Martin Short Commends Meryl Streep on Being ‘Easy’ to Work With on ‘OMITB’

Martin Short is giving Meryl Streep her flowers!

The Only Murders in the Building actor, 75, detailed his experience working with his Oscar-winning costar ahead of the forthcoming fifth season of their hit Hulu series — and he didn’t hesitate to commend her on-set attitude.

After being asked what fans would be “surprised” to learn about Streep, 76, Short described his costar’s approach to Entertainment Tonight.

“I think just how easy she is, how loose she is,” he said in the interview, published on Tuesday, Sept. 2. “She doesn’t carry any of her 21 Oscar nominations to the set.”

Both Selena Gomez and Steve Martin — who star alongside the duo in the comedic mystery series — appeared to agree with Short’s sentiment.

“She has a right to be a diva. And she’s just so polite and fun and generous,” Martin said, as Gomez reiterated that Streep is “the best person.”

“I still have pinch-me moments on set all the time when I’m looking at her,” Gomez, 33, added.

Streep, who plays Broadway star Loretta Durkin in Only Murders, joined the show’s cast back in 2023 for its third season.

Her character is the love interest of Short’s Oliver Putnam, who was has been a series fixture since 2021 alongside Mabel Mora (Gomez) and Charles-Haden Savage (Martin, 80).

While fans have speculated about the nature of Short’s close off-set relationship with his costar, both have vehemently denied the rumors more than once. John Hoffman, who created the series alongside Martin, raved to Decider in 2024 about seeing both Short and Streep act alongside each other, calling it “unbelievable.”

The series has never been short on star-studded additions to its roster over the years, either. For season 5 in particular, actors Bobby Cannavale, Renée Zellweger, Logan Lerman, Christoph Waltz, Téa Leoni, Keegan-Michael Key, Beanie Feldstein, Dianne Wiest and Jermaine Fowler will join the cast. Michael Cyril Creighton, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Nathan Lane, Richard Kind and Streep will be returning.

Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Martin confirmed that he and his castmates “do not know” when Only Murders will come to an end.

“We get asked, ‘How long do you guys want to do this?’ I just go, ‘Well, you tell us.’ We like doing it and its a wonderful job for us,” Martin said. “We couldn’t say, ‘Well, let’s do something else.’ It’d be another situation that’s not as fun or with your friends…”

“Hits are so rare,” Short added. “They’re such flukes when all the stars line up. I think this is one of them. But we would do it as long as we felt the quality was [there].”

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Only Murders in the Building season 5 debuts Sept. 9, with three episodes, followed by weekly new episodes, on Hulu.