John Hoffman & Nathan Lane Talk Emmy Noms & Season 3 – Deadline

Season 2 of Hulu’s hit comedy series Only Murders in the Building racked up 11 Emmy Award nominations on Wednesday including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy for Martin Short, Outstanding Guest Actor Nathan Lane and Outstanding Comedy Series—all 3 were nominated in the same category in 2022.

John Hoffman, who co-created the series with Steve Martin, has 4 Emmy wins and a total of 19 nominations, the latest for writing the episode “I Know Who Did It.” Nathan Lane has a total of 8 nominations and one win. Both spoke to Deadline about how they’re celebrating and what we can expect from Season 3.

“I get old but [being nominated for an Emmy] never gets old. I feel very grateful and lucky just to be alive and that I’ll be invited to the big party,” Lane, who plays Teddy Dimas on the Only Murders in the Building told Deadline.

Added Hoffman on a separate call, “I just got a text from Nathan and I told him how much it feels like he’s a staple now and indefatigable. He was very sweet, his text said, ‘Thank you for the gift of Teddy Dimas.’ We’ve had such an incredible guest cast like Shirley MacLaine from Season 2 coming in and widening up that part in a way nobody else could. And Nathan doing the same with Teddy. There’s no way to predict the elevation that happens with the incredible cast and the magic of this trio pulling it all together. As sweet as these awards are, there’s nothing quite like the reward that we get every day making the show.”

For Teddy fans out, you might be a little disappointed when Season 3 drops on August 8. Lane revealed he was unavailable to shoot due to a prior commitment on Broadway, playing the character Irving in Pictures From Home alongside Danny Burstein and Zoë Wanamaker.

Fans of Lane won’t be disappointed for long. Before his theater duties, he shot Season 2 of the HBO period drama Gilded Age returning as the dashing and debonair Ward McAllister where he finds himself caught between an old friend and a new one.

“It’s a very juicy season filled with twists and turns and lots of surprises,” he teased. “Ward McAllister is involved in the Opera House war between the Academy and the new Metropolitan Opera House, and he’s caught between this disaster and he’s this double agent. He’s fond of Bertha Russell [Carrie Coons] but ultimately his sympathies stand with Mrs. Astor [Donna Murphy]. But he tries to work both sides of the streets—literally, at one point—and to keep everybody happy but he gets called out by both women.”

Back on Only Murders in the Building, Hoffman promises there will be plenty of surprises this season as well as new guest stars including a return of Paul Rudd, Jesse Williams, Ashley Park and the illustrious Meryl Streep. Additionally, Jeremy Shamos, Linda Emond and Wesley Taylor have been added as recurring stars.

The boss was tight-lipped as to who Streep will portray and whether or not she could be a killer or a murder victim by the season’s end, but neither did Streep while shooting earlier episodes.

“Thought out the season, we keep the scripts pretty tight, even with our main cast. I loved watching Meryl be attuned to that and come to that in some way throughout Season 3. She kept on wondering, ‘Am I going to die? Am I going to be the murderer?’ She had to know what was coming up next, it was funny,” said Hoffman.

The good news is, Teddy Dimas could return if the show is renewed for a fourth season, a topic that Hoffman brought up a few times during his interview. Should fans show up again and new episodes are greenlit following the WGA writers strike, Lane confirmed he would love to come back to the series.