Only Murders in the Building‘s executive producer and star Martin Short earned his first SAG Award nomination this morning for his turn in Hulu’s hit comedy, revealing while taking a break from production on Season 2 that it will feature appearances by Shirley MacLaine and Amy Schumer, and that Nathan Lane’s Teddy Dimas will, in fact, be returning.
“Before Christmas, [I shot scenes with] Shirley MacLaine and Amy Schumer,” he said. “The quality of actor that this show is attracting makes it endlessly fun to go to work.” (Lane’s Dimas is a neighbor and friend-turned-foe of the show’s leads, played by Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. Another recently announced addition to the Season 2 cast is Carnival Row‘s Cara Delevingne.)
The series produced by 20th Television watches as three strangers (Short, Martin and Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime suddenly find themselves caught up in one, as they investigate the mysterious death of a neighbor in their New York City apartment building. It was renewed for a second season in September and also today picked up a nom for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, with Martin likewise locking down his first.
Short, who this morning shot a scene with Tina Fey, said that this season’s first two episodes of ten were shot last month, with production currently underway on Episodes 3 and 4. He adds that he is “thrilled and honored” to have been recognized for a show that he loves and is “very proud” of, attributing part of its resonance to strong work from co-creator, EP and writer John Hoffman, EP Dan Fogelman (of This Is Us fame) and the writing team they assembled. “Steve and I have a long history and Selena is a brilliant addition to the show, but then what fuels it is this compelling whodunit,” says the actor. “You have the two going on at the same time and then you add the obsession with podcasts. I think all the stars lined up in the right direction to make this something that people wanted to see, and enjoyed seeing, and kept wanting to see, for the comedy and also the mystery of it.”
While Short says he and his longtime friend Martin are still doing “a lot of concerts together,” they have “not talked recently” about doing another comedy special, akin to Netflix’s 2018 release, Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life.
In conversation with Deadline, he also touched on his and Martin’s cameo in SNL‘s bizarre final episode of 2021, the plans for which were dramatically altered by the Covid surge. (The only cast member on set with host Paul Rudd was veteran Kenan Thompson, with Tom Hanks also stopping by for a show comprised of pre-recorded sketches and holiday throwbacks. Short and Martin appeared in a pre-recorded message while shooting Only Murders, as had originally been planned, to welcome Rudd to the show’s club of five-time hosts.)
“In an ideal world, we would have been there in person, but everyone’s taking it day by day, especially that show,” says Short. “There was some discussion—should the show be canceled, should it not?—and I loved that it went on because it showed the resilience of what that show is. It’s survived so many phases and tragedies. Its return after 9/11 was massively important, so I was happy to be part of that show.”
Hoffman and Martin created Only Murders in the Building, which is produced by 20th Television. Martin, Short, Gomez, Hoffman and Fogelman exec produce the series with Jamie Babbitt and Jess Rosenthal.
At this year’s SAG Awards, scheduled for February 27, Short and Martin will compete against one another in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, with Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) and the Ted Lasso duo of Jason Sudeikis and Brett Goldstein also in contention.
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