Co-creator and writer John Hoffman unpacks Paul Rudd’s new role, Mabel’s mounting insecurity and Meryl Streep’s unexpected connection to Loretta.
This review contains spoilers from the first two episodes of “Only Murders in the Building” Season 3, “The Show Must…” and “The Beat Goes On,” now streaming on Hulu.
When “Only Murders in the Building” picks up at the start of Season 3, fans aren’t greeted with the familiar faces of crime-solving trio Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short) and Charles (Steve Martin). Instead, they’re dropped into a 1962 production of “No Strings” on Broadway, seen through the eyes of a pigtailed 10-year-old later revealed to be actor (and murder suspect) Loretta Durkin, portrayed as an adult by Meryl Streep.
For series co-creator and writer John Hoffman, who also directed the first two episodes of the new season, meeting Streep for the first time was daunting — until she revealed a surprising connection to her character that put him immediately at ease.
“My nerves were off the charts,” Hoffman recalls during a Zoom with Variety ahead of the season premiere. “In the first moment, I’m walking her through the opening of the season, and I say, ‘We start on your character, and you’re 10 years old, and you’re seeing your first Broadway show coming from St. Louis with your mother. You’re watching “No Strings,” which is a Richard Rogers musical.’ Before I go any further, she cuts me off. She says, ‘I saw “No Strings” on Broadway. My mother took me when I was about 10. I’ll never forget it. Diahann Carroll was the star! She sang that beautiful song.’ And Meryl starts to sing it on the Zoom.”
Hoffman was stunned. “I was like, ‘I gotta stop you right now, because this is preposterous. I’m gonna send you the draft of Episode 1 after we get off this Zoom and you’re gonna see, the lyric you just sang to me now is on Page 1.’” Sure enough, in the season opener Loretta hears the line, “The sweetest sounds I’ll ever hear are still inside my head” as she watches on in awe. “That was the beginning of a very faithful, lovely time with her,” Hoffman adds. “And it all kind of leapt off from that first notion of that character.”
Coincidences aside, Hoffman never expected to land Streep for the role. “[Executive producers] Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal and I, after Season 2, got together and started talking about this opener that introduced this actress into the world.
