The cast of the ABC prime time drama Only Murders in the Building have created some of the best TV in the world, and now, they are back again with another season of mystery and intrigue! Here’s everything we know about our favorite cast members so far. Warning: Spoilers may follow!
Table of Contents
Vanessa Aspillaga portrays Ursula
Vanessa Aspillaga is a Costa Rican actress. Her first notable film role was as Ludmila in The Serpent’s Kiss (1997). She has appeared in more than 20 films since then, including Iluminados por el Fuego (2003), (2006) and Humanos o demonios (2007). She currently lives and works in Panama City, Panama.
Ryan Broussard portrays Will Putnam
The show’s main character, Will Putnam, is a married, successful author who publishes true crime novels. He has an interest in archeology and astronomy. Broussard appears to be a suitable choice for Will. The two seem very similar and it will be fun to see how these similarities are played out when they’re interacting with each other as well as with others on screen.
Julian Cihi portrays Tim Kono
Kono is an easy-going guy. It’s not unusual to see him hanging out on a street corner with his friends, and he rarely seems phased by anything that happens around him. Since he’s always seen with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, it’s safe to assume that he has some unhealthy habits, but you’d never know from looking at him. Kono is described as being between 24 and 25 years old, 5’10 tall, and weighs approximately 150 pounds. He has short brown hair and brown eyes.
Tina Fey portrays Cinda Canning
In her first TV role since departing NBC’s 30 Rock, Fey will play a detective on USA’s scripted drama pilot. The show also has cast Greg Grunberg (Heroes) as a doctor and Veep‘s Matt Walsh as an eccentric genius who can’t stop saying inappropriate things. In addition to hosting Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live, Fey has credits that include Date Night, Baby Mama and Mean Girls. She also was one of many guest stars during season 4 of Glee as Holly Holliday.
Jackie Hoffman portrays Uma Heller
Uma Heller is a no-nonsense detective who’s been working for The Hive for years. She was promoted to homicide shortly after starting her career at The Hive and brings with her decades of experience solving murders, mostly from investigating organized crime. Uma is going to have to rely on every bit of that experience when a group of outsiders begin bumping off all but one person working for The Hive as part of an unknown scheme. It’s up to Uma and anyone else left alive to solve these murders before it’s too late, though that might be easier said than done. Given how ruthless they are so far, we imagine there will be plenty more people lying in pools of blood by the time all is said and done.
Jayne Houdyshell portrays Bunny Folger
Bunny is an American interior designer and decorator for a clothing boutique, who has been described as the snarky fashionista of her circle and the matriarch of a popular Washington family. Her husband ran against Frank Underwood for Congress, but ended up losing to him. She’s currently helping Frank do his part to improve national education by getting elected as his replacement. Just another rung on Bunny’s ladder of success…but she knows if Frank gets involved, it’ll be hard to keep their lives separate from public scrutiny. (Source)
Houdyshell also voices Mrs. Gambolini
Steve Houdyshell, who plays Casper Crump’s father, also plays Mrs. Gambolini, who has been described as the office gossip/career breaker. She loves to spread rumors and manipulate people into firing others. It sounds like Mrs. Gambolini is probably going to be a one-episode character; no word yet on how many episodes Mr. Crump will appear in. No one else has been announced as playing recurring or guest characters at this point—but we can make some guesses!
Da’Vine Joy Randolph portrays Detective Williams
As an actor and producer, Randolph has already made a name for herself with her work on television shows such as: Orange is The New Black (Red), Lethal Weapon (Lisa Walker), Law & Order (Diane Brashmore), Sex and The City (Liz Smith), Switched at Birth (Sophia Kovac). As a recurring cast member on FOX’s Lethal Weapon TV show she was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress. In 2017 she produced Broken Land starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny Glover, Rosanna Arquette, Frances Fisher and Ronny Cox which screened at numerous film festivals nationwide including Slamdance Film Festival.
James Caverly portrays Theo Dimas
Dimas is a new hire at McKelvey & Associates who quickly develops a romantic relationship with Moira Sullivan. At first, Dimas appears to be genuinely smitten by Moira, but there are indications that he may not be entirely trustworthy. In The Red Stalker, it is revealed that Dimas may have had something to do with an unsolved murder case while he was working as a security guard at Caven Point Mall. But could his dark side stretch back even further? He worked for years at Caven Point Mall and has been seen engaging in shady activities like accepting bribes and smuggling weapons through airport security (although on one occasion he turned down an extra $10,000 payment because he wanted to remain honest). Is Dimas really bad all the way through?
