Only Murders EP On Matthew Broderick's Guest Stint — And That Surprise Cameo By A Comedy Legend In Episode 7
"Ferris Bueller may take a day off, but Matthew Broderick does not," the two-time Tony winner vows upon his arrival in Tuesday's Only Murders in the Building.
The stage veteran makes a meal out of his brief stint at the Arconia, playing a heightened (read: extremely pompous) version of himself in Episode 7. "I had worked with Matthew years ago [on the 2003 movie Good Boy], and he was a natural fit for this show," series co-creator John Hoffman tells TVLine. Plus, Broderick's Producers pal was already a member of the Only Murders comedy troupe.
"Knowing we had Nathan Lane on the show as Teddy Dimas, and we might have Matthew Broderick coming in playing Matthew Broderick, I asked, 'Do we dare have Nathan Lane come back as Teddy, to be a in scene with Matthew Broderick as Matthew Broderick?'" the EP recalls. "Then I thought my brain might explode."
But Broderick's casting worked on another level: "Charles quitting the show at the end of Episode 6 created the need for a [replacement], and the idea was, 'Who could be a great replacement that would be a threat [to Charles] and a saving grace [for Oliver]?'" And whoever they cast to play themselves had to be comfortable making fun of himself.
"When you tell an actor that they're going to be playing themselves, it brings up a lot of questions," Hoffman explains. "He asked, 'How awful am I?' and I answered, 'You're not awful. You're annoying more than anything,' and he said, 'Ooh, that I like!'"
After Broderick is hired to succeed Charles in Death Rattle Dazzle, he reveals to Oliver that he is something of a method actor — "When I did War Games, I taught myself to write code. For my role in Election, I started teaching high school and dating some students!" — and Oliver makes the mistake of telling Broderick that he is open to his ideas.
"We have Matthew Broderick become the most untenable actor in history," Hoffman says with a laugh. "What if one of the nicest guys ever just drove Oliver insane?"
At one point, Oliver gets in touch with Mel Brooks, who puts in a surprise cameo toward the end of the episode. The 97-year-old creator of The Producers confirms for the Death Rattle director that he made a huge mistake letting Broderick have any input. "You're f—ked!" he declares.
"[The cameo] was an idea by our fantastic writers, Benton Philippe and Jake Schnesel," Hoffman shares. "I said, 'That's a great idea, guys, a fun idea... but it will never happen.' And it clearly wasn't going to happen for a while. Then, an executive at Hulu, [head of comedy] Billy Rosenberg, had just done History of the World Part II with Mel and said, 'I know somebody who's very close to Mel, and if we can just FaceTime with him, I think this will be doable.'
"I'll never forget that day," Hoffman gushes. "[Mel] was letter perfect, funny as hell... We did three takes and he was flawless."
Oliver ultimately shows Broderick the door, but not before stating just how unpleasant he was to be around.
"Matthew brought so much to the part that we couldn't have [written]," Hoffman says. "And Marty was brilliant at playing Oliver's mad frustration and trying to hold it together."
What did you think of Broderick and Brooks in this week's Only Murders? Sound off in Comments.