How Janelle Monáe Kept Track of Her Characters In “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”

GRAMMY-nominated musician, author, actor and fashion icon Janelle Monáe talks to Stephen about the complex acting challenge she faced in her latest film, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” Stick around for more with Janelle Monáe and check out the film, streaming now on Netflix.
#Colbert #JanelleMonáe #GlassOnion
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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is the premier late night talk show on CBS, airing at 11:35pm EST, streaming online via Paramount+, and delivered to the International Space Station on a USB drive taped to a weather balloon. Every night, viewers can expect: Comedy, humor, funny moments, witty interviews, celebrities, famous people, movie stars, bits, humorous celebrities doing bits, funny celebs, big group photos of every star from Hollywood, even the reclusive ones, plus also jokes.

[@Tao_Tology]

It is SOOOOOOOO difficult to give her the praise she deserves for her work in this film without spoiling the story.

[@Fluuuv]

She is amazing.

[@Otaking009]

You could say "She works twice as hard as her co-stars."

[@sephoramina]

I mean the title of the video already says she plays more than one character! 😂😂

[@Tao_Tology]

@@sephoramina Yeah, that's the extent of what happens in the film.

[@sephoramina]

@@Tao_Tology I enjoyed her characters so much!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Janelle Monáe was such a perfect fit for ‘Glass Onion’. Absolutely fabulous!

[@janekihm5119]

I need to watch!

[@tyaarmstrong2751]

She was amazing indeed, the rest of the cast was great too.

[@KacperLipa]

Janelle is truly an icon 💞💖💜 Her words are so smart and her voice is so beautiful. Can't wait to see what she will do next, so excited !!! 💫

[@tiffanyanderson9437]

I looove her voice. I heard her live once at an outdoor concert and the way her reverberated throughout the park was incredible!

[@adamlord]

Colbert really is the ultimate host, this was a smooooth interview with Monae

[@georgiam2259]

Agree but why is the studio soooo cold?

[@monikajcm5563]

Beautiful, talented, rule breaker, but soft, humble, kind, introspective…the sparkle in the smile suggests depths we’ll never know. Don’t ever pigeon hole this young lady 🥰

[@yougotbitchslapped]

I was thinking the opposite. She came across as arrogant, self-righteous, and pretentious as hell. She has a very nice voice, though.

[@Bsmiley333]

I 've seen J.M. perform 4 times, and she's got Prince level captivating talent and musical brilliance.

[@markbraunstein58]

All glammed up and still totally genuine. So impressive

[@landonfolken03]

She was amazing in Glass Onion and she is absolutely stunning. That dress is gorgeous.

[@airons1895]

I remember seeing her perform twice, back in the day, at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia and immediately fell in love with her music, her black and white signature clothing style and her swooped up hairdo! AWESOME! Her energy was off the chain! I purchased her Metropolis CD and even got her to autograph it! She is a "triple threat"for sure!

[@renegomez3061]

her best line was in hidden figures. " I have a right to see fine in every color ".

[@edgebe]

she is sooo classy, it is braking the scale...such a distinct and subtle intelect

[@raeneal3825]

She is so REAL! It's nice seeing someone who isn't hiding what they really want to say. It's also awesome seeing her with Grace Jones. The 2 of them are fierce, fearless firecrackers!

[@alifc1082]

Heard her sing, don't think I've ever heard her talk... Such a warm voice to complement that sharp style she has

[@AntoinetteGenesis]

That's one bad ass outfit she has on. Great interview....love her Energy & whole vibe!

[@solidsnake58]

I had never heard of Janelle Monae until she did Marc Maron's WTF podcast. Within 5 minutes I was completely intrigued by this woman. I sought out her album The ArchAndroid and found it to be an epic, ambitious, and beautiful concept album. Then I saw she was going to be headlining the Knives Out sequel, and of course, knocked that performance out of the park. She's so cool and I'm looking forward to discovering more of her acting and music.

[@tishw4576]

Love her so much. Her performance is excellent.

[@liminaljay3311]

She was phenomenal. Honestly everything she does is amazing

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

Loved her when I first saw her on what I think was one of her first tv performances singing and dancing, she fascinated me from the beginning and then to find out what a terrific actress she is with "Hidden Figures," one of my favorite films of the past 25 yrs. She is a Phenom. Multi-talented human.

