Only Murders in the Building star Meryl Streep took an unconventional approach to landing her role in the mystery-comedy show’s third season, according to director John Hoffman.
In an interview with Variety, Hoffman, who directed Season 3’s first two episodes, revealed that Streep phoned her future co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short and asked to join the cast. “[Executive producers] Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal and I, after Season 2, got together and started talking about this opener that introduced this actress [character] into the world,” he recalled. “I said to Dan, ‘Well, what would be dreamy for the person who never got their break, is if Meryl Streep played this.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, good luck with that, John.’ And then it was a matter of two weeks that Meryl was calling Marty and Steve, just to say that she likes the show.”
“[Streep] told me later, ‘I have daughters who are actresses. I just go to them and I say, ‘Here’s what you do. If you’re having trouble with getting the work you want to be doing, just call up the show you love and tell them you’d like to be on it!'” Hoffman continued, adding that he pointed out such a tactic is only an option for an actor of Streep’s caliber. “She said, ‘Yeah, that doesn’t work that way for most, I know.'” Streep’s portrayal of struggling stage performer Loretta Durkin has generated considerable hype around Only Murders in the Building Season 3 ever since co-lead Selena Gomez announced the three-time Oscar winner’s involvement in January 2023.
How Only Murders in the Building S3 Keeps Things Fresh
The addition of Streep and fellow A-lister Paul Rudd to Only Murders in the Building‘s line-up is one of several ways that the show’s creative team is trying to keep things fresh in the third season. Hoffman addressed how Season 3 avoids repeating Seasons 1 and 2 in the Variety interview, opining that the “theatrical identity” of Only Murders in the Building‘s third batch of episodes put a new slant on the dynamic between protagonists Charles (Martin), Oliver (Short) and Mabel (Mora). The director also said that the Only Murders in the Building cast and crew agreed to “lean in to the unexpected and to try things and take leaps” to ensure Season 3 never feels stale.
One such unexpected development was the part played by Rudd’s Ben Glenroy in the third season’s premiere, “The Show Must…”. The episode reveals that Ben survived his apparent death during the closing moments of the Season 2 finale, “I Know Who Did It,” only to bump him off for good just before the credits roll.
New episodes of Only Murders in the Building Season 3 premiere on Hulu Tuesdays.
Source: Variety