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During the filming of its third season, “Only Murders in the Building” showrunner John Hoffman approached Jane Lynch and asked her how she felt about having her character killed off. She was elated.
Since the series’ 2021 debut, Lynch’s Sarah “Sazz” Pataki, the erstwhile stunt double to semiretired actor Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), would pop up every season on two or three episodes. But returning as a ghost whom only Charles could see or talk to meant Sazz would be the focus of Season 4.
“And even if I’m not in the episode,” says Lynch, “I’m being talked about.”
What no one anticipated, not even Lynch, was how this exploration of Sazz and Charles’ relationship would inject fresh poignancy into Hulu‘s crime comedy. So is this the end of Sazz? Or will the wholesome fan favorite with the perma-smile remain a fixture? “I’m coming back in a flashback [next season],” Lynch says. “But I’m always open to [more].”
Initially you were kept in the dark about who shot Sazz and why. Did you try to guess the murderer’s identity?
No.
Why not?
Maybe I’m not a curious person [laughs].
Or perhaps you just don’t like spoilers.
A friend of mine read [“Lonesome Dove”] and said when he was reading the final pages, he just burst into tears. And I was like, “Oh, I want to read this book now.” So I bought it recently, and I started reading the foreword by Larry McMurtry. He gives away the whole emotional storyline. The book is [843 pages], and I’m going to do it, but I’m not as excited about it. Now I know how it ends.
As a figment of Charles’ imagination, Sazz is always in a suit and a porkpie hat. What’s it like to wear the same costume for a six-month shoot?
Well, I basically wore the same outfit on “Glee” for 5 ½ years, just different colors [laughs]. Sometimes when you wear men’s clothes, which is what I was wearing, it looks like you’re wearing your dad’s suit. You can’t even tailor it enough to look good on you. But our wardrobe people were great. I thought this suit looked particularly good on me. I have a skinny little neck and it’s a man’s shirt, but it fit me. So I loved it. It was good to get into that costume every day.
No wardrobe surprises.
I’m a hard person to fit, straight up and down, so wardrobe fittings, especially when I was a little heavier, they were just horrible. I’d always say, “Look, I’ll bring my own pants.”
Talk about Sazz’s authoritative presence.
What she has is absolutely no insecurities. She wouldn’t for a moment think that when she walks through the door, she wouldn’t be welcome. It wouldn’t even cross her mind. And I’m Leo rising, so I kind of have that going on too.
In the Season 4 opener of Hulu’s comedy, Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver (Martin Short) are in L.A. to discuss an adaptation of their podcast. We followed along.
In preparation, did you do a deep dive into the lives of female stunt doubles?
No [laughs]. That may be because I’m lazy. The relationship was the most important. My devotion to [Charles] is unparalleled. My raison d’etre for living is him, to take care of him, to protect him. She learned it from her father who was a big stuntperson, we find out. You make sure that your No. 1 doesn’t have to do anything that’d risk their physical [well-being]. That was her obsessive, single-minded focus.
What’s your theory about why viewers responded to Sazz and Charles’ deep friendship?
I always think of “Game of Thrones,” how the King’s Hand was absolutely devoted to the king and would do anything, would lose his life, for the king. In this country, we don’t have that kind of relationship. I think it was news to Charles that [Sazz] was so devoted. It made him feel weird. Then, as time went on, and [she] was still doing this 25 years after [Charles’ TV procedural “Brazzos”] was over, he became grateful, really moved by the idea that there was someone in this world who was devoted just to him, that saw him as perfect.
Have stunt doubles hailed your performance?
No.
I’m surprised. Don’t you think Sazz ennobles the profession?
Probably. But the thing about these guys is that they’re very quiet, in their own space. They have a very specific job to do. They’re not social. The guy who was my stunt double? He had to jump off a fricking building. Is he going to sit around and spill tea with me? No.
Side note: Is there even such a thing as a female stunt double who performs dangerous acts for a male actor who plays a ’90s-era TV crime solver?
I don’t know. But Sazz is a particular woman. She’s as strong as a man. She’s as physically capable. She was brought up in the business. I think she was singular.
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