Interview: Actor Michael Cyril Creighton on His Evolving Role in ‘Only Murders in the Building’

When we first meet Michael Cyril Creighton‘s Howard Morris on Only Murders in the Building, he is one of several eclectic residents at the Arconia, where Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short), and Charles (Steven Martin) are solving the first in what will become a string of twisty murder mysteries.

“It doesn’t happen often that you get this gift of coming in as a day player — I was supposed to do I think one episode, maybe two — and the role will grow,” says Creighton. “I am constantly reminded how lucky I am to be part of this story from beginning to now. It’s been totally thrilling. [Howard] has grown so much, and every episode they write for him, I learn something new about him.”

Indeed, Howard’s list of character traits was rather brief across the show’s first two seasons: he lives in Apartment 3C and loves cats. That was effectively all you needed to know to enjoy his often suspicious yet always hilarious antics. Creighton was elevated to a series regular for season three of Only Murders, however, and Howard quickly took on considerably more depth.

What has perhaps been most special about Howard’s evolution is how it has aligned with Creighton’s own growth as an actor. He thanks the writers for catering to his skill set, while also pushing him to greater emotional and comedic heights.

“[Howard] is both easy to play and sometimes a little difficult,” says Creighton. “He’s so heightened that it really can be exhausting at times.”

The Long Island native embraces that challenge, of course. Besides, he is no stranger to demanding roles. Before he broke out via Only Murders in the Building, viewers were likely familiar with Creighton through his impressive collection of appearances across countless hit movies and television shows, including 30 Rock, High Maintenance, and Billions. Beyond his recent appearances in such acclaimed works as American Fiction and The Marvelous Miss Maisel, Creighton may be most familiar to viewers as Joe Crowley in the Oscar-winning docudrama Spotlight. It was another brief albeit powerful role in a film filled with them. Creighton’s rendition of Crowley served as a vital testament to the resiliency of clergy abuse survivors, despite the lasting effect of their trauma.

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, I asked Creighton if he detected any similarities between Howard Morris and Joe Crowley — two anxiously endearing men who have persevered in the face of adversity — as well as the many other complex characters he has gotten to play.

“All the roles I play have a big piece of myself in them, and I feel lucky that they’re all so specific and so different,” says Creighton. “If you told me Howard and Joe Crowley from Spotlight were from the same universe or same emotional life, it would be hard for me to track that…but they all have a little piece of me.”

Listen to my full interview with Michael Cyril Creighton to hear more about the similarities he perceives between himself and Howard, as well as his thoughts on Only Murders in the Building‘s s singular portrayal of New York City.

You can stream all three seasons of Only Murders in the Building on Hulu now. Season four premieres August 27th, 2024.