Do you remember Nick and Audrey Spitz? In 2019, this New York policeman and hairdresser elucidated an incredible murder case in various parts of Europe, all over glamour each other. It was in the police comedy Murder Mystery (Murder and Mystery). And one thing is certain, the Netflix platform has not forgotten the couple played by Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. With good reason: the film was a big popular success. So here are the two stars back in Murder Mystery 2 (Murder Mystery 2), with more murders, suspects, and therefore stars to embody them. The gifted Jodie Turner-Smith is in the lot.
“To be completely honest, I thought it was really going to be the fun, and that was the main attraction for me. I also said to myself that I had never been seen before in this kind of films, moreover with Jen and Adam, fucking geniuses and legends [«fucking geniuses and legends »] comedy. I have not been disappointed ! “says, during a videoconference interview, the ex-English model revealed as an actress in the excellent Queen Slim And After Yang.
When asked, in this regard, if his approach to an ensemble comedy like Murder mystery 2 diverges from that favored for an intimate drama, Jodie Turner-Smith replies without hesitation: “The process does not really change. I mean… at the end of the day, it’s always about finding who the character is, finding their truth, regardless of the context or the tone of the film. »
To be completely honest, I thought it was going to be really fun, and that was the main attraction for me. I also said to myself that no one had ever seen me before in this kind of film.
On the plot side, Murder Mystery 2, we reconnect with Nick and Audrey when their new private detective agency is at its worst. In fact, after the favorable publicity received for their exploits in the case of the “billionaire murdered on his yacht”, the spouses multiplied the disastrous investigations. Also, when the Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar), a suspect in the first film who has become a friend in the second, invites them to his sumptuous wedding, all expenses paid, Nick and Audrey hasten to flee their financial worries.
But now, on the eve of his wedding, the maharajah is kidnapped. And the corpses pile up, take 2.
The “fine step”
Of the gallery of shady or potentially ill-intentioned individuals, the Countess Sekou, played by Jodie Turner-Smith, is certainly the least sympathetic. Even that is a mild understatement.
“It’s funny to act mean, precisely because it’s funny: the result is funny. In my private life, I don’t think I’m a mean person; meanness is something that makes no sense to me. But in the context of a movie, a comedy like this, the very idea of one person being mean to everyone for no reason is hilarious. »
This means that on reading the script, Jodie Turner-Smith was immediately seduced by the character offered to her. Add to that costumes of an impossible luxury and murderous replicas: who says better?
“I think I immediately had a good read of the Countess. Subsequently, with my acting coach Lee Christiansen, whom I adore and on whom I relied a lot to find my bearings in this comic register, we added small nuances. But in short, I believe that my way of playing the countess in the film corresponds quite a bit to my initial perception of her. »
After the credits of the first Murder Mystery lined up well-known names such as Luke Evans, Gemma Arterton, Terence Stamp and Dany Boon, the second is not to be outdone, since, apart from Jodie Turner-Smith, we are entitled to the presence of Mark Strong, Mélanie Laurent, and again from Dany Boon, who is reprising his role as an Interpol agent.
Crimes and Stars
In this regard, Murder Mystery 2 resorts, like its predecessor, to the august formula of the light detective film, exotic, and above all, laden with stars. Formula which had its heyday in the 1970s with a host of successful adaptations of Agatha Christie’s novels, such as Murder on the Orient Express (The crime of the Orient Express, by Sidney Lumet; 1974) and Death on the Nile (Death on the Nile, by John Guillermin; 1978), titles that Kenneth Branagh has also redone recently, giving the said formula a second wind.
The triumph of Knives Out (At loggerheadsby Rian Johnson), released a few months after Murder Mystery in 2019, contributed to this second golden age, and its sequel, Glass Onionin 2022, confirmed the public’s enthusiasm.
To stay in the theme of the stars, even before the success of the first Murder Mysterythe names of Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston had already been associated with the cinema, in this case in the romantic comedy Just Go with It (Bad liar, by Dennis Dugan; 2011). Great friends in the city since then, Sandler and Aniston share an obvious bond on screen.
“I like to call it ‘The Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston Cinematic Universe,'” says Jodie Turner-Smith. I was very excited at the prospect of being part of it. And it works! I agree that it’s fascinating to watch up close, because they’re just too hilarious. Their chemistry as performers, as friends, playing this couple, it was really captivating, but it was also really difficult, because there were plenty of times when I tended to become a spectator and I had to pull myself together in order to stay in the scene, in my character. »
As for the identity of the kidnapper or the kidnapper with homicidal aims, is it the Countess Sekou? One thing is certain: she is a memorable suspect, whether or not she did the trick.
The film Murder Mystery 2 will appear on Netflix starting March 31.