Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | December 30, 2025
2007 was a year of independence for me. I moved to New York City to attend a theater conservatory and, unlike many of my classmates, I had my own room. My schedule was not beholden to my roommates or their activities, which is a nicer way to say I was on my own a lot for the first couple of months. However, my loneliness would result in me ending up in random places and doing things to make myself happy. One such excursion took place after class one day and involved me trekking to the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble (RIP) and purchasing Whenever You Need Somebody on CD.
I love Risk Astley unironically. When Rick Rolling began, I had already been on board for Never Gonna Give You Up for years. If anything, I was happy to see pop culture coalesce with my tastes, which still rarely happens. So, once I purchased that CD, I was blasting his hits from my room quite often, even as a joke, and people understood what I was referencing! It was great! Since then, anytime the singer is brought up, it brings a smile to my face, so I was grinning like an idiot when I saw Rian Johnson’s recent social media share.
The director is hot off the release of Wake Up Dead Man, the third Knives Out film, which I also loved. First and foremost, I’m a sucker for a “Good Priest” character when done well. So, I was enamored with Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh O’Connor, a good, conflicted man of the cloth who was tied up in the murder of an older priest. The whole cast was great, the movie kept me guessing the whole time, and when it ended, I was already excited to give it a rewatch. But first, a post on BlueSky about a scene featuring O’Connor caught my eye.
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
— Jay Hulme (@jayhulmepoet.bsky.social) December 29, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Poet Jay Hulme shared the above reveal: a scene in Wake Up Dead Man was filmed in a location that was also used in the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up. The scene in question involves O’Connor’s character being disciplined by his elders for cold-cocking another priest. He’s sitting in a beautiful hall, meant to be a gymnasium, that once bore witness to Rick Astley’s powerful voice and smooth moves. However, we don’t just have to take Hulme’s word for it (even though he’s clearly correct).
The reason I saw Hulme’s post to begin with was that director Rian Johnson had re-skeeted it (that’s still what we’re saying, yeah?) and confirmed the location. “This is true,” he explained, “and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares).” I’m sorry, Rian! If I were there, you wouldn’t have gotten blank stares! Only genuine enthusiasm!
