The actress also spilled the beans about how the gripping finale sets the ball rolling for Season 3 and all that’s in store for Paul Rudd.
Adina Verson, you play Poppy aka Becky Butler in Only Murders in the Building, she is every employee ever. What drew you to her?
Adina Verson: I love Poppy! She has done some terrible things, but she is not all that bad. She is very hardworking, very ambitious, smart and very sweet. I think we get to learn that when we meet Becky Butler. She has a little wounded bird inside of her and I think that we can all relate to her and that inner child.
You are a new mum, congratulations. What is the important message for women in this show?
Adina: I find it tricky that this season and last season, both the murderers have been women. I liked the part where the trio say ‘We didn’t kill Bunny Folger, but we may have been able to save her with an act of kindness.’ I feel the same is true with Poppy. I think that if Cinda had been nicer to her, or if Mable had reached out earlier to her, or if someone in Poppy’s past had been kinder to her, she wouldn’t have ended up the way she did. I would love for girls and women to take that to heart and realise that we lift each other up and that we can make the world better.
You share most of your screen time with Tina Fey and Selena Gomez, what was it like working with the two?
Adina: Tina is so wonderful and so good at what she does, she makes it look so easy. She comes in so professionally but is also so warm. I am a newish mom and this was my first job after having my baby, so leaving home to work on this show… all I wanted to do was talk about my baby and Tina was always up for that. So, we did a lot of talking about our kids. That was very generous of her. Selena is really lovely, she is very kind and easy. There is no drama, it’s just a very warm set. My favourite part about being on this show was just how much of a family it felt like and how kind and warm the whole process was.
How many of the scenes are improvised? Especially when you have so many acting stalwarts like Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Tina Fey.
Adina: It’s mostly by the script, but Martin, Steve and Tina would come up with alternate lines that the showrunners and writers would come up and shoot. These were a couple of different lines that they would then decide which were the funniest. It wasn’t so much about improvising, but more about leaving your options open. Their suggestions were really funny and great to watch these geniuses work on their jokes.
Poppy is put through a lot professionally, as a woman in Hollywood. Would you say actresses still have it hard in terms of pay disparity or is there something else you think can be improved?
Adina: Yeah, definitely! I come from a theatre background, and I feel that in a theatre, there is this idea that you have to pay your dues by working for free or being an intern and not being treated very well. I think that’s somewhere where Poppy is and I don’t think that it is necessary. It is important to learn, but I don’t think you have to sacrifice yourself for learning. As I said before, being a woman in Hollywood I think it is important to lift each other up and be supportive of your fellow actors and know that we all rise together.
Your character aka Becky Butler plays a big part in this series, especially when things take a surprise turn in episode 9. How does the finale set the ball rolling for a new season?
Adina: It sets it up really well for the next season. I am so excited about where it is going! It seems like it will explore Oliver’s life in the theatre and hope Paul Rudd will be a big part of it. I am just sad that I probably won’t be in it. But I am keeping my fingers crossed that Poppy may make an appearance.
‘Only Murders in the Building’ follows Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez), three unlikely friends who live in the same building in New York City and bond over their love of true crime when they find themselves in the middle of a real-life murder mystery and begin a podcast of their own.
Season 2 showed them racing to unmask the killer of Arconia Board President Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell). However, three (unfortunate) complications ensue – the trio is publicly implicated in Bunny’s homicide, they are now the subjects of a competing podcast and they have to deal with a bunch of New York neighbours who all think they committed murder.
Season 3 was greenlit in July.
