Knives Out is a pretty widely beloved movie, but it turns out Jamie Lee Curtis didn't exactly share that sentiment during the film's production. While she's certainly proud of her performance, as she should be, things didn't quite go as smoothly as the polished end product might suggest.
Rian Johnson's surprise hit murder mystery caught everyone by surprise, a feeling apparently shared by the actors themselves. While Curtis' role in Knives Out was substantial, she didn't technically have a lead part. As a result, the film legend and many of her castmates were largely kept in the dark regarding the movie as a whole, as Johnson reportedly takes a rather particular approach in his filmmaking process.
"I was actually quite isolated," Curtis said when speaking about the film with Entertainment Weekly. "I was living in this weird hotel by myself, and a lot of the movie, I'm not in. I was alone for a lot, and it was a very tough time. It turned out to be this fantastic movie. I would never have known that the movie we were making was the movie that we made. It wasn't evident to me, because Rian was so specific in his methodology, and it's not like we're all watching monitors and seeing all the work. We had no idea. We'd just do our little thing and then go home. It was just such a delightful surprise."
Curtis plays Linda Drysdale-Thrombey in Knives Out, along with a similarly all-star cast of big names like Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, and Ana de Armas. The ensemble piece sees Craig's Detective Benoit Blanc attempting to solve a murder while the deceased's family bikers over inheritance, and Johnson's style shows through the entire way. However, sometimes he might arguably go a bit far, as evidenced by Curtis' reaction when she realized how people perceived her in the movie, even if it was still a pleasant surprise.
"I remember when they wanted me to go to CinemaCon with Knives Out," Curtis continued, "I was like, they want me to go to CinemaCon? They don't want all those other people to go to CinemaCon? Because I really felt like I was this tiny, tiny, delicious but tiny little part of the puzzle. It just was so fun to actually become its head cheerleader. I'm a bit of a weapon of mass promotion and I got behind that one in a big way, because it was so fun and great and people loved it." Those who have seen Knives Out will largely agree that Curtis is clearly one of the stars of the film.
It makes sense that Johnson would be so meticulous when it comes to how he operates. His films are largely known for being so well put together that audiences consistently discover new details upon each subsequent viewing. From Knives Out to Looper and his proud accomplishments in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, keeping the actors in the dark almost seems like it would help with authenticity. It's debatable whether it's the ideal method, but given his track record and Curtis' performance, things certainly seem to have turned out for the best this time.
Knives Out is now available on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Entertainment Weekly