WARNING! This article contains minor SPOILERS for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery!Glass Onion’s cast subtly continues the two oldest traditions and Easter eggs of Rian Johnson's movies. The 2022 sequel to Knives Out, which brings back Daniel Craig’s suave Southern detective Benoit Blanc, follows a group of old friends who are invited to a Greek island by tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) to solve a fictional murder mystery – until the game becomes real. In addition to maintaining the numerous clever twists and red herrings that made Rian Johnson’s 2019 movie Knives Out a hit, Glass Onion features more Johnson traditions that apply to each of the filmmaker’s past projects.
Like Knives Out, the success of Glass Onion is largely supported by its star-studded cast, which includes brief cameos from celebrities like Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim in their final posthumous release, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ethan Hawke, and even Hugh Grant as Benoit Blanc’s boyfriend. While Detective Benoit Blanc is the only character from Knives Out who returns for Glass Onion, there are two more returning cast members in brand-new roles. Both Noah Segan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt play new characters in Glass Onion after having been featured in Knives Out, with their sequel cameos continuing the oldest tradition in Rian Johnson’s larger filmography.
Noah Segan & Joseph Gordon-Levitt In Glass Onion Is A Rian Johnson Tradition
Noah Segan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have been in nearly every Rian Johnson movie and TV show, with Segan truly having been in every Johnson-directed project. Their appearances in Rian Johnson’s projects – from Star Wars: The Last Jedi to Looper – are now expected as a classic Johnson tradition, and Glass Onion doesn’t disappoint. In Knives Out, Segan played the supporting role of Trooper Wagner, with the actor returning to play the hilariously mysterious slacker Derol in Glass Onion. Likewise, Gordon-Levitt made a voice cameo in Knives Out as Detective Hardrock before returning to voice Miles’ clock, the Hourly Dong, in Glass Onion.
It’s now expected that Segan and Gordon-Levitt will make appearances in Johnson’s upcoming film Knives Out 3 as new characters, though, hopefully, the latter will finally be able to make an on-screen cameo. In addition to the Knives Out franchise, Noah Segan has appeared in every one of Johnson’s directed ventures – including Breaking Bad – except Terriers. Joseph Gordon-Levitt hasn’t been in as many Rian Johnson projects as Segan, but has also been featured in Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Johnson’s upcoming series Poker Face.
Why Rian Johnson Always Casts Noah Segan & Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Similar to many modern filmmakers, Rian Johnson is notable for bringing back his friends on and off-screen in his projects. Both Noah Segan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared in Rian Johnson’s directorial debut Brick (2005), which established close friendships between the actors and the director. Segan and Gordon-Levitt continued working with Johnson from his box office flops to his blockbuster installment in the Star Wars franchise, so they’ve truly been there for his entire Hollywood career. As Johnson keeps getting more big projects, it seems right that he brings back the guys who were there with him from the beginning.
Another reason why Segan and Gordon-Levitt continue to pop up in Rian Johnson’s films is that the actors serve as fun Easter eggs for the audiences. Johnson told Screen Rant that he cast Segan as Derol in Glass Onion because he believed people wouldn’t recognize him from Knives Out, with Gordon-Levitt’s voice cameo being all the more difficult to spot. While Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is presumably the only character who will occur across the Knives Out franchise, audiences now know to look out for Segan and Gordon-Levitt’s cameos in Johnson’s next installments.