Every Famous Person Cameo In ‘Glass Onion’, Ranked

The Knives Out franchise — which started with 2019’s surprise hit and continues with Netflix’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — is known for its star-studded cast. The first instalment introduced us to Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc solving a parlour room mystery that featured Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans (and his sweater) and single-handedly launched Ana de Armas’ career. Just as impressive, its sequel stars Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, and Dave Bautista among others. 

And then there are the cameos. Serena Williams as a workout coach; Ethan Hawke as an ‘Efficient Man’; Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a clock…? Also: Hugh Grant is here! 

It’s a lot, but if anyone can keep these famous people in line, it’s Rian Johnson, who is back to direct the sequel. So, let’s peel back the onion and rank the cameos, shall we?

9. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar As Benoit’s Zoom Buddy

Best known as a basketballer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has actually had his fair share of TV gigs too, starring in everything from Dancing with the Stars to Troop Beverly Hills and New Girl. He was also a writer on the Veronica Mars reboot(?!) so clearly has the detective credentials that grant him a place in Benoit’s inner circle. Kareem spends his Glass Onion cameo playing computer games with Benoit via Zoom — it’s inoffensive enough but nothing special. Kareem comes in last on my list. 

8. Yo-Yo Ma As Birdie’s Party Guest

When we first meet oft-cancelled former model and influencer Birdie (Kate Hudson) she’s throwing a pandemic party in her penthouse. Of course she is! More unexpected is the fact that famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma is in attendance, for some reason. His cameo does have a somewhat reasonable purpose, though: he helps Birdie solve the mystery box that serves as an invitation to old friend and tech mogul Miles Bron’s (Edward Norton, hi!) murder mystery weekend on his private island. Keen-eyed culture vultures will recognise Yo-Yo Ma on site, but I mostly knew his name as a frequent answer in Vulture’s crossword puzzle; my own personal glass onion. 

7. Natasha Lyonne As Benoit’s Zoom Buddy

Natasha is my personal favourite famous person in the film, and while I was fixated on her when she popped up on Zoom, nothing much happened. Thankfully, we’ll get to see Lyonne collaborate with Johnson again in next year’s crime caper Poker Face, so I’m fine to bump her to 7 just this once.

6. Stephen Sondheim Also As Benoit’s Zoom Buddy

It appears Johnson was lucky enough — and filming of Glass Onion took place early enough in 2021 — to get not one but two late icons of pop culture to appear as Benoit’s Zoom buddies, this entry being the prolific musical composer Stephen Sondheim, who passed away in November last year. This cameo’s fun when you consider the context: Sondheim’s only straight play was a murder mystery, Getting Away with Murder, and he was well-known among his friends for hosting murder mystery nights. Perhaps Johnson drew some inspiration from Sondheim for Bron…? 

5. Serena Williams As Miles’ Workout Coach

Who makes a better personal trainer for Bron than tennis legend Serena Williams? Now that she’s retired, she’s gotta make that money somehow, and scrolling on her phone while Bron’s guests have a clandestine meeting in the gym instead of employing her athletic guidance is priceless. (She’d be getting paid by the minute.) 

4. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as “Hourly Dong”

Serious purveyors of Johnson’s back catalogue will immediately recognise the voice of the “Hourly Dong” clock that reverberates throughout the private island: that of Johnson stalwart Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has appeared in every one of Johnson’s films, beginning with his breakout, Brick, in 2005. In Glass Onion, the Easter egg continues. I have to be honest: I didn’t recognise Gordon-Levitt’s voice (also the voice of a detective on the phone in the first Knives Out — I missed this too) until it was pointed out to me, but it’s a fun bit of trivia that I think die-hard Johnson fans will appreciate. Who doesn’t love Joseph Gordon-Levitt?

3. Angela Lansbury As Yet Another Zoom Buddy

In her final role the Jessica Fletcher herself, Angela Lansbury, traded strategies with Benoit Blanc as his most notable Zoom buddy. It’s a fitting send-off for Lansbury, whose career spanned eight decades and a hugely popular 19-year run on Murder She Wrote. This no doubt served as inspiration for Johnson. Her legend lands her a top three position. *Insert Murder She Wrote popcorn gif here*

2. Ethan Hawke As “Efficient Man”

In order for the Glass Onion crew to board the boat that will take them to Bron’s private island where they can party mask-free (though let’s be real, Birdie already was; a mesh face mask doesn’t count) an enigmatic figure known only as “Efficient Man” squirts a mysterious substance into Bron’s guests mouths. We know “Efficient Man” as good ol’ Ethan Hawke, a cameo which drew the biggest reaction from the audience in my screening. Hawke’s movie star bona fides sees him coming in second place.

1. Hugh Grant As Benoit’s Partner

Benoit Blanc is queer! It kind of makes sense for the character and Daniel Craig’s evolution as an actor, with Blanc being his next big role after the rigid beacon of modern masculinity that is James Bond. 

Clues are dropped early in Glass Onion that Benoit has a live-in partner, who calls to him in the bathtub he’s taken to during the pandemic. But it’s not until halfway through the movie when everything starts to fall into place that we discover that said live-in partner is played by none other than British icon Hugh Grant in nothing but a floury apron. Oh, Hugh. 

Stream Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix from December 23.