[@WallOfScience]

Was it Star Gate: Universe? That's where I first saw her.

[@cleverusername9369]

She is the embodiment of elegance.

[@yepisaidit1507]

She's gorgeous!!

[@davebertoletti]

Great singer, very good actress, style icon…I mean, she has it all.

[@yougotbitchslapped]

Actually she was the worst actor in the film, except maybe Dave Bautista. She's not winning any awards for that. They could have gotten any one of thousands of better actresses for the role.

[@LadyAstarionAncunin]

And musician!

[@Hbirdo]

Stephen IS the Perfect Host! ❤

[@josephc8804]

I can’t get enough of her laugh.

[@phasm42]

Glass Onion was really great!

[@mikeyu5004]

She seems like a really chill woman. I would like to hang out with her.

[@pilargonzalez8442]

Now I MUST see the movie, love Janelle!! 💕

[@dtishman]

She was so good in that.

[@beadybaby]

That's perfect! Janelle is the energy life force baby of Grace Jones. *mind*blown*

[@thecourtlyalchemist]

She was the best part of the whole movie for me- and it was a very good movie with lots of good actors.

[@amygeyer1166]

Had a huge crush on Grace Jones in the 80’s. So lovely that Janelle is close.

[@crimsonstar108]

Love this gorgeous Electric Lady! I've been a fandroid since 2010

[@serendipity628]

Janelle is stunning.

[@TheChonaman]

Brillant interview.

[@robertocolvard1923]

I love her 😩😍

[@naninolovyou6388]

She is gorgeous! His loss

[@Fluuuv]

She's bisexual so could be a her.

[@jacobgarrity651]

I saw her in Hidden figures and Moonlight and Harriet Tubman movie and now Knives Out 2 Janelle is an amazing Actress and really famous Singer and dancer

[@nicolebrown1927]

I'm so glaaaad to find out Janelle Monet is my SPIRIT ANIMAL! I got so happy when she expressed how she feels about onions 😝! I started clapping while having a smile I couldn't contain because every time I let somebody know how much I hate onions or when I'm ordering food with no onions, people always look at me like I'm a martian that just slipped and fell walking down the steps of my spaceship or somethin!🤣 Lemme tell you guys how my disdain for onions began, 🤔🙄🥺I remember it like yesterday y'all 😁............. ( MY FLASHBACK BEGINS ) When I was a kid like in the 5th grade , I had a classmate who always smelled so bad and she use to love to eat a raw onion with hot sauce😳and it was horrifying! The part of Janelle Monet's hatred of onions that I think is similar to mine is when she mentioned apples because that smelly onion loving girl would hold the onion in her hand and would eat it like it was an APPLE after she peeled it and put the hot sauce on it😫🤢! So y'all, just imagine a person that's already FUNKY and eating raw onions like they goin outta style like that 🤨, chiiillle ol girl funkameter use to be off the CHARRRTZ!😫😭🤢🤮🤕

[@Kap3lka]

😂😂

[@squee599]

Yes! I hate onions too! I was so happy when she said that!!!

[@TriniCanoAdventures]

She is absolutely amazing..... #ThatIsAll

[@wycliffe_ndiba]

Something tells me there's a bit of them imitating Benoit Blanc that has been edited out after Janelle says 'layers upon layers upon layers'

[@maureenparker6185]

She is a wonderful actress.

[@acmelka]

That dominatrix, vampire, cat in the hat look is going to be BIG!

[@TheKavanagw]

Jidenna slaps, thanks for introducing him to us all Janelle!

[@hoptop77]

Long live the chief

[@Neojhun]

It was other way around for me. Her ArchAndroid era is legendary. Then later she introduced us to Jidenna. I was impressed again.

[@Hailstormand]

Her monologue now hits differently when REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED

[@kathybell6268]

What a gorgeous dress!

[@ladynoluck]

Now that’s a weird visual glitch!

