Latest news with #Fumero
NBC News
01-03-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
In 'Grosse Pointe Garden Society' star Melissa Fumero is a messy socialite with secrets
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.'
Los Angeles Times
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Melissa Fumero
Melissa Fumero's sons, at 5 and 8 years old, are almost at the age that they can prep breakfast for themselves. When the time comes, it will be a help for the busy mom, who also doubles as the queen of network television. The actor is perhaps best known for playing the over-eager, by-the-rules Det. Amy Santiago in the police comedy series 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine.' But she calls her latest role, as a 'wild' suburban socialite on NBC's new series 'Grosse Point Garden Society,' an 'actor dream.' 'The experience of playing a socialite means you are in the hair and makeup chair far longer than you are when you're playing a detective,' said Fumero, laughing. More seriously, the joy in playing her character, Birdie, comes with digging beneath her plasticky surface. 'When we meet her in the show, she's kind of had everything she's wanted, and she's a little like, 'Now what?' and 'Who even am I?' and 'What do I even want?'' Fumero said. Introspection is familiar to the actor, who co-hosts a podcast called 'More Better' with fellow 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' alum Stephanie Beatriz. On it, they candidly discuss the tricky balancing act between their careers and personal lives. But beyond that, really, Fumero assured me, there are few touchstones between her and Birdie. Here's how the family-oriented actor would actually spend her ideal Sunday. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 7:30 a.m.: Sleep in My ideal, perfect, fantastical Los Angeles morning, is my kids sleep in. And by sleep in, I mean they wake up at like 7:30 a.m., which is sleeping in in our house. Ninety percent of the time, it's really sweet. They come into the bed, they cuddle, they're all cute. And then, just as you're snuggled up about to fall back asleep because you think, 'Maybe we're all just going to sleep a little longer, they whisper in your ear, 'Can we get up now? I'm really hungry. Can we go have breakfast now?'' It's so cute, but it's also so annoying. 9 a.m.: Tucker out the pup I will take my French mastiff Rosie for a hike at Fryman Canyon to tucker her out for the day and also just feel like I moved on a Sunday. It's a beautiful hike. It's one of my favorites. It's never super-crowded, and when you get to that back top ridge and it's overlooking all the mountains, and there's eucalyptus trees … it's so L.A. 10:30 a.m.: Surf's up Let's say this Sunday is in the summertime, so we're also going to go to the beach for the day. Every summer, I say we're gonna go to the beach every Sunday, and then what happens is, like at least five or six happen. So after the hike, I'm going to stop and grab some sandwiches and lattes from Harvest Moon, which is one of our favorites and we go all the time. I'm gonna get croissants. I'm gonna get their delicious lattes. I'm gonna get a muffin for my son and some sandwiches. We're gonna pack a cooler, and we're gonna drive to Will Rogers [State] Beach, which for us is about a half-hour drive. Some people don't know that the parking lot keeps going north once you enter it, and so that's usually our move. We're like full-on serious beach people. I grew up going to the beach in New Jersey and in Miami. Then my husband is also Cuban, and he grew up in Miami, so he also grew up going to the beach. I've been at the beach with my parents for like eight hours, so we kind of do the same thing. We have the chairs, we have blankets, we have a cooler and umbrellas. We also love to invite friends to the beach because it's always more fun with other families. The adults chill and maybe have a High Noon and some chips while the kids play and look for sand crabs and boogie board and climb the rocks. It's always just the best time. 3:30 p.m.: Keep the kids awake We probably spend half the drive home trying to keep our kids from falling asleep, because if they do, they'll be up too late, and we hate that. So it's loud music and being like, 'Hey! Don't sleep! We're gonna be home soon. Open your eyes! Look at me!' Basically being the most annoying parents on the drive home. 4 p.m.: Lazy screen time We get home and depending on how hard the kids played, it's either going to be some lazy screen time for everyone or sometimes they jump in the pool for an hour because they're maniacs and their energy is boundless, especially if they fell asleep in the car. If they fell asleep in the car, their asses are going in the pool when we get home. 5:30 p.m.: Family-friendly Italian dinner We're going to go to dinner. Our two favorite family spots are Osteria La Buca in Sherman Oaks or Pitfire Pizza in North Hollywood. Osteria has really fantastic Italian food. We discovered them during the pandemic because they did Buca Out Back, which was they transformed their little parking lot in the back to outdoor dining. They had picnic tables, and they would do a really small menu of some of their pizzas and their spaghetti, and they would have wine and beer. It was the first fun thing we could do in the pandemic, so that's when we fell in love with them. The pizza at Pitfire is super bomb, and I say that as a former New Yorker. In general, L.A. has bomb pizza now. That used to not be true… Pitfire Pizza is more like, brick-oven gourmet pizza. It's smaller, and the crust is really fluffy. But it's still crispy, and there are a lot of different combinations. My kids love the pizza and the meatballs there. My husband and I love the pizza, and we love the kale salad, and also they do double pours of wine. So, that's my favorite part. It's a big outdoor seating, so it's really fun to go. We also, a lot of times, run into other families with kids that we know. It's a very family-friendly place. 8 p.m.: Kiddos' bedtime Then it's head home and chill, do bath time and bed, and hopefully from all the beach and the swimming the kids are out right at 8 o'clock. And then maybe I can have another glass of wine with my husband on the couch and just have an hour to ourselves. 9 p.m.: TV and chill The kids fall asleep, and we run to start a show before we get too tired. We just started 'Shrinking,' and it's a little easier because it's half-hour episodes. Anytime we attempt to watch an hourlong show, it's like, really hard. One of us will fall asleep, and it's like we take turns. One night it's him, one night it's me. And then we have to decide if we want to rewatch or did not a lot happen. We love TV so much. We're just so tired. We have little kids.
