And the 'Glass Onion' Best Cameo Award Goes To...
The first time Yo-Yo Ma came onto my radar, it was 1999. The legendary cellist appeared as a rabbit-ified version of himself on PBS’ long-running children’s series Arthur, bowing out the ‘Prelude’ from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1. Arthur’s rascally younger sister D.W. exclaims, “This is the best thing I’ve ever heard!” before announcing that she’s recruited “Yo Mama” to play a concert at the local library. Legendary.
Now, Ma is making news for another cameo—this time, he’s cropped up in Glass Onion, Netflix’s starry sequel to the Oscar-nominated whodunit Knives Out. Early in the film, Ma surfaces at a party attended by Kate Hudson’s socialite Birdie, who’s received a mysterious box that will only open once she’s solved a series of puzzles. Birdie tries to Shazam a tune played by a music box, but there’s no need—fellow partygoer Ma swims into the frame to drop some knowledge, all while nibbling on a slice of pizza. Ma helpfully explains that the tune is Bach's "Little" fugue in G minor, offering pivotal insight about how the musical structure of a fugue might explain how the box operates.
"So Yo-Yo basically was on green screen and talking to a tennis ball, which is a high degree of difficulty," writer-director Rian Johnson explained to Insider. "He has to come into the shot, eat the pizza, and do his whole explanation, and he did a really good job. He even tweaked the Bach explanation. He had a few adjustments and I was like, 'Please!'"
It’s a delightful cameo in a film veritably overflowing with them. Another cameo-stuffed scene early in Glass Onion features Angela Lansbury, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Natasha Lyonne, and the late, great Stephen Sondheim all Zooming with detective Benoit Blanc while they play the virtual mystery game Among Us. You’ll also clock Ethan Hawke as the mysterious enforcer greeting the characters on a dock in Greece, and Serena Williams as herself, offering a personal training session via a Mirror-like fitness device. But the cameo that really got fans excited was Hugh Grant as Philippe, Blanc’s partner. "There's nobody in the world I can imagine bringing me more joy for Benoit Blanc to be with," Johnson said.
Like Don’t Look Up and The Bubble before it, Netflix has thrown the phonebook at Glass Onion, pulling out all the stops with cameo after cameo. They come on so fast and furious that it might just make your head spin—and ultimately, it feels more like a casting flex than a necessary storytelling device. These films boast a surplus of gifted actors, but with so many of them packed into the story, they rarely have a chance to flex their muscles.
The beauty of Ma’s Arthur cameo was that it meant something. In his episode, it’s a showdown between jazz music and classical music when Arthur and D.W. each recruit a different musician for their library concert: Arthur nabs jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman, while D.W. enlists Ma. The students envision a musical battle featuring a Hulked-out Ma, but much to their surprise, Ma and Redman show a deep respect for one another’s music. “Why do you have to like only one kind of music?” Ma asks the kids. “Do you have to like only one kind of food?” Redman chimes in, “The only rules in music are based on what people like to hear, and those rules change all the time.”
What follows is a beautiful duet inflected by both musical influences, as well as a touching conversation about how the students don’t have to pick a side—all music can be captivating and meaningful. Speaking with Datebook after Arthur ended its historic 25-year run last winter, Redman revealed that he’s still better recognized for Arthur than for his arguably higher-profile appearances, like playing with The Rolling Stones. “I would get stopped sometimes in airports by parents who had watched the episode with their kids,” he said. “I have to say that it’s probably the single greatest exposure I’ve ever gotten. I didn’t go into it for that and certainly didn’t expect it.”
Will anyone stop Angela Lansbury in an airport to gush about her Glass Onion cameo? Who’s to say. But will Arthur viewers be chuckling about “Yo Mama” for years to come? You can bet on it.
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