S1 E2: Who is Tim Kono?

Summary

Only Murders in the Building Official Podcast

S1 E2: Who is Tim Kono? — September 1, 2021

Host: Hulu, Michael Cyril Creighton
Producer Guest: Kirker Butler (episode writer)
Cast Guest: Julian Cihi (Tim Kono)

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Episode Overview

In this witty, behind-the-scenes episode, the hosts peel back layers of episode two of "Only Murders in the Building," focusing on the enigmatic murder victim, Tim Kono. Through playful banter, they unpack the process of building a mystery within the Arconia, discuss the creation and casting of its quirky residents, and chat with both episode writer Kirker Butler and Tim Kono himself, actor Julian Cihi. By dissecting key scenes and character interactions, they deepen the intrigue and help fans go beyond the events onscreen.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Writing a Mystery for the Arconia (01:24 - 05:00)

• Virtual Writer’s Room:
  Kirker Butler shares the unique experience of developing the show entirely via Zoom during the pandemic.
  • Quote:
    “Well, this is the first one I’ve ever done completely on Zoom. So it’s, you know, it’s. It’s been very different. The commute is fantastic.” (01:37, Kirker Butler)
• Populating the Building with Suspects:
  The fun of distributing eccentric characters in a large apartment building, ensuring every neighbor could be a potential killer.
  • The writers worked to make everyone—a neighbor wanting an apartment, a therapist, a cat guy, the gruff building supervisor Bunny—feel like they might have a motive.
  • Quote:
    “Once we had these fun characters and we could develop them, like, oh, they would be a fun suspect. They would be a fun suspect.” (03:51, Kirker Butler)

2. Tim Kono’s World: Exploring the Victim (05:00 - 10:32)

• Guest: Julian Cihi (Tim Kono)

  • Julian calls from the southern tip of Japan and humbly admits he hasn’t yet seen the show.
  • Insight into character creation: The character’s name evolved from Tim Lee to Tim Locke, finally to Tim Kono at Julian’s request to honor his Japanese heritage.
    • Quote:
      “My actual heritage…they changed the surname to a Japanese one, which is why it became Tim [Kono].” (06:26, Julian Cihi)
  • Cihi discusses the sense of excitement seeing a character he could genuinely relate to in terms of heritage, and how an audition exercise—reading lines as both young and adult Tim—helped him understand the role.

• Why Does No One Like Tim Kono?

  • Julian on the social pariah status:
    “I think he’s curt. I think he’s on a mission, and that’s all he cares about. He doesn’t care about anything else. So he probably comes off, you know, blunt and impolite.” (10:32, Julian Cihi)
  • The hosts and Julian joke about not seeing the show yet—making for a meta moment, given his character’s central mystery.

3. On-Set Connections & Chemistry (10:54 - 12:28)

• First Encounters With The Cast:

  • Cihi was most familiar with Selena Gomez—through her song “Naturally”, which he used as workout inspiration before knowing who she was.
    • Quote:
      “The first time I knew about her was in college or grad school... I just really liked the song.” (11:01, Julian Cihi)
  • Filming the elevator scene with Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short fostered real connections due to the long hours and close quarters.

• The Secret of the Murder:

  • Julian confirms he knew from the start who killed Tim Kono but stays mum for spoiler reasons.
    • Quote:
      “Hell, yeah.” (12:47, Julian Cihi, on whether he knows who the killer is)

4. Easter Eggs and Teasers for Future Episodes (13:02 - 14:46)

• Writers’ Clues:
  • Kirker Butler teases an “incredible performance” from Nathan Lane in an upcoming, unique episode.
    • Quote:
      “There is some stuff [Nathan Lane] is doing in an episode coming up that I think is some of the best acting I have ever seen him do.” (13:31, Kirker Butler)
  • On the season as a whole:
    “If you keep going, there’s some good surprises... fun twists and turns and… a satisfying ending. So, yeah. Please join us for the ride.” (14:17, Kirker Butler)

