Rian Johnson talks about LGBTQ+ representation in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and explains why Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc is never on-screen with his partner. Craig captured the audience's attention with his unique accent, deductive skills, and chemistry with Ana de Armas in Knives Out. Johnson confirmed Benoit Blanc's sexuality before the premiere of Glass Onion. The Knives Out sequel further solidifies this by introducing Benoit Blanc's partner, although the two never appear together on-screen in the new movie.
At a press event, Johnson told Screen Rant why Benoit Blanc never appears onscreen with his partner, played by Hugh Grant, in Glass Onion. Johnson explained that this wasn't due to COVID protocols but instead the scene between the two was always written that way. He shared that "having Blanc be gay and have a partner just felt like a very natural thing coming out of the first movie." Johnson also broke down the reason they don't share more time together on screen, specifically explaining the fine line the detective character walks in murder mysteries.
Rian Johnson: It certainly wasn’t meant to skirt anything, but it wasn’t driven by COVID in particular. It was just kind of the way the scene was written. It’s the delight of connecting up that moment, when you come back to it halfway through, with the moment from the beginning was kind of the idea of it. I felt like having Blanc be gay and have a partner just felt like a very natural thing coming out of the first movie.
I think it’s an interesting thing because I should only be so lucky to have that actor in future installments in a murder mystery. It’s a delicate thing, though, because the detective is always at the center of a good murder mystery; the detective is never the protagonist of a good murder mystery. And I feel like in general, if you think about Poirot, for example, I feel like getting glimpses of the detective’s life outside of the scope of the case is interesting. But I don’t know that I can ever see the movies being more about that. The whole thing is kind of about the mystery itself.
But at the same time, it’s a big part of who he is, and going forward, it’s going to be fun to learn more about that. It’s true, it is just a glimpse of it. And that was one thing that I thought about; we’re obviously going to want to see more of this.
How Future Knives Out Films Can Expand On Hugh Grant's Role
While the couple aren't shown interacting in person in Glass Onion, this inclusion is important LGBTQ+ representation. The challenge of Benoit Blanc is that while he is the connection between the Knives Out movies and plays an integral role as the detective, Johnson's reasoning for not making him the primary protagonist is sound. Johnson has definitively stated that he won't be doing a Knives Out prequel exploring Blanc's origins, which means Grant's part in the Knives Out franchise will likely continue to be smaller.
While they aren't together on screen, including Benoit Blanc's partner in the story is an important decision. While Johnson had already established the character's sexuality outside the movies, showing Benoit in a happy relationship is important representation. This relationship could be the perfect way to slowly build out Benoit's character without overpowering the whodunit murder mystery genre that Johnson has captured with Knives Out.
Perhaps in a future installment, Benoit Blanc and his partner will discover a mystery while on vacation together, or a mystery will fall into their laps while at home. Whether he becomes ingrained in the mystery or continues to be a spark of normalcy in Benoit's investigations into murder, lies, and betrayal, Benoit's relationship is the perfect way to further develop Benoit Blanc beyond detective. Grant's cameo in Glass Onion brings a moment of normalcy into the wild murder that Benoit Blanc is investigating.