At present, Matthew Broderick stands alone in having a role specifically written for him by Elsbeth creator and showrunner Jonathan Tolins. However, this could potentially change if any other actors become interested after reading this.

In a conversation with DECIDER about the remarkable Elsbeth Season 2 finale, where the main character (played by Carrie Preston) ends up in prison, Tolins shared that his approach to casting guest stars to portray murderers is quite straightforward. Despite what fans might think, roles are typically not crafted with a specific actor in mind.

“People often assume we have the stars on board before we develop the scripts,” the writer elaborated. “In nearly every instance, we initially conceive a story, draft a script, and then reach out to actors.” He added, “The only exception was with Matthew Broderick; having worked with him before, I knew he wanted to guest star and I wanted him on the show.”

For the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off actor, it was more about locking in the schedules than anything else, Tolins said. The two previously worked together on NBC’s A Christmas Story Live! back in 2017 and Broderick joined Elsbeth for Season 2 Episode 12, “Foiled Again,” also bringing his eldest son, James Wilkie Broderick, along for the ride.

Aside from Broderick, however, all of the other guest stars on The Good Fight spinoff have come in after a script and a murderer has already been developed.

For the hit CBS series, that’s an impressive feat given their murderer’s row (pun intended) of guest stars in Season 1 and Season 2. In just 30 episodes, the show has welcomed notable names like Keegan-Michael Key, Jane Krakowski, Mary-Louise Parker, Alyssa Milano, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and so many more.

Tolins told DECIDER that more than anything, they’ve always been focused on creating a great script for each episode and cultivating a great atmosphere on set so that people want to come and do the show. He said that luckily, the plan has worked thus far as “word’s gotten out that people have a good experience” doing the show.

“What we really have to do is just write the best thing we can and know that that will attract the right people. And we’ve been incredibly lucky and pleased with who’s come,” he shared.

That said, Tolins shared that he is fully open to writing more roles for certain actors if they want to play in the Elsbeth sandbox with Preston, Wendell Pierce, Carra Patterson and the rest of the cast. And with Season 3 a guarantee — the writers’ room opens in late May and the show begins shooting in July — now is the time for any interested actors to pick up the phone.

“Maybe that’ll start happening,” he said. “I’m available if anyone wants to call.”

The first two seasons of Elsbeth are currently streaming on Paramount+. Season 3 premieres in the fall on CBS.