Director, producer and iconic, prolific puppeteer Frank Oz is not a man often known for showing up in front of the camera, at least not without a character such as Yoda attached to his arm. But, thanks to an invite from Knives Out's Rian Johnson, he'll be on screen for the murder mystery drama Star Wars: The Last Jedi director has been working on.
Oz dropped the knowledge as part of a panel focusing on his directing career at the SXSW Film Festival, revealing that Johnson, who had the filmmaker return as Yoda for a physical puppeteering performance in Last Jedi, asked him to do it. "He asked me to act in it and I said, 'Are you out of your friggin' mind?' But he wanted me in there,” Oz told Indiewire's Eric Kohn. "The reason I do those, and I believe every director should do this, is I need to know how frightening it is in front of a camera. And if I screw up, I can learn how to help when I direct an actor. Every director should get in front of the camera and see how frightening it is and how much the actors need you."
It'll just be a small role in Knives Out, which stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette and Jamie Lee Curtis. And the film wasn't the only topic that Oz touched upon, revealing his dissatisfaction with Disney's treatment of the Muppet characters and how he feels Sesame Street is a shadow of its former self. For those takes, and Oz's thoughts on the reaction to The Last Jedi, head to Indiewire.
Knives Out will be on screens on 29 November.
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