Michael Cyril Creighton portrays Howard Morris
Howard Morris is a grumpy, impatient and rude man with a penchant for yelling. He’s never late, which means he’s always five minutes early to meetings (he hates meetings) and often spends that time standing outside an elevator, waiting for it to arrive, because he just hates to be late. As you might imagine, Howard Morris doesn’t have many friends. Instead of co-workers who like him (they don’t), Howard Morris has enemies at work; enemies who are constantly plotting his demise. The biggest enemy of all? His boss — Fitch Hennessey — aka The Man, as Howard refers to him. But what does Howard Morris do? Howard Morris makes key decisions on behalf of his company that directly impact Fitch Hennessey’s business.
Zainab Jah portrays Ndidi Idoko
Ndidi is a Washington, D.C.-based general assignment reporter who recently broke a story that resulted in several firings. Ndidi, who hails from South Carolina, graduated magna cum laude from The George Washington University with degrees in Journalism and Middle Eastern Studies. This will be her first major television gig—but she’s no stranger to hard work or big breaks. Ndidi previously worked for an online news site but was fired when she refused to write a sexist story. In order to pay off her student loans and stay on top of her bills, she became a Lyft driver and often went hours without driving anyone at all—she just liked seeing new parts of DC.
Russell G. Jones portrays Dr. Grover Stanley
Russell G. Jones was born on July 5, 1963, and is an American actor known for his roles as Sgt. Perry Smith in Dead Poets Society and Horace Pinker in Mindhunters. In 1995, he starred alongside Michael Jai White and Sandra Hess-Prada in one of his most notable movies to date, Tom Savini’s From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money . He is best known for playing Detective Sergeant Hightower on Cold Case from 2003 to 2010.
Adina Verson portrays Poppy
The Emmy-winning actress has made a name for herself as an indie darling with starring roles in My Art (alongside Michael Fassbender) and The Judge’s Daughter. On Only Murders, Verson will play Poppy Ottinger, a sharp and sophisticated businesswoman who can often be found at her health club or on her company’s golf course. The Hollywood Reporter described Verson as the stuff TV legends are made of after her record-breaking performance during last year’s televised Emmy ceremony. She’ll be joined by Makenna James as Natalie Fontaine, a co-worker at Gishbiz who deals with her unrequited love for Poppy through sarcasm.
Nathan Lane portrays Teddy Dimas
Nathan Lane (born 1956) is an American stage, film and television actor and writer. He rose to prominence on Broadway during the 1980s. Lane received Tony Award nominations for his roles in The Nance (2013), Sydney Theatre Company’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1997) and The Birdcage (1996). For his role in The Birdcage, he won both the Golden Globe Award and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also has a lengthy career as a voice actor, notably portraying Peter Buchanan in Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, Timon opposite Jason Scott Lee’s Pumbaa in Disney’s Lion King franchise, Pooh Bear in various Winnie-the-Pooh productions since 2011, Merlin from The Sword In The Stone among many others.
Michael Rapaport portrays Detective Kreps
Michael Rapaport will play Detective Kreps, a tough cop. He is part of team that investigates crimes at all times and takes things seriously. He doesn’t think too much on what he says and always makes comments that make others feel uncomfortable. It’s later discovered that his wife is cheating on him and he didn’t know about it until he stumbled upon her having sex with another man. This drives him crazy to discover why she did it without telling him first as well as drives him to discover who did it as well.
Olivia Reis portrays Zoe Cassidy
Zoe Cassidy is a Public Defender of the twenty-five years. Olivia Reis was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil but was soon picked up to move to South Africa where she continued her acting career. She’s had small roles on TV shows such as The Long Road Home and Accidental Spy, but Only Murders In The Building will be her first real television series on Netflix. Her character, Zoe Cassidy is an attractive young lawyer who has been given a case of defending Frank Hughes(played by Kyle MacLachlan). Although we know nothing else about her character yet, it’s very safe to assume that she’ll play a vital role later on with what appears to be some type of conspiracy brewing between herself and Frank.
Sting portrays a fictionalized version of himself
Tony winner Frank Galati, who is serving as executive producer, will play himself. You’ll see a lot of director and Broadway doyenne Scott Ellis, says Tolan. The great thing about having Scott play himself is that he’s never going to be caught in an untruth. He knows every detail about what happens on stage during tech and rehearsal. And you won’t recognize him – but you will hear his voice if you listen carefully! Also, we hope that doing it like that opens up more possibilities for new guests to come on – if you know Tony winners are coming on for real and playing themselves, why not try to cast more stars to come on?