[@ooscardls]

oh i tough my computer was bugging the line XD

[@edwardlow7554]

I have found that Janelle Monáe been so interesting and entertaining during this media tour But talking about Grace Jones.. just moved her way up in my list of great people

[@edwardlow7554]

check that, I love onions

[@janekihm5119]

Had to stop midway. I‘ll be back after I watch the movie! 🙈🙉🙊

[@jasonjackson4555]

My god she is 🔥🔥

[@sharmanr.hankins8372]

Janelle Monáe ❤

[@margholtz]

Her fashion sense is everything

[@miraclewalkerproductions]

Incredible! What an amazing talent and holy €#€

[@noeliadurand7212]

I love her!!

[@cheftekniqakabuletteborn8127]

god Jenelle is so talented and yikz im bitten my finger she is so beautiful

[@mightyone3737]

Onion is a staggeringly good vegetable, but I remember distinctly not liking caramelized onion when I was a kid, my parents loved them and made them regularly, now I make them periodically because I like them myself. I didn't like raw onion until I tried it on a sandwich when I was older, at which point I realized onions were in fact delicious and I was wrong about them. I'm not sure if I prefer garlic or onion, but most of my frying pan suppers involve both nicely fried up. Now I'm wonder how Janelle feels about leeks, that's not technically an onion and they taste spectacular, especially in a soup or when fried. Frying leek is one of my favorite smells, when you first add it it just smells so divine.

[@DuelScreen]

I don't like raw onions but I love cooked onions. I prefer sweet onions or Vidalia onions because they have less bite.

[@coldude2559]

One attractive lady 😍

[@JohnDoe-fu6cx]

"gimmie a blanket im cold" **puts blanket over only part shes has covered**

[@nolovelost4020]

🤣🤣 Well the outfit has to be on show dahling!

[@dayegilharno4988]

:) Also: How was a cape not part of that outfit, with her being one of the few people on this planet who could actually pull that look off?!

[@Liqtor]

I've also hear OGRES have layers, like an onion. It was a reliable source.

[@alekiny]

how sad, i love onions and raw is great

[@australianguitarchannel4237]

She’s just 🔥… Smokin

[@JustDeJane]

QUEEN

[@faustocardy5018]

Was I the only one who yelled "You can't handle the truth.." at the end of her clip? 😂

[@Ben-ut1xb]

Lol that was a good benoit blanc impression at the end

[@Bduh2]

Grace Jones is indeed the original for a lot of things positive and quite daring.

[@tiktikivid]

GRACE!!!

[@Klovar]

5:36 panic time, I thought my phone screen was broken

[@tefweebz]

I love her so much. I guess I’m confused, because I watched this the day I released and I thought the twin angle was a secret. They outright say she is a twin here. Don’t get me wrong, her talent needs to be highlighted, but being surprised that one of my favorite humans was playing multiple characters added to my enjoyment.

[@TroysSweetCornhole]

I remember covid episodes he was just sitting by his desk it was so depressing.

[@Fluuuv]

I actually loved those episodes lol

[@LindaC616]

Considering what we were all going through and that we couldn't get outside, I appreciated the fact that all of these people at late-night made it possible for us to see something new and that alot of it didn't have to do with politics. Some of it did, some of it didn't. But had we had know all their alternative than reruns every night, it would have been much more depressing than it was. So I will embrace the imperfections and tell them thank you

[@aiai-j7i]

I found those cozy and comforting, actually.

[@jonathanmoore3130]

How is she always flawless?

[@o.b.7217]

But Stephen...you don't need her hat...you have your own "BIG FURRY HAT"!

[@sybaritesphynx8057]

5:40 anyone else see the VHS-like distortion lines on the top of the screen? I thought my laptop screen broke 😭

[@philipmonihan8222]

With the blanket, it looks like she's got this kind of neo-Victorian thing going on. Stylin'!

[@thecourtlyalchemist]

Proof she looks great in everything.

[@philipmonihan8222]

@@thecourtlyalchemist Indeed.

[@DJRockinRob]

Can someone (at the show) take a look at the "anomaly" that starts on screen @ 5:36 and continues to 6:43? Thank you.

[@lydias2012]

I agree Grace Jone is the OG.

[@TheSuzberry]

She was the perfect Mona Lisa.