5. Who Done It? Hosts’ Theories (14:46 - 16:22)

• In signature playful fashion, the hosts open their “Whodunit Summit” envelopes with their current murder suspects:
  • Host 2 guesses: Howard, the cat guy—“that is a very safe choice.” (15:29)
  • Host 1 guesses: Jackie Hoffman’s character, “Flipping the Bird Lady” (Uma), citing her obvious anger issues.
    • Quote:
      “Well, the very first time we see her, I guess she does flip the bird to someone. So that’s kind of an anger management.” (16:09, Host 1)
• They tease the next episode’s guest: Michael Cyril Creighton (Howard, the cat guy).

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Meta Humor:
  “We’re making a podcast about a show where the characters make their own podcast about a murder. So, meta...” (00:24, Host 2)
• On Changing Tim’s Name:
  “Sometimes you just have to ask. You’re absolutely right. But John and Jess created an environment for me to feel comfortable enough to ask.” (07:22, Julian Cihi)
• On Being Starstruck:
  “I wasn’t really, like, I was starstruck by a different person that I will not name… Was that Sting by any chance? …It was not Sting.” (12:15-12:24)
• Writers’ Room Comedy:
  “Do you wear pants? … Sometimes. You know, if I’m dressing up, if it’s a special day, sure, I’ll throw on some pants.” (01:47-01:49, Host 2 & Kirker Butler)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:37: Kirker Butler on writing for the show via Zoom
• 03:51: Designing the Arconia’s suspect pool
• 06:26: Julian Cihi on the evolution of Tim Kono’s name
• 10:32: Why nobody liked Tim Kono
• 11:01: First impressions and connection with Selena Gomez
• 12:47: Julian Cihi confirms he knows the killer’s identity
• 13:31: Kirker Butler’s Nathan Lane teaser
• 15:17: “Whodunit Summit”—the hosts make their murder predictions

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains a clever, easygoing, slightly irreverent tone, brimming with curiosity and warmth. Behind-the-scenes tidbits, honest laughter, and playful engagement with the ongoing mystery keep things just as delightful and sharp as the show itself.

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Summary

This episode dives beneath the surface of "Who is Tim Kono?" with cast and creator insights: from exploring the peculiarities and motives of the Arconia’s residents to honoring authentic representation through character naming. It masterfully weaves production anecdotes, speculations, and excited teasers for future episodes, all while inviting listeners to join in the playful detective work—the hallmark of both the show and its companion podcast.

Transcript

[Kirker Butler]

Straw Hut Media.

[Host 1]

Do you guys hear yourselves?

[Host 2]

I hear me.

[Host 1]

Yes, I do.

[Host 2]

Yes, I hear kk. It's very sad. It's a very sad, lonely man.

[Host 1]

Hey, everyone.

[Host 2]

God, I can tell by just a word.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I'm so sorry. I'm in my brown cardigan.

[Host 2]

Who are we? We're a couple of true crime aficionados, not unlike Charles Oliver and Mabel, the three main char in Hulu's newest show, only murders in the building. We're making a podcast about a show where the characters make their own podcast about a murder. So, meta, why are we here? To solve a murder and to try to figure it out before all is revealed in the season finale. We may not be in the arconia ourselves, but we will get some inside information from some of the cast and crew and maybe even get a few clues. As of now, we've only seen the first two episodes, so if you haven't watched the what? Catch up now. Hit the pause button, stream episodes one and two and come right back so we don't spoil anything for you. We talked to one of the staff writers, Kirker Butler, and Julian Seahey, the actor who plays the dead guy, Tim Kono.

[Host 1]

Kirker Butler was the main writer on episode two. He's written for other iconic shows like Family Guy, the Cleveland show, and the Neighbors. We wanted to know, what was this writer's room like?

[Kirker Butler]

Well, this is the first one I've ever done completely on zoom. So it's, you know, it's. It's. It's been very different. The commute is fantastic.

[Host 2]

Do you wear pants?

