The story behind Glass Onion 's shirtless painting of Edward Norton — and more production design secrets

Rian Johnson is all too happy to throw stones at glass houses.

The writer-director of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery pokes at the foibles of the uber-rich in the movie, particularly Miles Bron (Edward Norton), who lives, as it would happen, in a glass house. Specifically, a glass onion, as alluded to in the whodunnit's title.

Production designer Rick Heinrichs, who was new to the franchise but has worked in big-budget playgrounds that include the worlds of Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean, was excited to dive into the story after seeing the tonal specificity of the first Knives Out. "It was good for me to see how playful they were with the concept of a murder mystery and how playful they were with the characters," the designer says of the first film. "What this really was all about was a very sophisticated exploration of these different characters and the way they interact. It's a great opportunity to have a sardonic view of contemporary issues and greater issues of entitlement."

With that entitlement comes Glass Onion's instigator and central disruptor, tech billionaire Miles Bron, whose private island is where the bulk of the film's action takes place.

Ultimately, the main set was created by combining exteriors shot at a villa on a Greek peninsula, which were condensed into looking like a private island. "The villa was part of a nearby hotel that was architecturally the right idea," he says. "It had hierarchical steps and villa elements that would ascend. All of that culminating in the addition that we virtually added to it, the glass onion on top looked good."

The interiors, however, were entirely built at a soundstage in Belgrade, Serbia, where they could create a space utterly representative of Bron. Heinrichs breaks down the wild, jam-packed atrium set, which audiences can now see in theaters during the film's limited one-week engagement and on Netflix beginning Dec. 23.

My space

NETFLIX

Nearly all of Glass Onion takes place on a palatial estate. But in finding the right location for the exteriors and crafting the over-the-top interiors, production designer Rick Heinrichs adhered to one guiding principle: character-driven spaces. "The basic architecture is a minimal classicism, a modernist take on classical Greek architecture," explains Heinrichs, "but Miles has too much money, and you have to run with that and make sure that you're constantly having to deal with his overbearing sense of himself. Rian is super interested in the character, and having the architecture and the feel of the place be expressive of the person who owns that place."

Bad taste 101

John Wilson/NETFLIX

The atrium is the setting for many of the mystery's key events, so Heinrichs wanted to make sure there was no shortage of distractions. "Everybody walked in and needed about 20 minutes to walk around, cracking up," says Norton. "That set was a production design masterpiece." Heinrichs foregrounded Miles' ego in every nook and cranny, from the Chekhov's-gun collection of glass sculptures to the ostentatious display of expensive paintings.

"There is certainly a questionable taste aspect to it," Heinrichs laughs. "It overly calls attention to itself. All the elements that you could describe in a negative way describe Miles perfectly. Typically you would be designing something with the utmost good taste. Unless the character that it represents is someone who has a very bombastic opinion of themself and their place in the world, in which case it becomes a study of who they are."

Chest assured

John Wilson/NETFLIX (From L-R): Kate Hudson as Birdie, Jessica Henwick as Peg, Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Lionel in 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'

The room's most eye-catching showpiece is an oil painting of a shirtless Miles, which Edward Norton describes as "Miles in Fight Club as painted by Francis Bacon." Heinrichs actual inspiration was English portrait painter Lucian Freud.

Using photographs of Norton, a concept artist created the piece. Norton didn't take the portrait home, but he would've loved to use it for a practical joke. "I thought it would be really funny to send it to [Netflix CEO] Ted Sarandos for his office," he tells EW.

The ego has landed

NETFLIX Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc in 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'

Heinrichs set out to populate the walls of the atrium with as much art work he could possibly cram: Mondrians and Basquiats and Hockneys (oh, my!). For one Basquiat, the art department specifically re-created a work of art that had recently sold for a staggering $93.1 million at auction to an unknown buyer, imagining that buyer was Miles.

"He's got the best taste that his money can buy," quips Heinrichs. "There's an eclectic mix of some of the finest artwork in the world. It just all goes to his bragging rights as a rich man and a disruptor — all very controversial and over the top. Miles himself does not necessarily have great taste, but he certainly has the money to purchase other people's good taste."

Looking through a glass onion

John Wilson/NETFLIX

Much like the glass onion itself, Heinrichs created a set full of rich layers that he hopes people will notice upon repeat viewings.

Norton laughs describing his favorite element (visible behind the chandelier in the back of the shot above). "The Greek temple portion that the dining table is sitting against with a painted portrait of a Roman senator — that's Kanye," he reveals. "I've been amazed that nobody seems to be noticing that the Roman Senator over the dinner table is Kanye in a toga."

Then there's the glass statues that dot the atrium — Johnson points out that they are heavy with hidden meanings, including a statute that resembles the knife chair from the first film and a ton of Beatles lyric references, particularly ones to the song "Glass Onion," which lends the film its name (for starters, there's a strawberry for "Strawberry Fields" and a child on top of a hill for the lyric 'I told you about the fool on the hill'). See if you can spot them all.

Related content:

• Through the looking glass: Inside Knives Out sequel Glass Onion

• The stars of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery make merry at EW's cover shoot

• Dave Bautista says Daniel Craig was much happier on Glass Onion than he was playing James Bond