John Hoffman, co-creator and showrunner of the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, said the romantic pairing of Martin Short’s Oliver Putnam and Meryl Streep’s Loretta Durkin emerged organically and proved “unexpected” in the best sense as Season 5 premiered Sept. 9.
Hoffman told the New York Post that the writers created Loretta with Streep in mind and then added a love interest for Oliver, a storyline the series had not explored by Season 3. "We wrote Loretta first, and then Meryl said, ‘Is there anything there?’ And I was like, 'Well, we just are writing a part that you’re perfect for, in my mind. And it includes a romantic interest for Oliver,'" he said.
Hoffman described the pairing as a collision of two different strengths — Short’s comic gifts and Streep’s dramatic range — and said the actors’ ease with one another produced surprising moments. "Short is a clown like no other and so versatile and so wildly funny. And she is sort of this expert dramatic actress. Virtuoso, versatile, also [a] comedic actress," he said. "The two of them as a love interest couple was unexpected, but then it made perfect sense in that moment. And then every step along the way."
The showrunner recounted an early on‑set moment that convinced him the relationship would work. He was directing the episode that marked Streep’s first day on set when the two actors performed a scene at a piano in Oliver’s apartment. Hoffman said he later learned both were nervous, but that the nervousness contributed to the electricity of the scene. He noted that Streep and Short were running lines in the green room between takes, a rehearsal he initially mistook for casual conversation.
Hoffman described a specific shot in which Loretta asks Oliver to check her earring as the camera moved around them, a moment that he said suggested something unspoken between the characters. J. Roy Helland, Streep’s longtime hair and makeup artist, called the shot "gorgeous," Hoffman said, and he added that the chemistry between the actors became palpable to crew and cast.
Only Murders in the Building has also earned industry recognition. The series took home Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Short won for male actor in a comedy series. Hoffman said he learned of Short’s win via text messages and was on the phone with the actor when the ensemble award was announced. He recounted a lighter post‑awards anecdote in which Short asked for his trophies to be shipped to Los Angeles but said they were misplaced in transit and later found, ultimately leaving the actor with duplicate awards for a time.
The on‑screen relationship has also spurred public curiosity about the actors’ off‑screen lives. Short, 75, and Streep, 76, drew attention after appearing close at the Golden Globes in January 2024; Short’s representative later downplayed speculation. Media reports in 2023 said Streep and her husband, sculptor Don Gummer, had been quietly separated for several years. Page Six reported in March that Short and Streep had been dating for more than a year.
Short was married to actress Nancy Dolman until her death in 2010; the couple had three children. Streep married Gummer in 1978; they have four children. Hoffman declined to speculate about the actors’ private lives but said working with both performers has been a gift. "When I’ve gotten to know each of them as well as I have now, which has been a gift, it just makes you so happy when you see the way in which the ease they find within working with each other," he said.
Hoffman said he and the writers continue to prize those unforeseen moments of connection. He called the show “miraculous” in its ability to produce surprises and said Streep and Short’s partnership delivered the kind of unexpected chemistry the series seeks as it moves into its latest season.