Wake Up Dead Man’ (Exclusive)

Kerry Washington is sharing some new insight into what makes Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery different from Daniel Craig’s other two turns as private detective Benoit Blanc.

When Washington, 48, stopped by the PEOPLE/EW and Shutterstock studio at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival for the third Knives Out movie’s world premiere on Saturday, Sept. 6, the actress pointed out Wake Up Dead Man’s religious plot line and compared it to the 2019 original film and 2022’s Glass Onion.

“[Wake Up Dead Man] grapples with these real issues of faith and the idea of having the courage to examine what faith really means for you and how you practice your faith,” Washington says of the new movie. “And just, totally, the world of it is so gothic. Rian brings in Edgar Allan Poe as a inspiration.”

Writer-director Rian Johnson cast Josh O’Connor, 35, as a priest in the new movie, and he assists Blanc in the investigation into the murder of a Catholic priest (Josh Brolin). Described as “the impossible crime,” it’s another thrilling mystery for the detective to solve.

“The sets were gold,” costar Glenn Close adds while speaking to PEOPLE, to which Washington replies, “The sets were gorgeous.” 

“It’s so hard for us to talk about this film because we haven’t seen it,” Washington notes. “And yes, it’s true, we’ve read it, but I mean, we were at dinner the other night, and Rian was like ‘Oh, that scene where you do that thing.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, good to know that’s still in the movie.’ We have no idea what the final edit looks like.”

Cailee Spaeny, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner and Andrew Scott comprise the rest of the ensemble for the franchise’s third movie. Washington, much like her costars, identified herself as “a big fan of the franchise” dating back to 2019’s Knives Out, which introduced Blanc as he investigated the death of a mystery novelist.

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“I really enjoyed the first film, and then the second film was so different, but also extraordinary,” Washington tells PEOPLE of why she decided to join the threequel. “And I had heard from so many actors how much fun it was to do these movies, so that was a big part of the draw. The writing is so good, the director’s amazing, but also you hear that these casts are great, that they’re good to be around.”

Wake Up Dead Man is in select theaters Nov. 26 and begins streaming on Netflix Dec. 12.