Melissa Fumero Almost Didn't Audition for Her "Complex" New Role: "I Was Scared"
The TV star transforms into a messy and entitled divorcée for NBC's Grosse Pointe Garden Society, a juicy new murder mystery.
Melissa Fumero is one of the most prolific TV actresses working today. Since breaking through on soaps, there's barely a been a week when she wasn't one someone's screen somewhere, and soon she'll help lead the cast of NBC's juicy new drama Grosse Pointe Garden Society. Created by Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs, the series also stars Aja Naomi King, Ben Rappaport, and AnnaSophia Robb.
Turns out, the campy elements are a return to form for the actress. Birdie is a bestselling author who wrote a memoir about divorce. With a self-destructive streak, she's rich, entitled, and sometimes, but there is real pain beneath her bold facade.
Read all Fumero's wide-ranging career, and what initially scared her about Birdie, below.
Melissa Fumero nearly didn't play Birdie on Grosse Pointe Garden Society
Speaking with NBC Insider, Fumero, 42, recounted how she nabbed a coveted role on one of the hottest shows in town. “The pilot was one of the best scripts I've ever read. I thought all of these characters were so complex and intriguing, but particularly for Birdie, getting to see behind the mask, and behind the curtain and behind what she wants people to see, was really attractive to me and intriguing, because that's what makes her feel like a real person."
Thing was, every other actor in the industry had more or less the same reaction. “Everybody knew about it and everybody, myself included, was calling their reps being like, ‘who are they seeing?’ And it was, ‘everyone is being seen.’ Liz Dean, the casting director, we had crossed paths a little bit, she knew of me, and she thought I would be right for the show, thank God.”
When it came time to audition, Fumero psyched herself out of going for what ultimately became her role. “It felt really competitive. I actually wasn't vying for Birdie right away. I was really scared of Birdie. I hesitated to audition for her and I auditioned actually for one of the other characters first, and then they wanted me to read Birdie, and I was like, ‘I don't know.’ She is the most fun, in my opinion, but I was really intimidated… She felt very far from me, so I just couldn't figure it out.”
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Fortunately Fumero’s husband, David Fumero, is also an actor. They met on a soap opera, and he’s seen her tackle a variety of roles throughout her career.
“My husband actually helped me,” Fumero said of getting into Birdie’s head. “He reminded me of this character I played years, and years and years ago, and a thing that nobody saw and he was like, 'well she's kind of like that, like why don't you start there?' And it was like bing, like lightbulb… And then I guess it went well and they liked it, so here I am."
I hesitated to audition for her and I auditioned actually for one of the other characters first, and then they wanted me to read Birdie, and I was like, ‘I don't know.’”
Now that she is Birdie, it’s been a fun challenge. “I’ve been playing kind of put-together characters lately, so it's fun to play someone who doesn't always know what she's doing and is a bit of a mess and just living life one moment to the next. I mean, it's every actors dream to get to constantly challenge ourselves and do different things, but it rarely happens,” she said, adding, “It's been very freeing, it's been empowering, it's fun to play someone who just like says whatever she thinks.”
Fumero got her start on soap operas
From 2004 to 2008 (with return guest appearances in 2010 and 2011), she played Adriana Cramer in One Life To Live, a role she booked "mere hours" after taking her last test as an NYU student, she told USA Today. During that time, she also appeared, as the same character, on two episodes of All My Children, and had small roles on Gossip Girl, The Mentalist, and the movie I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.
Fumero shone as Detective Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine
NBC viewers likely know Fumero from her starring role as Detective (later Captain) Amy Santiago on the police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Santiago was a by-the-book stickler for rules and organization, with a competitive streak, who pushed everyone around her to be their very best, including her eventual husband, the goofy Detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg).
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It's a role she intentionally drew on when she popped up in Season 2 of Peacock's Based On A True Story, playing a woman pretending to be an officer. “[Showrunner] Annie Weisman, 100 percent was like, ‘This is on purpose,’” Fumero explained to NBC Insider. “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.’’
“The biggest compliment I think I’ve received about Brooklyn is that … it still holds up,” Fumero added. “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.”
Fumero also directs
In addition to her work in front of the camera, Fumero is building an impressive directing résumé, having helmed episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Grand Crew, Not Dead Yet, Gordita Chronicles and Primo.
She plans to keep directing sitcoms — and that's it, as she explained to the LA Times, saying, "I know I’m not interested in being a filmmaker. For me, I’m just very interested in this half-hour comedy world, just helping people be super funny and make a good show. That to me is exciting. I really love comedians. I have a lot of respect and admiration for them. If I could be of service to that, that’s very exciting to me."
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Watch the Grosse Pointe Garden Society series premiere on Sunday, February 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
Reporting by McKenzie Jean-Philippe
