Jeff Heller
[SPOILER ALERT: The following article contains spoilers for season 3 and season 4 of Only Murders in the Building]
Only Murders in the Building has had its share of guest actors joining series stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, including Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd, Eugene Levy, Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy, Cara Delevingne, and Shirley MacLaine to name a few, but none have resonated with fans as much as veteran actor Jane Lynch. As Sazz Pataki, the fearless, swaggering stunt double to Steve Martin’s Charles-Haden Savage, Lynch brought a mix of comic bravado and emotional depth that made her an instant fan favorite. Though her character’s fate was sealed in Season 3, Lynch’s portrayal remains a vital part of the show’s DNA.
We spoke with Lynch about how she was first cast in the role, the unexpected journey of Sazz, and how her connection with Martin, the cast, and the world of stunt performers made her final season one to remember.
First of all, thank you very much for joining us.
Pleasure.
And congratulations on your run on Only Murders.
Thank you, thank you.
You’re great, as always.
Aw, thanks.
I’d like to like to talk about season four, but first I’d like to go back a little bit to you joining this show. How were you approached for the part of Sazz?
Well, I had, this is a story that was going to sound like it has nothing to do with Only Murders in the Building, but I met Kristen Newman because I rented her house. She’s an executive producer and writer on the show. I rented her house in West Hollywood when this house you’re looking at right now was being built. And so, I got to know her, and then I moved back into this house, and she texted me and said, “Would you be interested in playing Steve Martin’s stand-in in New York?” I said, “Yeah.” It sounded so weird and so very in line with Kristen. I said, absolutely I would. And you know, you had me at Steve Martin. So that’s how that happened. And that’s how I met John Hoffman. And I met Steve and Marty. I knew Selena before actually. Selena and I did a movie called Another Cinderella Story. And she was just a baby.
I have a 21-year-old daughter, so I can assure you, I have seen that movie numerous times. You joined pretty late in the first season. Do you know your role would be beefed up down the line?
No, no idea. I don’t think they knew. I think that John really writes intuitively, you know? He does one season at a time. I don’t think he jumps ahead too much.
Did he give you any kind of character arc at all? I know you had some inklings of what the character was going to be like early on, but did they give you an idea of where it might be going at all?
No, not at all. I mean, just from that first script, I knew that I was more of a man than Steve. I was more of a success with the ladies. There was an ease about Sazz that Charles just didn’t have. He’s an insecure guy. And he’s always questioning himself and is uncomfortable in social situations. And Sazz, it’s so easy for her. Everybody loves her. And in fact, she loves him so much. She dedicated her life to him. Once she became his stunt double, he became her number one. And she’s the one who brought him out of his shell and got him to get to know other people in the business. He didn’t eat lunch alone anymore. I got him a bunch of friends to come eat with him, and we did poker games once a week. This was something that Charles couldn’t do on his own, but Sazz made it her business to basically give him a social life.
How far in advance going into season three did you know that you were going to meet your demise at the end?
Oh, John told me at the end of that previous season, I was sitting in my cast chair, and he came up to me and he had a look in his eye as he walked toward me. And he said, “Listen, next season, you’re our murder victim.” And I was thrilled. I mean, I was only in the show about three or four episodes that first season, maybe just one episode the first season, and then just a couple. And I knew that I would be in more. And I knew that even if I wasn’t in an episode, people would be talking about me. So that thrilled me. And it ended up that not only was I in flashbacks, but I came back as a ghost in some really beautiful scenes.
Very much so. But it had been kind of bittersweet though. I mean, it’s a hit show. It’s a phenomenal cast. You’ve got a role that’s significantly larger than you had before, but it’s the end for you.
Yeah, well, that’s just how the cookie crumbles. I didn’t have a moment of, “Oh, I can’t believe I’m not going back.” I didn’t have that at all. That I got to do what I did in that season is just a delight and unexpected.
There are some tender moments, such as the scene about the poker game that you mentioned, and Charles’ final goodbye to Sazz. Can you just talk about working with Steve on those scenes?
