A killer role.
Bobby Cannavale has Paul Rudd to thank for playing murdered mobster Nicky Caccimelio on “Only Murders in the Building” Season 5.
“Paul Rudd’s a good friend of mine. I said to him, ‘You had a good time on that show, right? Because I think I want to do it,’” Cannavale, 55, recalled exclusively to The Post. “And he goes, ‘Are you the dead guy?’ I go, ‘I am the dead guy.’ He goes, ‘You got to do it. That’s the part.’”
“It is a special thrill to get to be the corpse and to be the talking corpse,” the Tony-nominated star continued. “And to have those great existential scenes with Steve Martin is like beyond gonzo for me.”
Season 5 of the Hulu show, which ends Tuesday, sees the Arconia trio, Charles (Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) investigating the death of their doorman, Lester. (Teddy Coluca). Nicky becomes an early suspect, only to end up dead at the end of the first episode.
The past season’s murder victims were played by Julian Cihi (Season 1), Jayne Houdyshell (Season 2), Rudd (Season 3) and Jane Lynch (Season 4).
Cannavale, who lives in Brooklyn with partner Rose Byrne, was overjoyed he got to shoot “OMITB” in New York City.
“I’m hoping that more and more work comes back to New York City because we’ve been suffering here in the city in terms of production going elsewhere,” the “Third Watch” star explained. “But that is one of the nice things about ‘Only Murders in the Building.’”
“I mean, chief reason to do that show is to work with those guys. It’s just a big thrill to get to work with Steve Martin and Martin Short,” Cannavale added. “A huge thrill.”
Cannavale noted that the Emmy Award-winning comedy is currently “one of the few shows” that shoots in the Big Apple.
“So I’m hoping more and more production comes back to New York,” he said. “I really feel like I hit the sweet spot of when production was happening here in the late 90s and early aughts. It seemed like everything was shooting here. So I’m hopeful that those times come back to the city and create so many more jobs in so many different sectors here when we have more production shooting in New York. I’m hoping that that increases.”
Along with “OMITB,” Cannavale is in the new film “Blue Moon” starring Ethan Hawke as songwriter Lorenz Hart. Cannavale plays a bartender, a job he once had in real life.
“I was a very good bartender,” he told The Post. “I was a pretty sociable guy. It got more difficult once I had my first son, just because I became a little less sociable because I was so tired. And also, that’s when the clock started ticking for me that I needed to make something happen in this acting game.”
“I was good at it. I enjoyed it,” Cannavale added of bartending. “I enjoyed the camaraderie of being with other bartenders and servers. I enjoyed being in hospitality from that end, being on the other side of the bar.”
And like his acting career, Cannavale had extensive experience during his bartending days.
“I worked at Keens Chophouse for a long time. I think they call it Keens Steakhouse now,” the “Will & Grace” alum remembered. “I worked at TGI Fridays. I worked at a restaurant called Patria, which was on 21st and Park Avenue. I worked at Jekyll and Hyde. I did a few shifts at The Duplex, which is still there.”
“Then I transitioned over to security, and I worked at Cafe Society,” Cannavale said. “Oh, I worked at Johnny Rockets. I worked at Club USA. I worked at The Limelight. I’ve worked everywhere.”
The “Only Murders in the Building” Season 5 finale airs Tuesday on Hulu.
