Meryl Streep‘s daughter Louisa Jacobson shared her honest thoughts on Martin Short amid his rumored romance with her mother.
Jacobson, 33, was asked about Short, 75, while speaking to Elle in a profile published on Thursday, May 22. “I don’t know him super well,” she replied, referring to Short as a “great, great guy.”
While Jacobson didn’t elaborate on the speculation surrounding Short and Streep, 75, the pair have been spotted together recently filming Only Murders in the Building. The twosome originally crossed paths on the set of the hit Hulu series before spending more time together off screen.
Along with Jacobson, Streep shares kids Grace, Henry and Mamie with Don Gummer. The actress announced in 2023 that the couple called it quits more than six years prior. Short, for his part, met actress Nancy Dolman in 1972 and they tied the knot eight years later. Short shared three kids, Katherine, Oliver, and Henry, with his late wife, who died in 2010 from ovarian cancer.
Streep portrays Short’s love interest on Only Murders in the Building, and the duo’s public appearances off camera sparked speculation that they are dating. A rep for Short denied the rumors in a January 2024 statement.
Short and Streep’s characters, Oliver and Loretta, got married during season 4 of the series, which also stars Selena Gomez and Steve Martin. Ahead of season 5, which is currently filming in New York, creator John Hoffman explained why Loretta left for a job overseas shortly after exchanging vows with Oliver.
“There are a lot of reasons [for that decision]. I’ll cop to that for sure. But I think, ultimately, I delighted in it, and we said yes to it because it felt like a funny, believable thing now. If you’re working in TV and film, again, it’s a little bit of a tweaking joke to the industry that overseas is cheaper, or overseas makes sense, or overseas is fresher,” Hoffman told The Hollywood Reporter in October 2024. “Things are happening like that all the time around productions that are either just getting going or are making a move, or whatever they can do to hold on to things and keep the costs down. So a little bit of that wink was a part of that decision.”
Hoffman gushed over Short and Streep’s chemistry on the show.
“I just love the two of them together. Marty and Meryl and Oliver and Loretta dancing and talking and Loretta realizing, ‘I don’t know how I do this. I don’t know how I take you away from this.’ All that felt really sweet,” he continued. “And the whole idea of an unconventional relationship, and her sensing, ‘You’re going to come to New Zealand and this could very well be the end of this beautiful marriage.’ Her knowing that about him and saying, ‘Let’s roll with this.’ It’s a beautifully sweet and heartbreaking scene. It is very adult to make a call like that.”
In a separate interview with Decider, Hoffman explained the significance of Loretta and Oliver’s romance. “I remember one night we were shooting on the ferry in episode 5 of season 3. We shot until about two in the morning on the most gorgeous night in Manhattan,” he recalled. “I got off to gangplank there and Meryl was waiting, and she had tears in her eyes, and she said, ‘I just had to wait here for you to get off the boat to say thank you.’”
He added: “I was like, ‘What?’ and she said, ‘I just got to play a scene I really thought that the likes of which I wouldn’t have a chance to do. To play romantic scenes at this age with this band in this way, it’s just the greatest thing ever.’”
Earlier this month, Streep and Short were photographed filming scenes in which their characters shared a steamy kiss on the streets of New York.
