Cast of Wake Up Dead Man: Full Knives Out List & Roles

If you spent half of 2022 trying to solve the Glass Onion mystery before Daniel Craig did, you’ll want to know who fills the pews this time around. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery lands as the franchise’s third installment—and the cast list reads like a who’s who of actors you already love, plus a few you will soon.

Lead Actor: Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc ·
Key Irish Actors: Andrew Scott, Daryl McCormack ·
Director: Rian Johnson ·
Release Year: 2025 ·
Notable Role: Josh O’Connor as Fr. Jud Duplenticy

Thirty-eight performers populate the official IMDb listing, with roles ranging from central suspects to neighborhood clergy and law enforcement. Here’s what stands out at a glance.

Who are the Irish actors in Wake Up Dead Man?

The film leans into Irish talent in two distinct roles—though neither actor plays a priest this time around. Andrew Scott, the Dublin native widely known as the “Hot Priest” from his Emmy-winning Fleabag performance, brings his considerable screen presence to Lee Ross, a formerly best-selling author in the congregation (Harper’s Bazaar). Scott has since built a formidable resume including Ripley and All of Us Strangers, so his inclusion signals the kind of casting that elevates ensemble mysteries.

Daryl McCormack, the Tipperary-born actor, appears as Cy Draven, described as an aspiring politician and conservative influencer who is adopted into the Draven family (Harper’s Bazaar). McCormack’s recent credits include Bad Sisters and Peaky Blinders, both series that reward close attention to character work—the exact skill set a Knives Out ensemble needs.

Andrew Scott

Beyond Fleabag, Scott’s career trajectory makes his participation notable. The Irish actor appeared in the Netflix series Ripley and the acclaimed All of Us Strangers, positioning him as one of the more internationally recognizable cast members with roots in Ireland. His role as Lee Ross places him squarely in the congregation of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude parish, though as a civilian, not clergy.

Daryl McCormack

McCormack’s casting gives the film another Irish voice in what could have been a predominantly American or British ensemble. His character Cy Draven has ties to both the legal and political spheres through his adoptive mother Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), making him a figure with connections across multiple suspect categories—a classic Knives Out setup.

Where did they film Wake Up Dead Man?

The film centers on Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, a fictional upstate New York parish that becomes the crime scene. Production details about specific church filming locations remain limited in pre-release coverage, with sources focusing more on the ensemble than the architecture. The fictional church serves as both setting and character—its congregation populated by suspects, its hierarchy disrupted by murder.

What is clear from interviews is that Rian Johnson designed the production with a “darker, gothic turn” in mind, as discussed during TIFF 2025 panel appearances (Deadline on YouTube). That aesthetic direction likely influenced location choices, prioritizing atmospheric parish spaces over contemporary church settings.

The pattern: Knives Out films typically build fictional environments that feel grounded—the Greek island of Glass Onion, the New England mansion of the original. For Wake Up Dead Man, the parish itself becomes the enclosed world where every congregant is a potential suspect.

Is Wake Up Dead Man a good movie?

Early reviews point toward a strong reception for both the mystery and the performances. The critical consensus, as reflected in aggregate coverage, praised Daniel Craig’s continued commitment to the Blanc role and particularly highlighted Josh O’Connor’s work as the conflicted young priest Jud Duplenticy.

Simon Dillon’s Medium review offered specific praise for what he called O’Connor’s “scene-stealing” contribution—a notable claim given the ensemble’s caliber. The actor brings Prince Charles credentials from The Crown (and an Emmy) to what could have been a standard supporting role, instead crafting a character with enough depth to anchor several key plot revelations.

Rian Johnson’s darker, gothic turn for the franchise marks an evolution in tone, with the church setting enabling mysteries that feel both intimate and morally complex.

— Cast interview, Deadline TIFF 2025 (YouTube)

For audiences who appreciated Glass Onion’s blend of star wattage and puzzle-solving, Wake Up Dead Man offers a different flavor—less social satire, more moral weight. Whether that tradeoff lands depends on what drew you to the series in the first place.

The catch: the gothic atmosphere means less of the sunlit ensemble comedy that made Knives Out (2019) feel like a throwback. If you preferred Glass Onion’s playful tone, this third installment shifts the balance toward darker character studies.

Who killed Monsignor Wicks?

The film’s central mystery hinges on the murder of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, played by Josh Brolin. Wicks is described as a charismatic firebrand priest who preaches what sources call a “hateful gospel,” positioning him as a figure likely to attract enemies within his own congregation (Knives Out Fandom). His status as the main murder victim makes every congregant a suspect from the opening frames.

What complicates the investigation is Wicks’ family legacy. James Faulkner plays Reverend Prentice Wicks, the church founder and Jefferson’s grandfather—a connection that introduces generational tensions into an already volatile parish dynamic (Wikipedia).

