‘Only Murders in the Building’: All the Meryl Streep Easter Eggs Inside Loretta’s Apartment
variety.comJazz Tangcay Artisans Editor In Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” season three’s newest star Meryl Streep plays Loretta Durkin, a scatter-brained and quirky struggling actor.
When production designer Rich Murray got the creative brief, he was told, “She’s charming and warm and has lived in the same studio apartment for the past 35 to 40 years.” With that, Murray peppered in Easter eggs galore as an homage to Streep’s illustrious career.
Murray first had to come up with a concept for the space, and found inspiration from the 1951 film “An American in Paris.” Jerry Mulligan’s (Gene Kelly) apartment was ideal. “It has a lot of built-in quirkiness with drop-down, pull-down things,” says Murray. “Everyone has everything so neatly finessed, tucked in and tightened cornered, and so we sort of pull from that.” Aside from showrunner John Hoffman’s initial brief, Murray got no other notes on design requirements, so he “decided to attack with all the Easter eggs and inside jokes you could find.” With over 95 credits to her name, it wasn’t hard for Murray to dive into Streep’s body of work and turn Loretta’s apartment into a treasure trove.
Episode 5 sees Martin Short’s Oliver have dinner at Loretta’s apartment, and audiences finally get to see a detailed glimpse into her humble abode.
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