Kerry Frances is officially part of an elite group of “repeaters” in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out universe. After making her major motion picture debut as Sally in the original Knives Out, Frances returns in the third installment, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, as medical examiner Tammy. The film had it’s world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 50), just like the previous two films.
While her first character, Sally, was a people pleaser who was so overeager she famously fell asleep on the job, Tammy is her polar opposite. “Tammy is more like, ‘You’re bothering me. Why are you here?'” Frances explained, noting the fun dichotomy between playing someone so in control versus her previous over-committed role.
The expansion of Tammy’s role was largely a collaborative effort on set. Frances revealed that Daniel Craig was instrumental in broadening the character through improvisation. One of the film’s most talked-about moments, the “pancake” scene, where Tammy nonchalantly flips a body while snacking, evolved from this playful environment. Despite her petite stature requiring a stunt double for the actual heavy lifting, the nonchalance Frances brought to the scene has already made Tammy a fan favorite.
Returning to the Knives Out World
Suhaila (Temple of Geek): This is your second movie that you’ve done in the “Knives Out “universe. You did “Knives Out“ and then now “Wake Up Dead Man“. What’s it been like to play two characters that are so wildly different, but both being really iconic and having pivotal scenes that you’re a part of?
Kerry Frances: Oh, it’s incredible. I mean, it’s an actor’s dream, right? To have not only a writer-director that you really click with who believes in you and gives you these roles, but also that they’re such good stories and they’re such good scripts. And you know, outside of Daniel Craig, Noah Segan, Jospeh Gordon-Levitt has voiceover in all of them and then me—like that’s it. We’re the repeaters. It’s really an incredible group to be part of and something that just still I marvel over and I don’t take for granted.
And the girls are really fun to play. Sally in “Knives Out”, she was so overeager. She was such a people pleaser, she was ready to go. She was going to stay there, even if it meant falling asleep—like she was committed. And Tammy is more like, “You’re bothering me. Why are you here? You need something?” And I’m in control. So the dichotomy between the two is really fun to play. And just an incredible experience. I hope we get to make many, many more of these.
On Fans Recognizing her Return
Suhaila: I hope you get to be in all of them, one of those recurring actors in different roles. Just being so cool and being alongside Daniel Craig and then the rest of the cast. I really liked seeing that you were coming back for this one, playing a completely different character, in a different setting.
Frances: I didn’t even realize that people would notice or care. I was just excited to go back and act. And so the volume of people that have found me on social media, or have found a way to say to me, “Oh, my God, you’re the girl that was in the first one, and you were the lawyer.” I forget that this is really becoming a universe in and of itself.
There are fans who watch these movies over and over and over. And they know exactly who I am. They know all of the little inside jokes. Years ago, Rian referred to me as the “Queen of law stuff” online. It is wild to me that anyone knows what that is. And so when I tell you every single day, someone refers to me as “Queen of law stuff,” or “the Queen of law stuff, you’re in the new one.” I can’t even—I have people say, “well, now I’m gonna watch it because you’re in it.” And that to me, I was like, “Oh, my gosh, we made it,” like that is such an incredible feeling. I’m so grateful.
“Flip the Meat” Scene
Suhaila (Temple of Geek): We have to talk about “flip the meat”. The entire scene got a really big reaction out of the theater. The nonchalance on display. From the line delivery by Daniel Craig, then you coming in being like, “Oh, yeah, pancake him.” You had the snack in your hand, you just popped it in your mouth and flipped the body like it was nothing. We were all sort of feeling what Jud was, being horrified, but also can’t help but laugh. Walk me through that scene. How did it come about? How did Tammy come about? How did that scene evolve? How did the character evolve from the first draft of the script?
Kerry Frances: Totally. And thank you for telling me that, that is so incredible to hear. I only saw it in theaters during the LA premiere. But hearing everyone scream and squeal and freak out and linger, like you said, was one of the coolest moments of my life.
Rian and I were talking about “Poker Face” season two. He was telling me some ideas he had for roles and that he wanted to do something really big for me in season two. I hesitantly said, “I’m so excited about that. And I’m so excited about the next “Knives Out”.” And I was wondering, where does that leave me? Like, is there something that you’re seeing in the “Wake Up Dead Man” movie? And he said he wasn’t sure if there was anything for me or Noah, which was very telling for me because Noah especially has been with him in literally everything, but that he was working on it. And then the next thing I knew there was a script in my inbox.
When I read the script, even before he told me, Tammy jumped out at me and I thought, “Oh, that’s my role.” I just knew her, I understood her. But of course, I don’t want to ever be presumptuous—like he’s been sending me scripts for almost half my life. So it doesn’t necessarily mean “Hey, there’s a part for you.” It’s just, “Hey, read this, what do you think?” And so when he did tell me he was thinking Tammy, I was like, “Okay, that’s going to be her.” And she didn’t have a name at first; he did give me a name, he gave me some more things to do.
Improvising with Daniel Craig
Frances: Daniel actually was really the person behind expanding the role because he remembered me and he was so happy to see me. It was such a nice reunion, which is so cool and amazing. He just jumped in and basically was improvising with me. He didn’t really stick with what was on the page for my scene. Aside from the “pancake” and the body flip, and the food in my mouth—those were like the key items.
We brought in the stunt guy to help me flip it because there was no way, I’m very petite. There was not a way for me to be able to do it on my own. That thing was heavy and very fragile, you know, so I didn’t want to fling a body part off in trying to flip it myself.
Then Daniel just started playing when we were filming, just calling out “Tammy.” He made it so everyone heard the character’s name. That was all Daniel. He made it so that we were playing back and forth. And what wound up in the final edit, I think is really great. It was so fun to just have Daniel Craig of all people, essentially saying, “I see you. And we’re going to send this and I’m going to play a little.” And he knows Benoit so deeply that he can do that. He just becomes Benoit. He knows he would be “jelly, jelly, jelly,” that’s Benoit. And it was incredible to watch it go from one line without a name into what it turned into. Full thanks to Rian and Daniel working together to make sure it was something bigger for me.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is available to stream on Netflix.
Read more of our interviews and coverage of the films that premiered at TIFF50.
