Only Murders in the Building showrunner John Hoffman said the new season’s trio of billionaire characters is “loosely” drawn from real-life public figures, while star Selena Gomez — one of the series’ leads — told Jimmy Fallon her wedding to music producer Benny Blanco is just weeks away.
Hoffman told Entertainment Weekly that the fifth season, which finds podcasters-turned-sleuths Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver (Martin Short) investigating the death of their doorman, introduces three mega-wealthy figures played by Renee Zellweger, Christoph Waltz and Logan Lerman who were modeled on a mix of prominent, public personalities. Hoffman cautioned that the characters are not literal portrayals and said he avoided naming sources directly because some “of those billionaires are litigious.”
Zellweger plays Camila White, described by Hoffman as a Manhattan tastemaker and hospitality industry billionaire; Hoffman said the character took a small cue from lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart’s connection to The Belnord, the real Upper West Side building used as inspiration for the show’s Arconia. Christoph Waltz’s role, a tech-industry figure written as something of a “wink wink” at technology pioneers, includes a character arc involving a quest to extend his own life, a detail Hoffman said echoes the public interests of figures known for funding longevity research. Logan Lerman portrays Jay Pflug, the scion of a very wealthy pharmaceutical family, which Hoffman hinted was intended as a recognizable type rather than a direct analogue to any single firm.
The season opens with the trio racing to solve the murder of doorman Lester, whose body was discovered in the Arconia courtyard fountain at the end of season four. Hoffman said the show’s creative team mixed various public personas and industry archetypes — hospitality tastemakers, tech investors, and longstanding moneyed families — to populate the series’ new iteration of New York high society.
Fans quickly began speculating online about the real-world inspirations after Hoffman’s remarks. Some suggested the life-extension angle recalled entrepreneurs such as Peter Thiel and Bryan Johnson, and others linked the fictional Pflug surname to pharmaceutical company Pfizer, though users and analysts noted Pfizer is not controlled by a single family and that the show’s reference appears to be a fictional shorthand rather than a claim of direct lineage.
While discussing the series on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Gomez — who co-promotes the series with long-time co-stars Martin and Short — turned the conversation to her personal life, saying the couple’s wedding is “wonderful” and that she feels “very lucky.” Gomez confirmed that her Only Murders co-stars were invited, joked that Martin would be the ringbearer and described wedding planning as “going well.” Television appearances this week coincided with reporting from other outlets that the couple plan to marry in Montecito at a private residence with heightened security and a guest list that includes high-profile acquaintances.
Gomez and Blanco publicly confirmed their relationship in December 2023 and became engaged a year later. Media reports have described the engagement ring as a sizable diamond, and outlets have suggested the ceremony will occur later this month; neither Gomez nor Blanco provided a precise date on Fallon’s program.
Disney+ began streaming the first three episodes of Only Murders in the Building season five in the U.K. this week. Hoffman said the writers deliberately populated the season with larger-than-life figures to both satirize and examine contemporary wealth and influence in New York City, while stopping short of direct impersonation. He added that the creators were mindful of legal risks, prompting care in how closely any fictional character tracked a living public person.
As the series continues to roll out episodes, viewers will see how the Arconia trio’s investigation intersects with the lifestyles and secrets of the billionaire newcomers, and whether the inspirations Hoffman cited — hospitality tastemakers, tech immortality seekers, and pharma dynasties — translate into plotlines that deepen the show’s whodunnit core.