Oh, he’s so there. He’s so available. He’s a really, really lovely man, and very kind and just so present for those scenes. I think I can speak for both of us and say those were very profound moments for both of us. He was just the best. He’s the best. He’s an acting partner that you just go, oh, “It’s like driving a Porsche.”
Were there any scenes that were particularly challenging for you?
Let’s see. No, I loved all of it. I love that I got to run around through the fields in a broken leg cast, and I think I had a cervical collar on. I just loved it. I loved every bit of it. It was nothing challenging.
How much research did you have to do, if any, for being a stunt person?
I did none. I did none. But it was funny. It was so meta on that set. At one point, we had four people dressed like Steve. It was Steve. It was me. There was my stuntman, who did some of my moves. And then there was Eugene Levy, who played him in the movie. So, of course, we took a bunch of pictures. But I got to watch the guy who was my stand-in do all of those things. And boy, you appreciate what they do, the way he just threw himself literally off a building and landed in this big, cushy thing.
And what a fraternity it is. Fraternity slash sorority. But Sazz identifies very much like, a male. When I put her on anyway, she doesn’t feel like a female. She’s very, very much a fellow well-met. And they all support each other. And watching my stunt double ream himself off a building and see all the support around this big mat, just making sure that this guy’s going to be OK. It’s just really touching how much they care about each other. And I love that John put that into the script, that subculture of the stunt guy. They even had their own bar named Concussions.
That’s great. I love it. Are there any aspects of Sazz’s personality that you personally relate to?
Well, she has a confidence that I think I have now. I didn’t have as a young person. In fact, I relished playing that. You know, she walks into a room, and everybody turns around and goes, “Ooh, what just happened? A force just walked into the room.”And it’s her. And she wears it with great pride. And I always think she’s a Leo. I love astrology. She walks in, her chest puffed out, and “Yeah, look at me, I’m something.” But there’s a humility in it, too, and a beneficence. So, I love that about her. A little bit oblivious to other people’s pain, except Charles. She was really hooked into him. And she knew exactly how to lift him up, how to protect him.
I’m curious about what kind of roles you’re attracted to now versus earlier in your career.
Well, let’s just say I tend to get more interesting things now. Early in my career, before you knew who I was, I would end up playing an authority figure on a television show, like a guest star. And it would be a part that was written for a man. My agent, God bless him, would call in and say, “Can you see a woman in this part?” And they go, “Yeah, sure, send her in,” and then I’d get it. And they’d feel like they worked outside the box. So, a lot of my roles, in fact, a great deal of them, were authority figures; doctors, principals, dentists, counselors, that were written originally for men.
Is there any part of you who wants to portray someone a bit softer?
Yeah, sure. It’s so funny. I don’t have goals, like, “Now I’d like to play softer,” but I played a role in Criminal Minds. I played Spencer Reid’s mother, and she had a mental illness and schizophrenia. She was not centered in reality and was trying so hard to be centered in reality. It made her very vulnerable, and it made her scared. Sometimes it made her angry. And playing that vulnerability of ‘There’s something going on in your brain that you can’t center yourself. You don’t understand where you are in the world or why you’re feeling what you’re feeling and how important it was for her to have her things where they belong. They don’t touch my things because this is what’s keeping me from flying off into the stratosphere.’ I enjoy that kind of stuff, the really specific, vulnerable stuff.
I imagine you’re open to coming back to Only Murders.
Oh, always. I did one episode in the new season as a flashback. But they know I’ll come back.
Well, I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I do want to say that you’ve done so many amazing projects, and you’re great in all of them, but I have to say that Best in Show stands up as a perfect comedy.
Yeah, I agree. Thank you for that. I agree. I think it’s just perfectly done, from soup to nuts. Thank you.
Congratulations again, and good luck in the future.
Great. Thank you so much.
You can watch our full interview with Jane Lynch below.
Only Murders in the Building is currently streaming on Hulu.
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