[Kirker Butler]

Sometimes. You know, if I'm dressing up, if it's a special day, sure, I'll throw on some pants. But what we're doing right now is we're working on season two, and so it's all about just breaking the overall arc of the season, what our mysteries are going to be, who our suspects are going to be, and then breaking that big arc down into 10 episodes. And so right now we're around the episode four or five area.

[Host 1]

Is he into true crime? It's good to know that on a team of writers, there are some real true crime fans like us.

[Kirker Butler]

I do. The one I listened to most recently was called Bardstown, about these unsolved murders in Bardstown, Kentucky. I'm from Kentucky, and my wife was living in Bardstown when we met. And so there are. There were places that are mentioned and family names that I'd heard. So that was really fascinating. And I listened to that one right around the time we started this, and there was just because of the podcast and some other. Some other things prompted by it. Just this week, or I guess last week, the FBI went back and started digging up driveways because they have clues. And it's been fascinating to follow the whole story.

[Host 1]

Unlike the Beyond Bardstown podcast, where I'm sure they're discussing unsolved homicides, in episode two, there's a catcher side, not the official word, but a cat. Sweet, sweet Evelyn dies the same night as Tim Kono. But Kirker, he's a dog guy.

[Kirker Butler]

I love dogs. I have a dog named Maggie, and she's delightful.

[Host 1]

Is this dog person who's to blame for the dead cat?

[Kirker Butler]

You know, I didn't have anything to do with the dead cat, but I was not saddened by the dead cat.

[Host 1]

Episode 2. We're learning who is Tim Kono, but we're also building out our suspect list. We asked Kirker what that's like from a writing perspective. How do you draw suspicions to a building full of people? How do you make it so any one of your neighbors could be a murderer?

[Kirker Butler]

Well, it was interesting because we have this building, and so the fun part of this was populating it. Who's going to live there? Where were they going to live? What were the relationships going to be between each other and our main characters? And so once we started populating that, I think the big scene where we meet, a lot of them are in Tim Kono's memorial service. Yeah, down in the lobby. And so we just started thinking, who'd be fun to be there? Well, obviously, you know, Bunny, who is the, you know, kind of runs the building. She's fun. And then Howard Morris was just hilarious. And the actor Michael, who played him, just brought so much to it. And Jackie Hoffman, who plays Uma, hysterically funny. And so once we had these fun characters and we could develop them, like, oh, they would be a fun suspect. They would be a fun suspect. And so we just started picking and choosing, and it was great. When you're starting from. Starting from nothing, but then you have a whole building to put characters in, it's great. It's very freeing.

[Host 1]

We go through the list of suspects that we meet at the service. The neighbor who wants the apartment, the needy therapist who needs the clients. Howard Morris, the cat guy, who we'll talk to in the next episode. But one thing is clear. No one liked Tim Kono. And any one of these people could have had the motive to kill him. Let's learn more about Tim Kono and talk to the actor who plays him? Julian Cihe. Episode 2 of the show and our podcast is titled who is Tim Kono? We're trying to learn who Tim Kono really is. We have the actor who played him, Julian Seahee, who called in all the way from Japan.

[Julian Seahey]

So I'm in the southernmost part of Japan, so it's just like. It's like Hawaii, basically.

[Host 1]

But who is Julian Cihe? Born and raised in Japan, a theater kid, dabbled in acapella. Performed Romeo and Juliet with Elizabeth Olsen from his hotel lobby. He had just arrived and hadn't even checked into his room yet.

[Julian Seahey]

By the way, if I sound like I'm whispering, it's because I am.

[Host 2]

But it's okay. You're not just. You're just talking.

[Julian Seahey]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Episode two is called who is Tim Kono? This episode of our podcast is called who is Tim Kono? So can Julian tell us who he is?

[Julian Seahey]

Honestly, I have no idea. I haven't seen the show. You know, his name was Tim Lee in the beginning, so he was Tim Lee for a while and went to another different name, Tim Locke at one point, and then we ended at Tim Kono because I had expressed, you know, how important it was for me, you know, coming from Japan, you know, my actual heritage. And so John and Jess. I know John was on with you guys, but, yeah, they changed the surname to a Japanese one, which is why it became Tim.

