NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - The Drink with Kate Snow: Melissa Fumero

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

On this episode of “The Drink,” Kate Snow sits down with Melissa Fumero for a candid conversation about the sacrifices her parents made to send her to college, the setbacks that almost ended her career, and how she landed the role that changed everything: Detective Amy Santiago on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” She also discusses her new NBC series, “Grosse Pointe Garden Society.”

Hi everyone, it's Kate Snow. For this episode of The Drink, I recently caught up with actor Melissa Fumero, famous for her role on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. We met up at the Pig & Whistle. It's a restaurant right by Rockefeller Plaza. If you're new to The Drink, it's always about how people got to the top of their field. For this conversation, we chatted over two oat milk lattes. She adds cinnamon. Melissa was candid about how her parents drained their savings so she could go to college and how some career struggles almost made her quit completely before she landed that dream role as Detective Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I hope you enjoy the episode. And as always, you can catch all my conversations with top artists, entrepreneurs, and visionaries at NBCNews.com slash The Drink. You're like taking your last college exam and you have a job.

I was on the New Jersey transit bus back home when they called me. And they had just done where you can't talk on your phone on the buses. But I knew it was my agent, so I was like ducking behind the seat and I was like, hello. And then they told me and I was like, oh my god, oh my god I'm so excited, this is amazing. And like crying and trying to like whisper it all and yeah. Melissa Fumero, actor, director. We are in the Pig & Whistle.

What is your drink? My drink is a latte with an extra shot of espresso and some cinnamon. Oh yeah, very nice. And the cinnamon is a nice touch. It's a little, yeah. Tell me about you. You're a Jersey girl.

I'm a Jersey girl. My parents, they immigrated to this country from Cuba when they were teenagers. I grew up a dancer. That was kind of my entryway into performing. I started taking my first acting classes probably around age 12. And that's when I started saying,

I think I might want to be an actor. This is my dream, maybe. Yeah, yeah. I might want to be an actor. This is my dream, maybe. Yeah, yeah. I auditioned for NYU because I didn't want to wonder what if. But I had no, I was like, there's no way I'm getting in. There's no way. And then you get in. And then I get in.

Then I also had the heart sinking moment, where I was like, there's no way we can afford it. It's such an expensive school. And I remember telling my parents, like, it's OK. Getting in, knowing that I got in is enough. And then my dad sat me down, and he was like, we're going to empty our savings. We're going to take out a lot of loans.

Empty the savings? Yeah. Yeah. They just, here's everything. Here's everything. And here's how he was like, you have to go to this school. I know. So you go through NYU, you audition a bunch

and immediately get a job. Yeah, it was crazy. I got an agent my last semester of school and then a couple months later, right before my last exam, I had screen tested for One Life to Live and I booked it and I found out they called me the day I took my last exam. You're like taking your last college exam and you have a job.

I was on the New Jersey Transit bus back home when they called me and they had just done where you can't talk on your phone on the buses. But I knew it was my agent so I was like ducking behind a seat and I was like, hello. And then they told me and I was like, oh my god, oh my god I'm so excited. This is amazing. And like crying and trying to like whisper it all and yeah. Wow, it's like your dream is coming true. When your time at One Life to Live is over, you start auditioning. Yeah.

You're making a face already. It was not the easiest thing. No. It was about five or six years of struggle. I would work, I would book, but nothing significant. And there weren't as many opportunities for Latin actors. Those were also the days of like we're not gonna go ethnic for this. A lot of times I thought about quitting, I thought about

getting my real estate license, I thought about... Really? Yeah, like should I do something else? It was really hard. I lost, my confidence got rocked. I was with my husband already at the time. We decided to move to LA because we were like, we're going to run out of money super quick. I sort of reluctantly was like kicking and screaming. I was like, I'm never going to leave New York. Because your whole family's here. Yeah.

And I was like, I'm a New Yorker. But it was the best thing we did, and I booked Brooklyn a year after we moved there. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Mm-hmm. Sticky notes, three sizes, ten colors, permanent markers, clickable only, I don't want caps slowing us down,

and I need garbage bags, 33-, 33 gallon blackout cinch top. What are you all still doing here? Go, go, go! I auditioned for Brooklyn again, like college, being like, there's no way this is happening. So I went into that audition like weirdly confident. I was like, this is hilarious. But I'm screened.

Nothing to lose. Nothing to lose. Sure, I'll screen test with Andy Samberg. Like, yeah. I just went in with this kind of attitude of like, this is hilarious that I'm here. And one of the best auditions of my whole life. It's the show that changed my life. That group of people changed my life.

I learned so much from these crazy talented comedy people that have been doing this their whole career. I grew in so many ways on that show. We all became parents also. Like people got married. Yeah. You were pregnant during the show. I was hella pregnant.

I was pregnant both times. Both your kids? Both my kids. So the first time they hid it until the end because I was literally nine months pregnant, and so my character goes undercover as a pregnant woman. And that might be one of my favorite memories, is telling Andy to just, I was like,

just grab it and shake it, man. Nothing's gonna happen. I don't know. Is anyone gonna buy it? I mean, do I look pregnant? I mean, I guess I can see it. That was your real chump. That was my real belly, yes.

You directed an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, didn't you? Yes, I did. Was it your idea to direct? I did a shoot once that went wrong, we'll just say. And as I called my manager afterwards, and as I'm telling him all the things the director could have done that day to like finish us on time to not cause this drama like you know he just goes I think you should direct I was like what no that's not I'm upset

right now and this is this is really bad today this guy was you know he was like no no yeah okay no I hear you no and you're totally right but I think guy was, you know. He was like, no, no, no, yeah, okay, no, I hear you. No, and you're totally right, but I think you should direct. You know, because we really need more Latin voices in directing, in comedy. We have a lot in drama, but not so much in comedy. We're on a new NBC show, Gross Point Garden Society.

Mm-hmm. This is not going to end well for her. I auditioned for Birdie, who is, you know, I get to be, I get to have fun and be a little bit big and ridiculous. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God! She's a little bit brash and maybe a little toxic. She's serving community service at the garden, so she's really a fish out of water in this garden club. And then there's a murder.

Do you know who's in the quilt? Takes a sip of coffee. Besides the murder, there's so many amazing twists and turns with these characters and their relationship and their lives and their connections to each other. And then towards the end of the season, the timelines will converge. I know I can say that.

Okay, lightning round. Lightning round? Yes, let's do it. Do you garden? I've tried to garden. That's a no. I've tried. I've been semi-successful.

I grew some kale during the pandemic. That's successful. Yeah. Kale's hard. I grew some kale. Best thing about being a mom? Like hearing your kids really laugh at you. Like that's the best sound in the whole world when I make my kids crack up.

One thing people don't know about you? I'm hella klutzy. Really? Yeah. I really, I have to think hard when I'm walking. Very last question. What advice would you give to a younger, like a younger person like you? What would you give to a younger, like a younger person like you? What would you say?

The advice I would give, I think, to young Latinas is to, if they're an actor, you know, try writing, try learning directing, learn editing. Like really, I think nowadays young performers have to be at least versed in sort of all of it. We can't wait for the industry to catch up. We can't wait for the phone to ring. Just start making stuff. Melissa Fumero, thank you so much. Thank you.