Melissa Fumero rose to fame for her portrayal of the perfectionist, Type A police officer Amy Santiago on the long-running sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” But in the soapy new NBC drama “Grosse Pointe Garden Society,” Fumero has been given a rare opportunity to let loose as a messy socialite hiding her own dark secrets.
Created by “Good Girls” executive producers Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs, the new series stars Fumero as Birdie Bradley, an entitled bestselling author who, after crashing her car while under the influence, is forced to complete court-mandated community service at a garden club in the tony enclave of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
Six months after her arrival ruffles feathers among the clan of garden-loving suburbanites, Birdie and three other members — realtor Catherine (Aja Naomi King), aspiring car restoration business owner Brett (Ben Rappaport) and high school teacher Alice (AnnaSophia Robb) — find themselves conspiring to get away with murder on the night of the club’s winter gala. The first season plays out across two timelines: the months leading up to the murder, and then the night when the mysterious death takes place (and its immediate aftermath).
“I was a little bit scared to read for Birdie just because she felt like such a big character that could easily be a caricature,” Fumero told NBC News. “But then I just went for it, and now she might be one of my most favorite characters I’ve ever played.”
It’s evident how much fun Fumero has had chewing the scenery. While Birdie can come across as a little abrasive and out of touch, Fumero believes Birdie is a street-smart survivor who has realized she can use “her looks, her sass and her energy” to attract the attention of wealthy men and build her brand.
In the premiere, Birdie is attempting to repair her public image when she takes an interest in financially supporting the son she gave up for adoption in high school.
“She’s been through a lot and she’s fought to get where she is, and now it’s become so enwrapped in her identity that she’s terrified to lose any of it,” Fumero said. “She’s there with the book, the big house and the Chanel, and she’s like, ‘Who am I, and what do I even want in life?’ I think we’re meeting her at a really low moment in her life.”
Like Birdie, Fumero has carved out her own place in the public spotlight. The younger of two children born to Cuban immigrants, Fumero grew up dancing and performing, and after being taken to watch her first Broadway musicals, she caught the acting bug when she was 9 or 10.
Whereas some immigrant parents may set career goals for their children, Fumero said her mom and dad sacrificed whatever they could to support her — even if they may not have taken her acting aspirations seriously until she was accepted into the prestigious NYU drama program. It has only been in recent years that Fumero, now a mother of two, has begun to confront the same “scary” feelings that her parents faced.
“I was really hoping for a nerdy academic child, and my children are so clearly drawn to creative things, which is exciting. But I get the panic now, especially knowing firsthand how hard this job can be,” Fumero said. “But I also feel so lucky to get to do something that I love to do, and I want that for my kids. I’m so grateful that my parents raised me the way that they did. It’s been a very great example for me of how to just love your child unconditionally.”
From ‘Brooklyn’ to ‘Grosse Pointe’
Fumero’s life changed forever when she was cast in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” a groundbreaking sitcom lauded for its diverse cast, but without stereotypical storylines around the characters’ ethnicity, skin color or sexual orientation.
Calling the sitcom based in a police precinct “the best chapter of my life,” Fumero tearfully recalled that in addition to working so hard on a little-known show that would later become part of the cultural zeitgeist, she and many of her cast mates became parents around the same time. In an emotional post after the death of her former co-star Andre Braugher, Fumero credited him for encouraging her not to feel guilty when asking to take a break from work to make time for her family.
Fumero has even begun to rewatch parts of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” with her 8-year-old son, who told her that older kids at his school were starting to ask if his mother was Amy. “I was like, ‘All right, he should probably know what this is before kids in his class are watching it,’” she laughed. “He thinks it’s amazing. He’s obsessed with Andy [Samberg] and Terry [Crews].”
Like on “Brooklyn,” Fumero’s new show “Grosse Pointe” has taken a similar approach with Birdie to tackling race and ethnicity. “I think it’s important for her to be Latina — not just because I’m playing it, but I think it’s a character we haven’t necessarily seen before,” said Fumero, referring to her character being a wealthy, larger-than-life woman who is unafraid of saying what she thinks — and happens to be Latina.
“I am proud that the characters I play are not necessarily always leading with [their ethnicity],” Fumero said. “Sometimes that’s OK in the right time, place and context, but it’s really important to show characters of all different backgrounds without having that be the center of their character.”
But when they were first cast in “Brooklyn” in 2013, Fumero and her co-star Stephanie Beatriz, who is of Colombian and Bolivian descent, were convinced that one of them would be fired, because there had seldom been a show with two leading Latinas. So before filming the pilot, even though they looked very different, Fumero and Beatriz agreed to style their hair differently.
“We didn’t see each other as competition,” Fumero said. “We were like, ‘No, we’re in this together. How do we keep both of us around?’ And it was just like, ‘Make sure we look really different, make sure our character’s really different, make sure everything is distinct so they can’t get rid of us.’”
That initial bond has transformed into a lifelong friendship, with Fumero and Beatriz recently reuniting to launch a podcast called “More Better.”
“I’m really grateful to have her as one of my closest friends and collaborators,” Fumero said. “It’s just another huge gift that ‘Brooklyn’ gave me.”
Finding a sense of community has always remained at the center of Fumero’s ethos. When she was 22, she worked with “Jane the Virgin” star Gina Rodriguez — who later introduced her to Beatriz — on a film that never came out. The two would often commiserate about the stereotypical roles they were being asked to audition for.
But through forging more meaningful connections with other Latinos in Hollywood, Fumero is taking a hands-on approach. “We gotta try to get more things made, more things greenlit,” said Fumero. “Just try to take some of that power in the industry back into our community.”
