Only Murders EP talks episode 7, fight between Melissa McCarthy and Meryl Streep

After realizing that the season four murderer has been watching the trio in last week’s episode of “Only Murders in the Building,” Charles, Oliver and Mabel leave the Arconia and New York City to go to the house of Charles’ sister Doreen to go into hiding on Long Island. who is portrayed by Melissa McCarthy.

Showrunner John Hoffman told TheWrap that working with the “Bridesmaids” actress on the Hulu comedy has been a dream of his for years and was previously upended by the pandemic. (He declined to reveal details about her role at the time.)

“I just love her so much. I think she is extremely talented both comically and dramatically. I tried to get her on the show a few years ago, and that was in the middle of the Corona crisis. There were a lot of complications and we both looked at each other and said, ‘We can’t do this now, can we?'” Hoffman said.

“As far as scheduling goes, with this incredible group of people, it’s always a dance of, ‘Wait a minute, okay.’ Wait, no, not available. Who is available now?’ But that’s the window we have. This is Meryl Streep in an episode, so that was what we had committed to when we shot this, no matter what, plus this incredible collection of actors that we wanted for this episode. And then, lo and behold, Melissa’s schedule opened up when we were really last minute,” he added.

Hoffman quickly called McCarthy to explain the role, to which she immediately agreed.

“From that point on, when I described the character and the story, she literally said, ‘I’m dropping the phone.’ I can’t believe what I’m hearing. That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God. Really? I’m so excited.'”

It didn’t take long for McCarthy to fully empathize with the character.

“I’m telling you, she’s just come into full bloom, just an absolute genius. She had a bag of wigs she wanted to try on and got the one she wanted. She had French tips for feet and hands. She had a Long Island look and feel,” Hoffman said. “And then Dana Covarrubias dressed the hell out of her in one day and she was Doreen from the start and brought insane, insane brilliance to the comedy and then kills you.”

Doreen’s quirks include an obsession with collecting dolls, which she developed as a coping strategy after her adult children moved out of the house.

“I didn’t know that Melissa had her own doll obsession/collection that she shared with me. “I actually saw her at the Rose Bowl Flea Market early one morning, and I didn’t know her personally at the time, and she was looking at a collection of old Barbie dolls and ended up buying them,” Hoffman said. “So it may have been subconscious, but it was an idea before we were sure she could make it with us.”

McCarthy’s action as Doreen ultimately culminates in a violent fight with Meryl Streep’s Loretta over Martin Short’s Oliver, in which both actresses were immediately involved.

“When I first told Meryl that you were going to fight for Oliver in this real fight, she put her hands above her head and replied, ‘I’m putting my money on myself,’ which I really liked,” Hoffman said.

After seeing the scene planned by the show’s stunt coordinators, Streep and McCarthy decided to abandon the original plan.

“Melissa and Meryl looked at each other like they were in the WWE and said, ‘Yeah, I don’t think this goes far enough.’ “We have some ideas about what we want to do.” And they both started rolling up their sleeves and figuring it out ourselves,” Hoffman said.

“I was terrified and I watched Meryl turn over the sofa and thought, ‘Wait a minute, we’re going to film this, which means we’re going to do it many times.’ I can’t. What do we do?’ And they just said, ‘Get out.’ They took it over and it was a party, they did it all themselves,” he continued. “Maybe in every moment there’s a shot of a double, but beyond that it’s all of them and I still can’t believe we have this madness. But it was great fun and they both really enjoyed it.”

After McCarthy and Meryl finish setting the scene, Zach Galifiankis, Eva Longoria, and Eugene Levy confirm what audiences may have suspected in the previous episode: that the killer has been watching the trio since Season 1.

They match the “I’m watching you” lyrics to the same handwriting and note that was posted on Jan’s door in Season 1, and also suggest that the unidentified perpetrator who poisoned Oliver’s dog Winnie is likely the same suspect. And Charles realized that Sazz had figured everything out and was trying to warn him before she was murdered.

Howard also learned and immediately notified the group that Dudenoff’s checks had been cashed by none other than the Westies – leading to another twist.

“When we put together our doppelganger trio, I really wanted to take into account that they had perspective and that our trio underestimated them. And then they should investigate the way Meryl says: “Actors are investigators” – and acknowledge that and get to the point. “And the idea of ​​that really felt right to me at the end of that episode because after all the craziness, they pulled off one of the biggest twists of the season in terms of the case and woke up our trio,” Hoffman said. “And then there are big steps ahead from this West Tower that will change history and change everything you thought you knew.”

New episodes of “Only Murders in the Building” arrive Tuesdays on Hulu.