A Guide to Every Guest Star and Cameo in 'Only Murders in the Building' Season 4
The Hulu comedy has recruited another round of A-list cameos.
Spoilers for all episodes of Only Murders in the Building season 4. Four years in, Only Murders in the Building has become known for its celebrity guest stars just as much (or maybe even more) as its true-crime satire. The acclaimed Hulu series returned for its fourth season on August 27, 2024, with a new set of A-listers to join Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez for a hilarious season-long murder mystery. While season 3 was a genre-bending original musical, season 4 takes the podcasting trio to Hollywood, as the subject of a movie based on their in-show podcast. After a star-studded season premiere, La-La-Land is set to follow the trio back to the Arconia, where they investigate the murder of fan-favorite stunt person Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch).
Season 4 features a jam-packed slate of guest stars, from the Tinseltown actors to the Arconia's residents in the second tower, a.k.a. the Westies. Read on for our comprehensive list of all the new faces in Only Murders in the Building season 4.
Meryl Streep as Loretta Durkin
First things first, Loretta is back! Meryl Streep reprises her role from season 3, with the three-time Oscar winner (and Emmy nominee) popping up in a short appearance during episode 1. As of season 4, Loretta is living in L.A. and filming her role on the fake Grey's Anatomy spinoff, Grey's New Orleans: Family Burn Unit. Her relationship with Oliver faces some problems with the long distance, but by the end of the season, the pair are still going strong.
Jane Lynch as Sazz Pataki
After Jane Lynch's fan-favorite character was fatally shot in the season 3 finale, the Glee star returns via flashback to give viewers more insight into Sazz's backstory, and her lifelong friendship with Charles. The show also decided to add another layer to this season's murder victim, as Sazz's ghost briefly follows Charles around before her murder is solved in the season 4 finale.
Eugene Levy as Himself
Schitt's Creek star Eugene Levy is a recurring star throughout season 4, with the Emmy winner playing himself as he researches the role of Charles Haden Savage (Martin) in the OMITB film. He gets along with Charles throughout the season and even helps his new friend process the grief from Sazz's death. As for real-life connections, this sees Levy reunite with Martin after they worked together on comedies including Father of the Bride, Bringing Down the House, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2.
Eva Longoria as Herself
Desperate Housewives and Land of Women star Eva Longoria is another Hollywood actor playing herself in the new season, as the on-screen Longoria is set to play Mabel (Gomez) in the OMITB movie. As the actress explains in episode 1, the fictional studio execs decided to age Mabel up for the film because focus groups found the core trio's age gap "creepy."
Zach Galifianakis as Himself
The Hangover and Baskets star rounds out the actors playing the podcasting trio. His relationship with Oliver (Short) is the most contentious at the start of the season, though they eventually come to understand each other. In episode, 1, Oliver has no idea who Galifianakis is, and the insulted comedian threatens to walk away from the movie. In reality, it's a funny moment nodding to the fact that both Short and Galifianakis previously hosted comedy-interview shows: Jiminy Glick and Between Two Ferns.
Molly Shannon as Bev Melon
Molly Shannon is the first of season 4's new guest stars who doesn't portray herself. Instead, she plays Bev Melon, the Paramount studio exec bringing Only Murders in the Building to the silver screen. The comedy legend, Saturday Night Live alum, and The Other Two star has plenty of hilarious scenes throughout the season, sending up the stereotypical Hollywood producer.
Siena Werber and Catherine Cohen as The Brothers Sisters
Siena Werber and Catherine Cohen play Tawny and Trina Brothers, the twin-sister directing duo who sign on to OMITB the movie fresh out of a successful run at Cannes Film Festival. Cohen is a comedian best known in the N.Y.C. stand-up circuit and for her Netflix comedy special The Twist...? She’s Gorgeous. Meanwhile, Werber recently appeared in HBO's The Sympathizer and Netflix's Brand New Cherry Flavor.
Jin Ha as Marshall
Jin Ha joins the series as Marshall, the passionate (and semi-nosy) screenwriter for OMITB the movie. (Spoiler alert: He becomes a major player in the mystery as the season continues.) The actor is best known for his roles in Max's Love Life, FX's Dev, the 2024 drama Civil War, and Apple TV+'s Pachinko.