Adriane Lenox portrays Roberta
Lenox’s history of playing side characters with memorable personalities goes back at least as far as Season 1 of Hannibal. There, she played Freddie Lounds, tabloid reporter and tabloid eater. With Only Murders, Lenox once again gets to play a character that has a memorable personality despite not having much screen time (she has less than any other main cast member). In fact, it might be Roberta who stands out most because she is literally on screen for maybe 10 seconds and says just one line. The character is mostly known for her role as Mrs Peacock on Clue; Lenox brings an appropriate amount of mystery to that role, making us wonder what Roberta’s true motive is behind showing up at Dr Dyson’s party.
Roy Wood Jr. and Jacob Ming-Trent portrays Vaughn and Lucian
A pair of friends and small-time pot dealers working together. According to Wood, Vaughn is the wily one, who knows how to think on his feet. Ming-Trent’s Lucian is a bit calmer than his partner. While both characters will die during their first episode, producers promise that they’ll play key roles on many episodes before then. It’s easy to imagine Lucian as an early rival for Miles’ leadership, while Vaughn seems like he’d be more willing to go along with what others wanted. Meanwhile, Vaughn has a brother named Marcus (played by Skipp Sudduth) who owns a barbershop across from Miles’ strip club.
Jimmy Fallon portrays himself
Jimmy Fallon is known for his love of music and comedy. He started working as a stand-up comedian in 1990, then became a well-known actor for performing impressions of talk show hosts like David Letterman. He has since gone on to host many popular shows, including Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . Having such a well-known public face means that almost everyone is familiar with his personality, so portraying him shouldn’t be too difficult for Mr. Fallon himself. Will he be good at solving mysteries? Well, we can only wait and see what happens!
Mandy Gonzalez portrays Silvia Mora
A multi-talented actress, Mandy Gonzalez is no stranger to acting on Broadway, television or feature films. She received a Tony nomination for her role as Cassie in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and has appeared on shows like Blue Bloods and Scandal. On stage, she has played roles in productions like Sweeney Todd, for which she won an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2009, Gonzalez made her feature film debut as Abuelita Elena opposite Anthony Hopkins and Emily Watson.
Jaboukie Young-White, Daniel Oreskes, and Ali Stroker portrays Sam, Marv, and Paulette
Sam (Young-White) is a college-educated maintenance man with an expansive vocabulary. His history with Marv and Paulette makes him uniquely qualified to interact with them, as he has had relationships with both. He also knows their home well—in fact, he helped design it. It’s likely that Sam will serve as a middleman between Marv and Paulette, using his influence to try to keep them from killing each other once again…and probably trying to get money from one or both of them while he’s at it. Oreskes will play Sylvester Strickland, who appears on multiple episodes as a dimwitted police officer who may be susceptible to bribery.
Jane Lynch portrays Sazz Pataki
Jane Lynch is a Tony Award-winning actress best known for her comedic work on Glee and Party Down. She has also appeared on ER, The Drew Carey Show, and Will & Grace. Sazz Pataki has never been married but she is said to have dated several men in her early twenties until her father caught wind of it. Her relationship with her father was always strained growing up, mainly because he wanted a son. He hasn’t spoken to her since then and anyone that goes against him faces potential murder charges themselves. It is said that not even Sazz herself knows if any of these rumors are true or simply malicious rumors from other writers on set who were jealous of her successful writing career.
Amy Schumer portrays herself
Amy Schumer is a comedian, writer, actress and producer. She began her career as a stand-up comic appearing at various clubs before landing supporting roles on television shows including The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Schumer also appeared in films including Trainwreck and I Feel Pretty. In 2018, she was cast as a lead character in an upcoming untitled sitcom on Netflix produced by Charlie Brooker.
Shirley MacLaine portrays Leonora Folger
It’s clear by now that Folger is Trump’s right-hand woman—but what do we really know about her? Not much. (Like, where did she learn to fire a gun like that?) It seems she was educated at a prestigious all-girls college in England and has been working for Trump for decades. Perhaps most importantly, though, is that she doesn’t appear to be afraid of his public tantrums or brutal outbursts. According to Mark Burnett, we’ve done our best to present Donald Trump as accurately as possible. Maybe so! Maybe we’ll see a flashback scene showing us just how long Folger has worked for him. Or maybe not.
