Only Murders in the Building: The Ultimate Murder Mystery Show With A-List Cast
Streaming has given TV murder mysteries a whole new lease of life, and no show has benefited more from this renaissance in the genre than Hulu’s flagship crime comedy-drama. While sleuth series tend to attract big-name cameos, this star-studded mystery show takes high-profile casting to the next level. In fact, it isn’t overstating things to say that Only Murders in the Building has the best cast in the history of its genre. Fronted by co-creator Steve Martin, alongside his old friend Martin Short and their new partner in crime Selena Gomez, this delightfully cozy murder mystery saga appears to get bigger and better with each passing season. As well as Martin’s best TV show and the funniest thing Short has done in decades, the series is currently the project atop Gomez’s impressive résumé. If that’s not enough, it’s shown us very different sides to Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd. If deciding the greatest murder mystery show came down solely to casting, there could only be one winner.
Only Murders In The Building Has An All-Time Great Cast
The wedding of Loretta (Meryl Streep) and Oliver (Martin Short) in Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Ep 10Image via Hulu
Leaving aside comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short, and pop superstar Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building has the most outrageously A-list supporting cast in television today. To Streep and Rudd and we can Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Tina Fey, Jane Lynch, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Richard Kind, and too many others to mention. It’s worth noting that the show has brought the likes of James Caverly and Teddy Coluca to prominence, too, in addition to giving veteran actors Michael Cyril Creighton and Jackie Hoffman their highest-profile roles in accomplished TV careers. This dazzling array of acting talent doesn’t even include guest appearances and cameos. The guest stars in season 5 of Only Murders in the Building alone would cause most other TV shows to break the bank. Renée Zellweger, Christoph Waltz and Keegan-Michael Key were the headline arrivals for the show’s 2025 release, even though Téa Leoni and Bobby Cannavale would be big enough names for most series.
Only Murders In The Building Cast Member
Character
Seasons
Steve Martin
Charles-Haden Savage
1–5
Selena Gomez
Mabel Mora
1–5
Martin Short
Oliver Putnam
1–5
Michael Cyril Creighton
Howard Morris
1–5
Meryl Streep
Loretta Durkin
3–5
Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Detective Donna Williams
1–5
Jane Lynch
Sazz Pataki
1–5
Amy Ryan
Jan Bellows
1–2, 4
Tina Fey
Cinda Canning
1–3, 5
Paul Rudd
Ben Glenroy, Glen Stubbins, L.E.S.T.R.
3–5
James Caverly
Theo Dimas
1–3, 5
Nathan Lane
Teddy Dimas
1–2, 5
Jackie Hoffman
Uma Heller
1–5
In season 4, Only Murders even made a self-mocking reference to the plethora of Hollywood stars lining up for cameo appearances in its latest episodes, by casting Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria and Zach Galifianakis as versions of themselves aiming to play the show’s protagonists Charles, Mabel and Oliver in a fictional movie about their podcast.
Charles (Steve Martin) and Eugene taking a selfie in Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Ep 10Image via Hulu
It’s safe to say that major murder mysteries boasting extraordinarily stellar casts is nothing new. We need only revisit the various Agatha Christie adaptations for the screen to see that the genre has always attracted the biggest stars. But no mystery TV show can compare with the seemingly endless list of celebrated names who feature in Only Murders. Not even the cast of The Thursday Murder Club, Netflix’s big-budget adaptation of Richard Osman’s hugely successful mystery novel, could hold a candle to the Hulu series. Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Naomi Ackie, Ben Kingsley and Jonathan Pryce are all well and good, but they’re ultimately trumped by Martin, Gomez, Short, Streep, and Lane.
Oscar Winners In Only Murders In The Building's Cast
Number Of Oscars
Movies Won For
Meryl Streep
3
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Sophie's Choice (1982), The Iron Lady (2011)
Shirley MacLaine
1
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Da'Vine Joy Randolph
1
The Holdovers (2023)
Dianne Wiest
2
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Bullets over Broadway (1984)
Christoph Waltz
2
Inglourious Basterds (2009),
Django Unchained (2012)
Renée Zellweger
2
Cold Mountain (2004), Judy (2020)
Moreover, it's instructive to compare Renée Zellweger’s season 5 cameo with her appearance in the award-winning 2002 movie Chicago, which also centers on a murder investigation, and famously gathered together one of the most glamorous casts in Hollywood history. Yet, in terms of both acting award wins and industry clout, Only Murders outdoes even this landmark big-screen musical.
Between them, the cast of the Hulu murder mystery have won a staggering total of 11 Oscars, 12 Emmys, 3 Tonys, and 5 Grammys. Chicago matches Only Murders in the Building for Grammy-winning actors, but its cast only has around half the total Oscar, Emmy and Tony wins.
Who Could Join OMITB For Season 6
Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez on the series Only Murders in the Building
For now, Hulu is keeping the guest stars for Only Murders in the Building season 6 a closely guarded secret, although we can hazard an educated guess at the country most of them call home. Since the show is moving to London for this latest season, we should expect plenty of British actors to join the cast.
Casting Sherlock’s Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, or Broadchurch’s David Tennant and Olivia Colman, would be a shrewd nod to the recent traditions of TV murder mysteries on the other side of the pod. Whether the team behind Only Murders in the Building goes in that direction with its next set of cameos remains to be seen.
Release Date
August 31, 2021
Network
Hulu
Showrunner
John Hoffman
Directors
Jamie Babbit, John Hoffman, Cherien Dabis, Chris Koch, Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman, Adam Shankman, Don Scardino, Jesse Peretz, Jessica Yu, Jude Weng, Chris Teague
Writers
Ben Smith, Matteo Borghese, Rob Turbovsky, Kristin Newman, Madeleine George, J. J. Philbin, Ben Philippe, Kirker Butler, Jake Schnesel, Peter Swanson, Stephen Markley, Rachel Burger, Kenny Schwartz, Rick Wiener, Valentina Garza, Elaine Ko, Tess Morris, Kim Rosenstock, Sas Goldberg, Thembi Banks
