Jane Lynch Talks About Playing Steve Martin's Character's Stunt Double On 'OMITB'
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on August 23, 2024 at 2:45 PM EDT
Jane Lynch joined "Only Murders in the Building" in Season 1, where she played the character Sazz, Charles-Hayden's (Steve Martin) old Hollywood stunt double.
In the upcoming fourth season of "Only Murders," Sazz (Lynch) is murdered, and it's up to Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Martin), and Oliver (Martin Short) to unravel the mystery.
Ahead of the Season 4 premiere, Jane Lynch opened up about what it's like playing Steven Martin's character's stunt double and what it's like working with the actor.
Jane Lynch On Working With Steve Martin
On the red carpet of the Season 4 premiere, Lynch discussed her role as Charles' stunt double, expressing how much fun the two have together on set.
"Well, the great thing about it is when we do a rehearsal for the scene, I just watch what he does and when he does this, when he does that, and if he changes it up, I have to stay on my toes," the "Glee" alum told People Magazine.
"But usually, he'll set it so that I can mirror it. So that's always a lot of fun. We don't kill that gimmick, that old chestnut, but we do it every once in a while and I think it's to great effect," she added.
Does Jane Lynch Ever Get Nervous About Mirroring Steve Martin?
When asked if she feels nervous about mirroring Martin, she responded, "No. I really don't do Steve or Charles. Sazz doesn't really do Charles. Sazz is just Sazz. She does herself."
She added, "But when she's doing a stunt, and you'll see some this season, where he'll freeze and I tap him and I go, 'Tap in' and I assume his position. So all that, I'll imitate him and then I do the dangerous part and he has a cappuccino."
Jane Lynch Talks About Playing Sazz
Though she remained tight-lipped about what viewers can expect from Sazz’s storyline in Season 4, she did hint that fans of Brazzos will be "tickled" by what’s coming.
“I found out in the middle of last season,” Lynch told Deadline of when she learned of her character’s fate. “John Hoffman, our showrunner, came up to me and he was looking at me with this look in his eye and kind of a smirk."
"I was actually happy because I knew that it meant that my storyline would dominate the next season," she continued. "So I did half of the episodes and I was very happy to be back in the fold.”
Jane Lynch Says One Of The 'Joys' Has Been 'Working With' Steve Martin
As the storyline moves forward into another season, Lynch revealed, “[Hoffman] had it all figured out. He had to reverse-engineer it, but he knew what he wanted to do and what he wanted to show about the relationship between Charles and Sazz."
The "Glee" alum added, "One of the joys of doing this past season has been working with Steve and developing this really sweet relationship. You could always tell we have a nice relationship but it goes it goes pretty deep and it’s pretty delicious. It was a joy to play with Mr. Martin and was just so much fun.”
More About 'Only Murders In The Building' Season 4
In the new season, Arconia’s crime-solving trio—Charles, Oliver, and Mabel—head to Hollywood to probe the murder of Sazz. Their investigation will determine if Charles was the intended victim and reveal the reasons behind the attack on both the actor and his stunt double.
"It's a big turn," showrunner John Hoffman previously told The Hollywood Reporter about the season-ending death of Sazz, who has won over fans since her debut in the first season.
"He said, 'What if?' I have to say, immediately upon hearing it, I thought, 'That's awful, and that's perfect,'" Hoffman said of the possibility of killing off Sazz. "Because I immediately, it's the thing of like, if we get a chance to go more, it'll be the thing that it just started exploding ideas in my head. So, that was thrilling."
"And then the second part of that was actually talking to Jane Lynch about it and saying, 'This is what we're thinking.' We had to do that pretty early, too, and that was very sweet," he continued. "She was like, 'I love it.' I was like, 'Wow. I wasn't expecting love, but that's great.'"
The first episode of Season 4 of "Only Murders in the Building" is dropping on Tuesday, August 27.