[@tluets]

No point in having a Spoiler Warning from Stephen if the spoiler is in the video title

[@LindaC616]

They were referring to the fact that one of her character's is the twin sister of the other. You don't learn that until about half an hour or 40 minutes in.

[@tluets]

@@LindaC616 I'm saying Stephen verbally prefaces the part of the interview with the spoiler, but the spoiler itself is in the title of the youtube video

[@LindaC616]

@@tluets and I am saying the fact that she plays more than one character is not in itself the complete spoiler.

[@LindaC616]

@tluets oh. My. Goodness. I am saying that the title of the video does not contain ALL of the spoiler!

[@tluets]

@@LindaC616 Thanks for the clarity... I will watch the movie eventually!!

[@KK-fi6ms]

The reason I found her insufferable in the first half of the movie, was also the reason I greatly appreciated her acting after watching the second half. That is all I can say without spoiling anything.

[@grainofsalt2113]

she had to be like that in the first half

[@xlnyc77]

TRACKING !!!!!

[@RLLE-dl3oy]

I should have heeded that SPOILER WARNING - 💀

[@druidictroy1157]

My cousin convinced me a scoop of lard was vanilla ice cream. That was 45 years ago and I still haven't forgiven him.

[@blessingsoutlaw]

Can you still get him/her back? 😜

[@druidictroy1157]

@@blessingsoutlaw LOL!! I wish...that would be an awesome pay back to hit him 45 years later! But I've lost touch with that part of the family.

[@LadyAstarionAncunin]

I'm SUPER happy for her success, but I do miss Cindi Mayweather. I hope she graces our ears and the screen again someday.

[@haemusic1]

Lovin' JM

[@stormboss57]

I am seeing a weird scan line error in the footage.

[@weksauce]

weird horizontal scanning noise on this video

[@antoniaezac4653]

Awesome! Just to remind everyone, though, that in the series Fringe (2008-2013), actress Anna Torv played Olivia Dunham's doppelgänger from another universe pretending to be the original Olivia, while the real Olivia was being held captive and drugged to convince her that she was the doppelgänger-and that over a span of 8 episodes of season 3. How's that for mind-boggling acting?

[@Arthur_Pendragon2022]

She looks Heavenly 😉

[@apok1980]

Onions are the best. You’re not supposed to snack on them, unless they are fried in a batter. Proper use of onions when cooking makes the dish.

[@Phoenix-nl2ut]

She reppin Kansas City ks

[@Bduh2]

Want to get rid of that onion taste, or anything bad you don't like, eat some parsley it will neutralize it. (unless you don't like parsley)

[@heartpalette]

Somebody reply so i dont forget to watch the rest of the interview, kaythanksbye 😘

[@thecourtlyalchemist]

Hey did you watch the rest?

[@geek-elite]

A spoiler right in the video title... 😬

[@ExoTheDrakoXIII]

Grace Jones!!! Another one that the Americans deemed as "black", "crazy" or "criminal"... Such a shame...smh... But I am going to watch this Glass Onion because I need to see the Pretenders get beat at their own game : )

[@gcvrsa]

I'm sure a lot of people would love to hear Stephen's take on the controversy that is brewing over Hasbro's plans to drastically alter the Open Gaming License for Dungeons & Dragons.

[@p.f.912]

gorgeous lady.

[@robertvernon789]

Wow.

[@phillytiger]

Spoiler Alert: don’t read the title

[@drtrowb]

That butterfly top is everything!

[@LindaC616]

Her passions are rarely off. He wore one recently on I think it was Fallon. That was the first time I've ever seen her in anything less than impeccable fashion

[@francesinez126]

Wait, did Colbert just say, "your people"?! (@2:25) What the...?🙃

[@zazooplazz]

We watched "Glass Onion" on Christmas Eve (per request of my 22-year-old son), while I was slicing onions. 😨😢

[@Jack_Wolfe]

5:58 errr.. anyone else see lasers being shot across stage? Lol I think there’s a something weird in the video encoding or in the actual broadcast.

[@jennyferrios245]

Very pretty girl. Loved the movie. She was really good in her characters. She has stunning in this film.