Here's who Meryl Streep is playing on Only Murders in the Building season 3

Sydney Bucksbaum
·2 min read
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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Only Murders In the Building, season 3, episodes 1-2, "The Show Must..." and "The Beat Goes On."

Can you imagine Meryl Streep as an unsuccessful actor? Yeah, we couldn't either... until Only Murders In the Building showed us exactly what that would look like in the season 3 premiere.

Meryl Streep joins Only Murders in the Building | Season 3
Meryl Streep joins Only Murders in the Building | Season 3

Hulu Meryl Streep on 'Only Murders in the Building'

The first two episodes of the new season of Hulu's whodunnit are now streaming, and the premiere opens with a long flashback sequence introducing Streep's new character, Loretta Durkin. She's basically the exact opposite of Streep, in that she's never gotten her big break... until now.

We see Loretta as a child and watch as she first falls in love with musical theater. As she gets older, she trains hard with dance, voice, and acting lessons. But year after year, the rejections pile up and she realizes that all the "near-misses" have become her life. But instead of giving up, she keeps at it, and a chance audition to play the nanny in Oliver's (Martin Short) Broadway return captivates him. When she finishes her audition, he says the words she's been waiting her whole life to hear: "Where have you been?!"

Oliver immediately casts Loretta in the production, and she's overjoyed to join the cast, which includes mega movie star Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd). But throughout the rest of the premiere and second episode, Loretta struggles, first at the table read and then after Ben's death (and then miraculous resurrection and second death). It becomes clear there was no love lost between Loretta and Ben, although we don't know why just yet — which is how she becomes one of the biggest suspects in his murder.

Only Murders in the Building debuts new episodes Tuesdays on Hulu.

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