Familiar Faces Star in Disney’s Only Murders

Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short clue us in on their new murder mystery comedy

In a career spanning over five decades, Steve Martin has tackled most art forms. Film? Nailed it. Standup and sketch comedy? Done that. Music? Got the Grammys to prove it. Writing? Please—books and plays. But with his new series, Only Murders in the Building, Martin says he’s treading new ground. “This is one of the most unusual things I’ve ever done because it actually has a plot,” quips the actor. “I usually don’t do things with plots.”

Jokes aside, what sets apart Martin’s latest collaboration with old friend Martin Short is their new third amigo: Selena Gomez. “I had no idea who they were,” deadpans the 29-year-old pop star. “I’m kidding. I was very nervous, to be honest. I didn’t know what to expect, because I find that comedy people can sometimes be a little bit distant, so I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. And now I have these two crazy uncles in my life that basically give me boy advice and I sing rap songs to them.”

The unlikely trio play New York neighbours Charles (Martin), Oliver (Short) and Mabel (Gomez), who become obsessed by a suspicious death that occurs in their Upper West Side building and decide not just to solve the crime but create a podcast about their investigation. Alas, they’re no Columbos.

“What I love about the end product of the show is the three different energies of the actors,” says Short. “I kind of play it very real. Steve goes way over the top. And Selena grounds everything in this kind of dry, hilarious delivery. The combination, I think, is perfect.”

For Gomez, who started working at the age of 10 and landed a starring role on Wizards of Waverly Place when she was just 12, the series is a departure from her previous television projects. “The level of sophistication of the material is the first reason why I wanted to do this,” says Gomez. “I signed my life away to Disney at a very young age. I was a kid;
I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just riding around on set and now I feel like a sponge and I soak up all the wisdom that I can. It’s really nice to be back on TV and it’s nice to be casted as my actual age, which never happens.”

The comedic murder mystery series, which Martin himself co-created with John Hoffman, was not always intended to be played for laughs. “It was conceived not for me and Marty Short and Selena Gomez; it was just conceived as an idea,” Martin explains. “It was actually conceived for older actors, and then Marty one day said to me, ‘Well, you’re old.’ The comedy came because of the casting. If you had cast three serious actors, it’d be a very different show.”

The series also includes fun guest appearances that should delight fans of film and stage. Short, however, points out that an iconic building on the Upper West Side can sometimes feel like cameo central. “When John Hoffman was first going up to meet Steve, who was on the elevator? [Comedian] Elaine May. That is a New York experience, where you just look and, ‘Oh, there’s Sting.’” On that note, Sting himself does make an appearance, and was more than happy to poke fun at himself and one of his more well-known songs. “It was in the script and of course he laughed,” recalls Short. “He improvised a part of that scene. He was really raring to go and happy to be there.”

In the years that Martin and Short have been acting together, they’ve gotten used to each other’s brand of comedy. But where Short never ceases to be amazed is Martin’s way of setting the mood on set. “His agenda is to make the set loose and happy because that’s the playground,” says Short. “He is never temperamental. He always knows his lines, and if he doesn’t, he does jokes about it that gets everyone laughing and then it becomes a better take. That’s the way it’s been since Three Amigos.”

Creating a filming environment where people are happy to go to work was something Gomez also noticed in her two co-stars. “How they lead a set is so commendable,” she says. “They are so humble and they are kind. They’ve set such an example for me. I love the way they talk to people. I love the way that they just come to set and make everybody feel good, and that makes me want to be that. Plus, I’m just so lucky. I just sit down and laugh all day.”

Only Murders in the Building streams Tuesdays on Disney+