Steve Martin Considering Retirement After 'Only Murders in the Building'

By Daniel S. Levine

Steve Martin is considering retiring after he finishes work on Only Murders in the Building, the acclaimed Hulu series co-starring his frequent collaborator Martin Short and Selena Gomez. The show's success is one part of a late-career resurgence for the comedy icon, which also includes a live tour with Short. Martin, 76, is also working on his 12th book, Number One Is Walking: My life in the Movies and Other Diversions, and is developing an Apple TV+ documentary on his life.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Martin said his career felt like it was winding down before his sudden burst of creativity. "We were very happy just doing the live show," he said. "There may be a natural end to that – somebody gets sick, somebody just wears out – but I wouldn't do it without Marty. When this television show is done, I'm not going to seek others. I'm not going to seek other movies. I don't want to do cameos. This is, weirdly, it."

Martin acknowledged that his wife, Anne Stringfield, often reminds him that his past attempts to retire haven't lasted long. "My wife keeps saying, 'You always say you're going to retire and then you always come up with something,'" Martin said. "I'm really not interested in retiring. I'm not. But I would just work a little less. Maybe."

Martin created Only Murders in the Building with John Hoffman. In the series, he joins Short and Gomez as three true-crime podcast fans who become real-life amateur sleuths after someone is murdered in their Upper West Side apartment building. The series' second season wraps up on Aug. 23 and it has already been renewed for a third season. Season 1 scored 17 Primetime Emmy nominations, including three for Martin. He is a nominee for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy, and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy.

The Planes, Trains & Automobiles star only agreed to make Only Murders because it would be filmed in Manhattan while his 9-year-old daughter attends school there. He also requested that Short join him. "I have a family life that's really fun," Martin told THR. "To film a movie now, to go someplace else to live, I'm not willing to do that anymore. I can't disappear for three months."

THR published Martin's interview on the same day news broke that he is taking part in a two-part documentary about his life for A24 and Apple TV+. Morgan Neville (Won't You Be My Neighbor?) is directing and producing. The documentary does not have a title, but it is expected to trace Martin's beginnings as a stand-up comic to today. "It's somebody else's take," Martin told THR of the film. "They found a lot of archival stuff. "They found a photo of my father in 1944 in Germany, touring Our Town with the USO."

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