Knives Out: Did you spot this cheeky cameo?
A regular Rian Johnson collaborator makes a subtle appearance in the murder-mystery movie
Murder mystery Knives Out is full of twists, turns and dastardly deeds, so perhaps it should be no surprise that writer/director Rian Johnson sneaked a few subtle cameos into the movie as well.
During the action, fans will have been sure to notice the presence of Frank Oz as attorney Alan Stevens, who gives the Thrombey family some news about their late father’s will – and of course Oz is better known as the voice and puppeteer behind characters like Miss Piggy from the Muppets and Jedi Master Yoda, a role he reprised for Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017.
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Another former Johnson collaborator also pops up in the film, with Noah Segan playing B-character Trooper Wagner throughout the story. Segan has appeared in every one of Johnson’s films to date, portraying Dode in 2005’s Brick, The Duke in 2008’s The Brothers Bloom, Kid Blue in 2012’s Looper and X-Wing pilot Stomeroni Starck in The Last Jedi, so it’s not a huge surprise to see Johnson add him to his latest project.
But eagle-eyed (or eared) viewers may have also spotted the most well-hidden cameo of all, from Johnson’s most high-profile regular – Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Like Segan Gordon-Levitt has appeared in every Johnson project to date, starring in Brick and Looper and having small cameos in The Brothers Bloom and The Last Jedi (where he plays a Beastie Boys-inspired alien named Slowen Lo), and it’s in the latter capacity that he turns up in Knives Out.
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Check the credits and you’ll see Gordon-Levitt is credited as “Detective Hardrock” – and we’re pretty sure this is none other than the sleuth heard in the background of an early scene in the morning, where the sister of main character Marta (Ana De Armas) is watching a lurid crime story on her DVD player shortly after the real-life murder of Walter Thrombey (Christopher Plummer).
In other words, Johnson found a way to include all his favourites without distracting from the main story of Knives Out. And with a story that entertaining, we’re certainly glad he did.
Knives Out is in cinemas now
