keep in mind when planning their Fall viewing schedules.
Source: Deadline