[Host 2]

Oh, nice. That's great. I love that you interjected that and asked for that. You know, sometimes actors don't say, hey, listen, I would love to have this. And, you know, and usually they're receptive. They really are. It's just. You just have to just request and ask and happen. I love that.

[Julian Seahey]

Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes you just have to ask. You're absolutely right. But John and Jess created an environment for me to feel comfortable enough to ask.

[Host 1]

This show seems larger than life, so we wanted to know what it's like to be part of a project like this.

[Julian Seahey]

You know, it's a big deal to see Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin short, you know, attached to a project. And then you see that the character is named Tim, originally Lee, which, you know, half. Half Asian and half something else, which is me. And I often go in for different kinds of ethnicities, but when it's closest to who I am, you know, it's kind of. You get excited a little bit more, and you, you know, you want it a little bit more. But. So there were a bunch of scenes in the callbacks, and it's all zoom, obviously, but the One thing is, when I knew that I had a chance at this role, it was when I did, because John had John, Jamie, the director, and Jess me read young Tim. So I.

[Host 1]

He.

[Julian Seahey]

They had me read that as an adult, as more my age or Tim's age with the same lines. And funny enough, that clicked for me like that, gave me insight into who Tim Kono was and informed me how to play the other scenes, which was argument, scene arguments with Mabel.

[Host 1]

So real life Julian Cihe might not know who Tim Kono is and he might not have seen the show, but he knows more than nothing. Executive producer Jess Rosenthal and co creator John Hoffman sat him down and explained his character arc.

[Julian Seahey]

Tim should know.

[Host 2]

Tim Tincono should know what's happening.

[Julian Seahey]

Know how he gets murdered.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

It's important to the story. Yeah.

[Julian Seahey]

First of all, stop me if I'm about to spoil anything, because I don't. There's flashbacks and, you know, I don't know who's been on yet, like, which character, blah, blah.

[Host 1]

But

[Julian Seahey]

so the elevator scene, he's on. He's having a conversation with somebody about something. But I need to know that, you know, I need to know what that's about to best play my character, which is why, you know, John, you had

[Host 2]

to know in the future.

[Host 1]

And that's the conversation on the phone where you couldn't find the package. It was misdelivered again in the building. All right, so everyone thinks Tim Kono is awful, but why do you think everyone. All the characters on the show do not like Tim Kono.

[Julian Seahey]

Yeah, I think he's curt. I think he's. I think he's on. He's definitely on a mission, and that's all he cares about. And he's driven, but because of that, he doesn't care about anything else. So he probably comes off, you know, blunt and impolite.

[Host 1]

What's it like to work with these guys, these legends? He knew who they were, but Selena Gomez was the one he had a connection with.

[Julian Seahey]

Well, her music, the first time I was. I knew about her was in college or grad school. It was a song of hers called Naturally, and I was, like, really into this song, and I used it when I worked out all the time. Like, I didn't know who she was. I just really liked the song.

[Host 1]

Did you tell her that you knew her?

[Julian Seahey]

I did tell her that. That was one of the things always great to have. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The first. First day of shooting was the elevator scene, and it took so long because of all the different shots. And, you know, catching the, you know, all these looks and the glass details and the nail and the button and so, yeah, we had a lot of time to, you know, talk and just

[Host 1]

bond a little bit, too.

[Julian Seahey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And so I brought that up, and I wasn't really, like, I was starstruck by a different person that I will not name later was the person you

[Host 1]

were just speaking about. Was that sting, by any chance?

[Julian Seahey]

It was not sting.

[Host 1]

It was not sting.

[Julian Seahey]

I'll just say that.

[Host 1]

Recap. Here's what we know. Nobody liked Tim Kono. Anyone in the building could have killed him, whether it was for his apartment because he was rude or people were annoyed with his asthma and ruining Christmas for him. It seems like there were several motives for killing Tim Kono. Don't tell us, but do you know who murdered you?

