Selena Gomez on season 5 of ‘Only Murders in the Building’
Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short reveal season 5 surprises and new cast dynamics.
In each season of Hulu’s comedy mystery series “Only Murders in the Building,” private eye-like podcasters pool their wits to solve a killing plaguing the Arconia, their beloved Manhattan apartment building. But the puzzle that carries over from one season to the next is how much longer Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) and Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) will wear their investigative hats.
Season 5 of the Hulu comedy bows Sept. 9 (first three episodes, then weekly on Tuesdays), and in 10 episodes, the trio dives into the death of the building’s longtime doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca). In the Season 4 finale, released in October, a lifeless Lester was discovered in a fountain on the property after Oliver’s wedding to Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep). The new season also finds Charles trying online dating, Mabel butting heads with a former childhood friend and Oliver getting to know more about his bride.
“When you get involved with someone and it’s early in a relationship, you’re constantly discovering new things about them,” says Short, 75. Tabloid reports say Short and Streep are dating, but Short has described the two as “just very close friends.” That doesn’t stop Martin, 80, from having some fun at Short’s expense.
Oliver “has a whirlwind romantic relationship with Meryl Streep − oops, I mean, Loretta,” Martin says. “And then you’re trying to sort out, ‘Who is this person I married?’”
But the question we want answered is, could Season 5 be the end of “Only Murders”? Gomez, 33, who says she’s been able to “grow with” Mabel since the 2021 premiere, hopes the series will keep going. “I really hope that I can just keep evolving Mabel as I get older, because I want to do this for a long time,” she says.
“You can just be canceled,” Martin, a cocreator of the Emmy-winning series, says. “We believe we’re doing another season; we think so. But you have to live season by season. And even if it was canceled tomorrow, we would have to say, ‘We had a great, great run.’ … We loved what we were doing. It was a great way to spend five, six years.”
Since the show began filming in 2020, the cast has grown closer. “We’ve just gotten used to each other a little bit more,” Gomez deadpans. “We can deal with each other better.”
“Steve and I,” Short says, “obviously we’re close friends when we started. We didn’t know Selena. We are all very, very close friends now.”
“Although you never call,” Martin is quick to interject.
“That’s true, because I’m busy,” Short replies.
“But actually,” Martin clarifies, “our first season, we were very comfortable. But the thing that has changed over the last five seasons is that Selena is able to get us back off set.”
“She’s become meaner,” Short says, playing along.
“She’s become meaner,” Martin agrees, “and insulting to us.”
The banter causes Gomez to giggle: “I didn’t get where you were going with that.”