Only Murders in the Building: Who do Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd play in Season 3?

Only Murders in the Building is back for its third season this week, with old characters returning and new actors joining the ensemble. So, who do Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd play in Season 3?

Only Murders in the Building has quickly become one of the most popular shows on Hulu/Disney+. Combining comedy with the murder-mystery genre, the show stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as a trio of amateur sleuths solving – as the title suggests – murders in their building.

The extended cast is impressive, featuring the likes of Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, and Tina Fey. While the show has also featured cameos from Sting, Amy Schumer, and Shirley MacLaine.

For Season 3, two Hollywood heavyweights join proceedings, but who do they play? Mild SPOILERS for Episode 1 ahead…

Who does Meryl Streep play in Only Murders in the Building?

Meryl Streep plays a character called Loretta Durkin in Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. Loretta is the love interest of Martin Short’s character Oliver Putnam.

Loretta also stars in the new play he’s directing – Death Rattle – about a murder in a Nova Scotian lighthouse.

Early in Episode 1 of Season 3, we see Loretta’s audition for the Nanny character, and it’s spectacular, blowing Oliver away. But you can also see in the above trailer that she’s a little scatter-brained, with Loretta participating in a table-read for the show and missing the cue when it’s her character’s turn to speak.

Loretta also uses a French-Canadian accent for the role, until Oliver directs Loretta back to her own voice. But by that point, Ben Glenroy wants her off the show…

Who does Paul Rudd play in Only Murders in the Building?

Paul Rudd plays an actor called Ben Glenroy in Only Murders in the Building Season 3. Though he was actually introduced at the end of Season 2.

That series ended with a jump forward in time to the opening night of Oliver’s show, in which Ben stars. Before going onstage, Ben tells Oliver that he wants to kill his co-star, who is Steve Martin’s Charles-Haden Savage.

Savage warns Ben to “stay away from her.” Then says, somewhat ominously, “I know what you did.” The play starts, and a few seconds in, Ben collapses, seemingly dead.

This means Season 3 revolves around the investigation into his murder, with Paul Rudd appearing in flashbacks as we discover what happened over the last year, who killed his character, and what exactly Savage thinks he did.

During the aforementioned table-read, we learn that Ben is most famous for playing Co-Bro, “a friendly zoologist who morphs into a 20-foot cobra and helps the cops save the day.” He’s also rude, arrogant, and obnoxious, making him plenty of enemies at this early stage.

That said, there is a twist at the end of the first episode. One that we won’t spoil here…

Episodes 1 & 2 of Only Murders in the Building Season 3 are now streaming on Hulu in the US, and Disney+ in the UK. For more on the show, head here, and you can check out some of our other TV and movies coverage below:

Last Voyage of the Demeter | Heart of Stone | Gran Turismo | One Piece live-action | Depp v Heard | The Equalizer 3 | Dumb Money | Saw X | Sex Education Season 4 | Killers of the Flower Moon | Five Nights at Freddy’s | Dune: Part Two | The Marvels | Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes