Melissa Fumero’s Role in Based on a True Story Has a Connection to Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Melissa Fumero admits the meta nature of her role on Based on a True Story is intentional.
**SPOILER ALERT! This article contains spoilers about some plot points in Based on a True Story season 2. If you haven’t watched yet, proceed with caution.**
Melissa Fumero, the actress is known for playing perfectionist cop Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine alongside Andy Samberg, is now adding to the twisting mystery of Based on a True Story Season 2.
When Fumero got the “exciting call” about a role on Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina’s Peacock show, she felt the character was different from anything else she’s ever done before.
“The show itself feels really different,” Fumero told NBC Insider. “It was just an exciting situation all around and I was really grateful that they asked me to come play with them for season 2.”
(Spoilers for Season 2 follow!)
Who does Melissa Fumero play on Based on a True Story?
Fumero plays a seemingly relatable mom and cop named Drew who befriends Ava (Cuoco) at the park. The pair strike up a friendship quickly. However, Ava soon suspects Drew is not who she says she is. But could she be the Copycat Killer?
Fumero recalled the showrunner Annie Weisman sharing the character’s arc to her.
“Annie Weisman, 100 percent was like, ‘This is on purpose,’” Fumero explained. “You’re gonna be pretending to be a cop and everyone’s gonna buy it because you played a cop for so long and it’s gonna feel kind of meta and it's gonna be amazing,’ And I was like, ‘Brilliant.’’
Fumero found the twist of her character not actually being in law enforcement a fun wink to the audience, especially for fans of Nine-Nine. Instead, Drew ends up having another shocking connection to Matt (Tom Bateman): She's his ex-wife, whose real name is Olivia. Filming the true reveal of who her character really is made for a "fond memory" on set.
“I have that whole big monologue, it was the first time I was working with the whole cast, which is pretty intimidating, even though they’re not intimidating people at all,” Fumero said. “They were all just being really funny throughout that scene and Chris Messina was also just adorably being a great cheerleader for me … they kept it light and they kept making me laugh.”
Melissa Fumero's Best Brooklyn Nine-Nine Memories
Of course, Fumero isn't a stranger to television: She spent many years on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, an experience she recalls fondly. After the show was canceled on Fox, it was soon picked up by NBC and aired for three more seasons. Fumero said the cast had no idea how much the show resonated with fans back then.
“The way it blew up on social media that day shocked all of us,” Fumero said. “We always had this like little cast group chat going and all of us were in the group chat going like, ‘Guys, I think a lot of people watch our show. I think a lot of people love our show.’”
The wave of support on social media and the push to keep the show going was the first time they started to realize it was breaking into pop culture, according to Fumero.
“We always thought we were kind of the struggling little comedy that kept getting breaks every year and barely making it,” Fumero recalled.
A second moment they felt a shift was when more fans started discovering the show again during the pandemic.
“The biggest compliment I think I’ve received about Brooklyn is that … it still holds up,” Fumero said. “The fact that the jokes still hold up, that it’s not aging itself in any way, is just a huge compliment to our writers and our creators and it’s just cool, you know? It’s cool that it keeps finding new lives and new audiences. It’s kind of crazy.”
Sometimes people do quote catchphrases or moments of the show back to her.
“I get a lot of ‘Noice,” Fumero said laughing.
Find out Olivia's fate and watch Season 2 of Based on a True Story, streaming now on Peacock.
