The Thrombey family is thrown into chaos when the patriarch dies in murder mystery Knives Out, arriving in theaters on November 27. With so much wealth at stake and so many suspects at play, Rian Johnson’s whodunit is full of interpersonal conflicts and characters ranging the full spectrum of morality. Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell play two family members on opposite ends of that spectrum, and the two young actors shared some insights into their characters.
Guys, amazing job on this film. I loved it so much; I had a giant smile walking out of here. Katherine, Meg has flashes of probably being the most decent member of the family. Can you talk to me about how she views the rest of the family, and who her favorite member of the family would be?
Katherine Langford: Well, the character I play is Meg Thrombey. My mother is Joni, played by the wonderful Toni Collette. My mother married into the Thrombey family, and my dad's no longer with us. So, we're kind of tied to this Thrombey family by just family ties and not blood. In a way, I guess, we're kind of outcasts within that family setting – but still tied to the affluence and the wealth and privilege.
For me, what I found really interesting when I read the script, is that within the Thrombey family, you have all these really strong distinctive characters. And everyone in this is flawed, because all people are flawed, but you do get this dynamic and full range of different people within that family
What was interesting about Meg is that she has kind of this internal conflict between belonging to and having the privilege and the wealth of the Thrombey family behind her, but very much disagreeing with a lot of that wealth and a lot of that privilege and wanting to do what's right. So, she's very socially active and very politically aware. And I think within the film, she serves very much as a heart and gives a lot of heart. Particularly in the scenes between her and Mata.
Jaeden, Jacob is kind of the worst, and his whole family kind of seemed to think so as well. Did you lean into that, and did that help inform your character kind of being a troll?
Jaeden Martell: Definitely. I mean, I hopefully didn't lean into that too much. I hope no one hated me in real life.
I think that Rian is such a good director, because he helps people get out of their comfort zone and he pushes the best performances out of his actors. He really did that for me, because it is uncomfortable saying the terrible things that Jacob does say. It was a lot of fun breaking my own boundaries as an actor and as a person. But hopefully, people will [agree] that I came across as this unlikable jerk.
How do your characters view Detective Benoit Blanc?
Katherine Langford: I think for Meg, you know, this is her grandfather. And it's a family that she's connected to, but not super connected to. I think, sadly, there's a bit of a disconnect.
She doesn't have a super strong relationship with her grandfather – I think any of them really do – so when he passes away, it's almost I think more about the wealth. Although, that being said, I don't think she realizes the full magnitude of what that means until it directly relates to her. I think she wants to be very moral about what happens until she realizes that, again, it directly affects her. And I think that brings out the worst within everyone in that family, when they have to deal with the situation that they're left with.
