Summary
- Welcome to a very special new episode of Collider Ladies Night. It’s a group edition of the show with Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery stars Mila Kunis, Cailee Spaeny and Kerry Washington!
- During their Ladies Night conversation with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, Kunis, Spaeny and Washington revisit pivotal moments of their careers, including positive influences they met along the way.
- They also highlight the summer camp vibe of a Knives Out set, and explain precisely how they cracked their curious characters.
Ever since we started hosting live Collider Ladies Night panels at San Diego Comic-Con, we’ve been tempted to explore doing group editions of the show, and what better ensemble to start that with than the women of the new Knives Out movie?
Mila Kunis, Cailee Spaeny and Kerry Washington are some of the latest to join Rian Johnson’s growing Knives Out family. In the third installment of the Oscar-nominated franchise, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Spaeny and Washington play two of Monsignor Wicks’ (Josh Brolin) parishioners. Washington’s Vera Draven is a lawyer whose father was a close friend to Wicks before he passed, and Spaeny plays Simone Vivane, a renowned concert cellist struggling with health concerns.
When Monsignor Wicks is suddenly killed in the middle of a service while totally alone in the storage closet, Kunis’ Police Chief Geraldine Scott calls upon Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to investigate. Could Vera or Simone have killed Wicks? Or perhaps it was another member of his flock? Or, what about the church newcomer, Josh O’Connor’s Father Jud Duplenticy? This time around, Blanc will have to do the impossible — solve a locked-room murder mystery.
The Knives Out movies have become highly regarded for their summer camp-like sets and for their unparalleled rosters of talent, and Wake Up Dead Man is no different. Not only are Kunis, Spaeny and Washington fantastic additions to this cinematic world, but they also rock a wonderful group dynamic in an interview setting, one oozing with enthusiasm for each other as people and artists, feelings that left them eager to reunite for another film.
Yes, Making a ‘Knives Out’ Movie Really Feels Like Going to Summer Camp
“Everybody’s happy. No one feels like this is a job.”
A group of people all looking over toward the camera in shock in Wake Up Dead Man.Image via Netflix
As confirmed by Washington, Spaeny and Kunis, the Knives Out rumors are true; those sets have unparalleled camp-like vibes.
When asked for the first time during the making of Wake Up Dead Man that they felt it, all three insisted it happened instantly. Washington explained:
“The moment you walk on set, everybody’s so kind and so happy to be there. I think Rian really sets the tone, and Daniel Craig really sets the tone, and [producer] Ram [Bergman]. They’re all so happy to be there and hard-working and generous and having fun.”
Kunis jumped in to emphasize, “They also still love making movies.” She continued:
“Everybody’s happy. No one feels like this is a job. Nobody feels like they have to do this. Nobody’s feeling like they owe the studio this or whatever it is. They’re happy to be doing the thing that they love. We just happen to get paid for it, which is like, yay, right? But the truth is, everyone’s just happy to do what they want to do.”
Related
‘Wake Up Dead Man’ Review: Rian Johnson’s Third Knives Out Caps Off One of Film’s Great Trilogies | TIFF 2025
Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Andrew Scott, and Kerry Washington are all part of the crew in this newest Knives Out mystery.
In fact, Kunis and Washington were so happy to be there making Wake Up Dead Man that one film doesn’t feel like enough. Kunis enthusiastically proclaimed, “We pitched ourselves for so many movies,” and added:
“Not just Knives Out 4. I don’t think [Cailee was] there, but Kerry and I had a dinner where we were pitching many movies starring Kerry Washington and Mila Kunis. It was nonstop.”
Can ‘Knives Out’ Veterans Return for Future Films?
What if the fourth film was Knives Out: All-Stars?
Kunis’ interest in returning for another Knives Out movie begs the question, other than Daniel Craig and characters who don’t make it through the films, can characters return?
At a recent Wake Up Dead Man Q&A in Brooklyn, I told Rian Johnson about my own interest in seeing a Knives Out 4 that functions as a Knives Out all-stars type of film, should there be another movie. He mentioned that Jamie Lee Curtis, who was in the first film, is also rooting for that idea.
Given Johnson has been casting one standout after the next since day one, it’d be mighty tough to narrow that roster down, but given the level of talent and curiosity with the big personalities they play, just about any combo could have promise.
Cailee Spaeny, Mila Kunis & Kerry Washington Write Their Own Three-Hander
Cailee Spaeny, Mila Kunis and Kerry Washington at the Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery premiere.Image via Netflix
Given Kunis also noted they couldn’t stop pitching new projects to work on together, I opted to put the trio to the test. If Kunis, Washington and Spaeny could create another film to be in together, what might happen in it? Get ready for the ride of a lifetime …
KUNIS: In this movie starring Kerry, Cailee, and Mila, we are three long-lost friends. We lost touch. We were friends when we were younger. [To Cailee] You’re the same age as us in this one. You have some prosthetics.
WASHINGTON: Maybe she’s your little sister? We’re long-lost friends. She’s you’re slightly younger sister. But we all used to hang out.
KUNIS: Yeah, and she was annoying. We were like, “Ugh, that one.”
WASHINGTON: Now we’re adults and we have more in common than we thought.
KUNIS: Someone died.
WASHINGTON: Yeah, someone died. And we’re together for the mourning, the grieving.
KUNIS: Yes. And in this mourning, they were like, “Listen, my one last wish is …
WASHINGTON: Road trip.
KUNIS: But Cailee has to come with.
WASHINGTON: She does.
SPAENY: And can we all have Australian accents?
WASHINGTON: Why not?
KUNIS: And it takes place in Australia on our way to New Zealand. And that’s the movie!
While you wait for Kunis, Washington and Spaeny’s Australia-set road trip movie, go check out Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix now!
Release Date
November 26, 2025
Runtime
140 minutes
Director
Rian Johnson
Writers
Rian Johnson
Producers
Ram Bergman, Rian Johnson
