Thirteen Reasons Why actress Katherine Langford has said there was “a moment of silence” on set the first time Daniel Craig showed off his southern accent in new whodunnit film Knives Out.
The James Bond star plays detective Benoit Blanc in the movie about the murder of a mystery writer, which is directed by The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson and features an all-star cast including Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis and Chris Evans.
Arriving at the film’s premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, Langford said: “I am such a fan of Daniel as a person and Daniel as an actor, he’s so brilliant and talented and captivating on screen and I remember the first time he did that on set, there was kind of a moment of silence after he finished and just a smile on everyone’s face.
“He really committed to it and not only with the accent but the whole performance, he did a really brilliant job.”
Johnson added: “I tell you, it takes an actor as good as Daniel to be able to go that big with this character and still have the character feel like a human being.
“Because it’s not a parody, it’s not a send-up of mysteries, it’s a real actual mystery, so he still had to feel like a real person and to be able to go this big and be this funny and still keep one foot on the ground takes a lot of talent.”
The director said he was inspired to pen the script by his childhood love of Agatha Christie, adding: “I wanted to do a straight whodunnit mystery for years and years and years and I had been kicking around this idea for a while and finally the time seemed right and here we are.
“I grew up reading her books, I grew up with the movies, particularly the ones with Peter Ustinov as Poirot with the big all-star casts and the fun comedic tone and that is very much what this is drawn from, just a really good time at the movies with a good mystery backing it up, the type of thing I loved when I was growing up.”
Langford said it was the freshness of the script that made her want to join the cast, adding: “When I read it, it was something that really jumped off the page and there is something so interesting and refreshing about reading something that is based on such an established genre.
“What adds to that element is that you’ve taken this very well-known genre and you’ve put it into a modern context and not only that, but you’ve put it in a modern context with some of the most brilliant actors ever and to work on this as part of an ensemble and with everyone bringing so much to each of their characters and really immersing themselves in that, I think you get so many dynamics and flavours that it really fills the film up.”
Knives Out is released in UK cinemas on November 27.