Benoit Blanc’s investigative process will presumably eliminate suspects one by one, but pre-release coverage offers no confirmed killer identity. Given the franchise’s track record of misdirection, any congregant from the cast list remains a viable candidate until viewing confirms otherwise.

Jud Duplenticy

Josh O’Connor’s character warrants special attention in the killer discussion. Jud Duplenticy is a young priest reassigned to Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude after an incident that saw him punch a deacon during a previous parish assignment (Wikipedia). His background as a former boxer who killed a man in a match before finding faith adds layers of physical capability and reformed violence to a potential suspect profile.

Jeffrey Wright plays Bishop Langstrom, the authority figure who assigns Duplenticy to the parish—placing the young priest under ecclesiastical supervision that may or may not prove relevant to the murder investigation.

The Supporting Clergy

Beyond the central figures, two additional priests appear in the production notes: Rev. Frank played by Gavin Spokes and Rev. Delancy played by Paul Hilton (Knives Out Fandom). Their exact roles and potential involvement in the murder remain unspecified in available coverage, though supporting clergy often function as either witnesses or red herrings in church-based mysteries.

Was Wake Up Dead Man filmed in a real church?

Production details about specific filming locations for the church sequences are scarce in pre-release materials. The fictional Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude could have been filmed on location in an actual parish, on a constructed set, or through a combination of practical and digital environments. Without confirmed production notes, viewers won’t know until behind-the-scenes content surfaces or the film’s visual language makes the distinction apparent.

The production design priority appears to have been atmosphere over authenticity, given Johnson’s stated gothic direction for the film. Whether that atmosphere was achieved through real church architecture or designed environments remains an open question for post-release analysis.

What this means: the parish setting works as a narrative container regardless of filming method. The congregation’s density of suspects and secrets matters more than whether the walls are historically genuine.

The full cast breakdown

Beyond the Irish contingent and priestly suspects, Wake Up Dead Man assembles a character ensemble that spans multiple professions and allegiances:

• Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix: a devout church lady serving as Monsignor Wicks’ right-hand woman (Wikipedia)
• Kerry Washington as Vera Draven: a lawyer and Cy Draven’s adoptive mother (Wikipedia)
• Mila Kunis as Geraldine Scott: local police chief (Wikipedia)
• Jeremy Renner as Nat Sharp: the town doctor, marking a significant role following his 2023 snowplow accident (Harper’s Bazaar)
• Cailee Spaeny as Simone Vivane: a disabled former concert cellist (Wikipedia)
• Thomas Haden Church as Samson Holt: groundskeeper and Martha Delacroix’s lover (Wikipedia)

Confirmed vs. unclear

Research confidence for this article is rated as low, reflecting limited pre-release information on certain production details. Here’s how the knowns stack against the unknowns:

The implication: the confirmed roster gives audiences enough to anticipate the ensemble’s dynamics, while the unclear elements preserve the mystery that makes Knives Out films worth watching.

What reviewers are saying

Simon Dillon’s Medium review praised the ensemble’s energy and specifically highlighted Josh O’Connor’s performance as a standout among the suspects. His assessment frames the film as a successful continuation of Johnson’s mystery formula while acknowledging the tonal shift toward gothic atmosphere.

The cast assembled by Rian Johnson delivers exactly what the Knives Out franchise promises: sharp dialogue, suspicious motives, and a detective smart enough to notice what everyone else misses.

— Simon Dillon Cinema (Medium)

The TIFF 2025 panel discussions reinforced a consistent message: the cast understood the assignment of bringing gothic gravitas to a whodunit that also functions as character study. Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, Glenn Close, and Josh Brolin addressed the “hot priest” baton-passing with the kind of self-aware humor that suggests the ensemble chemistry matches the on-screen dynamics.

For Knives Out fans, the verdict appears clear: this installment delivers the puzzle-solving satisfaction the franchise built its reputation on, now wrapped in a church setting that raises both the moral stakes and the suspect pool. Whether that tradeoff works depends on your appetite for faith-adjacent mysteries versus sunlit social satires.

Related reading: Cast of Dawson’s Creek – Full Actors List and Careers · Cast of SAS Rogue Heroes: Actors, Characters & Seasons

Rian Johnson’s faith-inflected Knives Out mystery reunites Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc with an eclectic ensemble cast that spotlights two Irish actors in breakout roles.

Frequently asked questions

For viewers counting down to the December Netflix release, the priest-forward cast dynamics suggest the murder mystery will lean heavily on ecclesiastical tensions and generational church politics. That may surprise audiences who expected Andrew Scott to anchor the clergy—but it also means Josh O’Connor gets the breakout role instead.