Rian Johnson may insist he doesn’t have a “white whale” actor for his Knives Out universe, but he admits there is one legendary performer he hopes to bring on board: Meryl Streep. Speaking to IndieWire, the filmmaker said, “There are so many great actors I’d like to work with. But, yes, if you’re reading this, Meryl Streep, I feel like you’d slot into a murder mystery very well.”
Johnson’s pitch follows Streep’s recent appearance on the milestone 50th season of Saturday Night Live. Reacting to that, he joked, “If Lorne can do it, then goddamn, so can we.”
While Streep hardly needs a reason to prove her range, she has already stepped foot into the whodunit-comedy space with her role in Only Murders in the Building, which concluded its fifth season last month. She is next set to return as Miranda Priestly in the 2026 sequel to The Devil Wears Prada.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Johnson reflected on why he loves making the Knives Out films, which began with the hugely popular 2019 release starring Ana de Armas. “I love working with actors so much,” he said. “There are so many actors I haven’t worked with I want to work with. And that’s one of the real treats of making these movies—you get to experience new actors and these big casts.”
He added that his collaborations on the franchise influence his original scripts as well. “One of the great things about doing these movies is I get to know these actors, so when I’m writing original stuff now… of course I have everyone in mind for it.”
The third installment, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, brings another major ensemble together—Josh Brolin, Josh O’Connor, Kerry Washington, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Andrew Scott, Glenn Close, and Thomas Haden Church. This chapter follows Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he investigates the killing of a powerful, venom-tongued monsignor, played by Brolin, in an upstate New York town.
After a limited theatrical run ahead of Thanksgiving, the film has already grossed over $4 million and is drawing strong praise from both critics and audiences. The movie arrives on Netflix on December 12.