[Julian Seahey]

Hell, yeah.

[Host 2]

Oh, hell yeah. Yeah.

[Host 1]

Did you know who murdered you when you did the first episode?

[Julian Seahey]

Yes.

[Host 1]

We told you that we would end each interview with a clue, so we asked Kirker Butler if there was anything he could safely share with us.

[Host 2]

Can you give us a clue? Doesn't have to be, you know, to help us move forward. It doesn't have to be, you know, and we're in. We're in two.

[Host 1]

We're in two.

[Host 2]

We'm in two. And the one you wrote and, you know, anything you can, like, just. It could be really a tough clue or, you know, sweet baby Jesus, something.

[Kirker Butler]

All the reviews have been coming out and we've been reading them in the room, like, no, that's a spoiler.

[Host 1]

No, don't say that.

[Host 2]

Think about it.

[Kirker Butler]

Okay, I will say this. I will say. I don't know if it's necessarily a clue about the series, but Nathan Lane is in the show, and I've always been a fan of his, but there is some stuff that he is doing in an episode coming up that I think is some of the best acting I have ever seen him do. He is so good, and, I mean, obviously he's a very good actor, but I've never seen him do anything quite like this before. And there's a very unique episode that comes up later in the season where he just really gets to shine, and it's really, really exciting to watch.

[Host 1]

As of episode two, we haven't met Nathan Lane's character, but he comes in the next episode, and we're going to

[Kirker Butler]

be watching very closely, just everybody who's watching the show. Thank you so much. And I think if you. If you keep going, there's going to. There's some good surprises. We worked really hard to have some fun twists and turns and to give what we believe is satisfying ending. So, yeah. Please join us for the ride.

[Host 2]

Okay, KK So now we've come to the part where we are our favorite part of we're going to open envelopes to see who we think is the murder.

[Host 1]

Based on what we've seen so far. So two episodes in episode one, episode two, those changes. But just based on so far, I'm

[Host 2]

sure it will change. Unless you're brilliant like me. But I don't even feel like. Yeah, because remember, my first one was nobody. Well, that means I wasn't wrong. Okay, so here we go. Oh, and I have a great name for it. Ready? The Whodunit summit.

[Host 1]

You wrote that down.

[Host 2]

Thank you. Instead of G7, it's G2.

[Host 1]

Okay, let's do it.

[Host 2]

Okay, here we go. Want to give me a percussion roll?

[Host 1]

Yes. You're gonna tear open the envelope.

[Host 2]

Thank you. Okay, you have Howard the cat guy. Well, that is a very safe choice. Isn't that a safe choice? You say accurate, I say wrong. But we'll see now.

[Host 1]

Safer choice than no one.

[Host 2]

Yeah, but that was only the first episode. I have someone for this one now. Do you want to rip it?

[Host 1]

Yes.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

All right, here we go.

[Host 2]

Here we go.

[Host 1]

You put flipping the bird lady.

[Host 2]

Flipping the bird lady the New Yorker.

[Host 1]

She is Jackie Hoffman.

[Host 2]

Jackie Hoffman. And. But she, you know, she's everywhere. So she's angry.

[Host 1]

Well, the very first time we see her, I guess she does flip the bird to someone. So that's kind of an anger management.

[Host 2]

Yeah. So she's got some anger. I don't know.

[Host 1]

But we'll see. I don't know.

[Host 2]

I think it's. I think it's better than, you know.

[Host 1]

We'll see what happens next week.

[Host 2]

I know.

[Host 1]

And we're going to leave on the note of. Go listen to episode three. It's out now.

[Host 2]

Ah, yeah.

[Host 1]

And we have a special guest. It's actually the guy I think is a. A cold blooded murderer. Howard the cat guy. Michael, Cyril Crichton is going to be joining us.

[Host 2]

We'll be lenient to him though.

[Host 1]

Yes, will we? Bye.

[Kirker Butler]

Okay,

[Julian Seahey]

Sam,