Only Murders in the Building puts a twist on the old mob in its fifth season — and they filmed at a very special location for it: the Godfather house.
“The old mob was a really fun area to go into because what we had to ask ourselves in the writers’ room with our brilliant group, ‘What does that look like today?’ We’re a comedy show, so we didn’t need to go super deep into it, but it made us laugh that on Staten Island, living in the Godfather house is this guy with dreams of being Tony Soprano,” showrunner John Hoffman tells TV Insider as part of our extensive Fall Preview.
“And then in the middle of it all is Téa Leoni and his five sons and his mother-in-law [Elizabeth D’Onofrio] and all of them wanting him to be one or the other of versions of what classic New York sort of mob archetypes might be or might not want to be. And is the mob dead in that form in that way? Probably, hopefully, maybe somewhat, but also watch out. There’s plenty of other activity going on,” he continues.
Hoffman was surprised to learn they could film at the Godfather house — and reveals they also filmed inside it.
“First of all, I didn’t know it still exists. I didn’t know it was in Staten Island. So that was exciting, just to be able to imagine going over there on the ferry. The minute I thought that, I thought, ‘Well, we’re going to have to shoot on that ferry.’ And it’s one of my favorite things we’ve done because the shot is so good. Of course, there was a really cold day on the water and I felt terrible for our trio — they had to be out there for 15 solid minutes moving directly into wind,” he says.
He shares how welcoming the family who lives there was to the cast and crew.
“They told us some really good stories. There’s an in-ground pool, and it’s on a pretty good-sized lot they have there for that house. And I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t remember a pool here. Isn’t this where the wedding in The Godfather was?’ They actually, for the original loaners as a gift for using the house, said, ‘We’re going to put a pool in for you,'” Hoffman reveals. “There’s nothing like it. That feeling around it just as a kickoff to the season and going there and feeling the haunt that can come from anything like that just felt right.”
Only Murders in the Building, Season 5 Premiere, Tuesday, September 9, Hulu
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