Scott Bakula as Himself
In a nice season-premiere surprise, one of the celebs that the series name-dropped in season 3 actually appeared. While attending the Hollywood party, Charles runs into Scott Bakula, with the Quantum Leap and NCIS: New Orleans actor playing himself. Though it could have been an awkward meeting—Bakula's now dating Charles' ex Joy (Andrea Martin)—the actor hints to Charles that Sazz is missing after the season 3 cliffhanger.
Richard Kind as Vince Fish
Richard Kind, Drama Desk Award winner and voice of Bing Bong in Inside Out, makes his OMITB debut in episode 2 as one of the West Tower residents. He plays Vince Fish, who wears an eye patch due to his antibiotic-resistant pink eye. As fans of the character actor expected, Kind is an immediate delight as the leader of the, admittedly very weird, Westies.
Daphne Rubin-Vega as Inez
Rent and In the Heights star Daphne Rubin-Vega plays Inez, a member of the "Sauce Family" who's also a Westie suspect in Sazz's murder/Charles' murder attempt. (Newcomer Lilian Rebelo plays her teen daughter Ana). It turns out that Charles is her celebrity crush.
Desmin Borges as Alfonso
Desmin Borges, best known for playing Edgar in You're The Worst, portrays Alfonso, the man of the mysterious "Sauce Family" household. Borges has also recently appeared in Fox's Welcome to Flatch, HBO's The Time Traveler's Wife, and the 2022 rom-com Shotgun Wedding.
Kumail Nanjiani as Rudy Thurber
The Silicon Valley, Eternals, and The Big Sick star Kumail Nanjiani rounds out the Arconia's Westies, playing a mysterious character whose apartment is covered in Christmas decor year-round. In episode 3, it turns out that he's a fitness influencer who committed to his Christmas-Guy persona after a holiday-themed video went viral. He really hates Christmas, but his expertise comes in handy.
Amy Ryan as Jan Bellows
Jan's back! Charles' bassoonist ex-girlfriend, who killed Tim Kono in OMITB season 1, returned to the Arconia in season 4's second episode. Jan, who had begun dating Sazz sometime after her arrest, broke out of prison with the help of parkour because she hadn't heard from the stuntwoman. As of the end of episode 2, Jan is on the lamb after fleeing to god knows where after chatting with Charles.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Detective Donna Williams
After winning an Academy Award for The Holdovers last year, Randolph returns to OMITB as the beleaguered NYPD detective who deals with our trio of citizen-detective podcasters. Her relationship with the team has improved over the seasons, so she pops up throughout the season to help the trio.
Paul Rudd as Glen Stubbins
Season 3's murder victim made a surprise return in season 4... sort of. After leading season 3 as slain actor Ben Glenroy in season 3, season 4 brought Paul Rudd back as Glen Stubbins, Ben's main stunt guy. He's found left struggling with his career in the wake of his number one's death. (Spoiler: Unfortunately, Glen also doesn't make it out of OMITB alive.)
Griffin Dunne as Milton Dudenoff
Griffin Dunne plays Milton Dudenoff, the mysterious film professor who mentored the Brothers Sisters and brought the Westies together. He's best known for '80s films including An American Werewolf in London and After Hours, as well as his recent roles in Dallas Buyers Club and This Is Us. He's also done a great deal of work behind the camera, Dunne (who's the son of true crime writer Dominick Dunne and Joan Didion's nephew) has directed films like Practical Magic and the acclaimed documentary about his aunt, Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, among other titles.
Melissa McCarthy as Doreen
Bridesmaids alum and comedy icon Melissa McCarthy makes her OMITB debut in episode 7 as Doreen, Charles's younger sister who collects dolls and has a difficult relationship with her older brother. When Doreen's Long Island home temporarily becomes a safe house, she takes a liking to Oliver, and her aggressive flirting leads to a fight between Doreen and Loretta.
Ron Howard as Himself
The A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13 filmmaker appears as himself in episode 9 when a movie he directed, Project Ronkonkoma, holds the key to revealing Sazz's killer. Ron is said to be old friends with Oliver, but that doesn't help much when the podcasting trio sneaks into Ron's sci-fi film set to speak with him.
Téa Leoni as Sofia Caccimelio
In the final moments of season 4, the Madam Secretary star appears as a new character called Sofia Caccimelio. She seeks Charles, Mabel, and Oliver's help when her husband is found dead. You can bet she'll be back and a major focus in Only Murders in the Building season 5's mystery.
