Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: based on a true story, Melissa Fumero

Based on a True Story: Melissa Fumero Talks "Cop Mode" & Kaley Cuoco

Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) spoke with Bleeding Cool about her role as Drew in the Peacock dark comedy "Based on a True Story."

Melissa Fumero is one of the most versatile actresses on TV and is emerging as one of the biggest comedic presences on prime-time, which is impressive considering she busted into the scene on two of the longest-running soaps of daytime TV on ABC's All My Children and One Life to Live. Before landing her biggest break on Fox/NBC's Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Det/Sgt Amy Santiago in 2013, she had memorable appearances on prime-time TV, including The CW's Gossip Girl, USA's Royal Pains, and CBS's The Mentalist and CSI: NY.

Since the Dan Goor and Michael Schur-created sitcom ended in 2021, Fumero's done several other projects and voiceovers including Netflix's Blockbuster, Hulu's Animaniacs, Max's Velma, and NBC's legacy series Night Court. While promoting her latest role in the Craig Rosenberg-created dark comedy for Peacock, Based on a True Story, the actress spoke to Bleeding Cool about joining the series in season two, going back into "cop mode" as Drew, an undercover police officer who gets to know Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and serves as a distraction while trying to investigate an emerging copycat of a serial killer case; and how the series tonally is different from her other work.

Based on a True Story: Melissa Fumero on Joining the Series

Bleeding Cool: Before joining 'Based on a True Story,' did you follow the true crime genre?

I can't say that true crime is necessarily a genre I personally follow. It's a little too stressful for me because it's real and true [laughs]. I'm more going to fall for ghost stories and paranormal stuff, but I was a fan of the show, and I was excited to get the call to join them for season two. It's also a fun kind of comment and satire on these bubble-like genres that exist and people can be intense about. That's one of my favorite aspects of the show.

Having played a law enforcement-type of character before, were there any notes you had to have for yourself to distinguish Drew?

In terms of playing the cop part?

Yes, playing the cop part makes sure that isn't too much crossing the streams from your other characters like Amy Santiago on 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine?'

Annie Weissman, the showrunner of 'Based on A True Story,' and Jaclyn Morre, the executive producer, let me know this is on purpose. We're making fun of a meta moment with "You being a cop," but obviously, Drew is vastly different from Amy Santiago. While it's always easy to slip into a cop role from all those years in 'Brooklyn,' I have the basic general knowledge. It was easy to go into like "cop" mode as Drew for those scenes.

What is it about a show like this that allows you to try things that you normally wouldn't?

This show tonally is different from anything that I've done. It's a different kind of comedy. I love where they go tonally, just how they go "there" with the gore and the violence. It's unexpected and always comes out of left field. It was different for me tonally, and also, this character felt a bit more grounded. My role in this was a bit more of the straight man and to bounce off Kaley, fold into her comedy and her adlibs, and it was fun to be in the scenes with her. She's a lovely person, so fun to work with, and we had a blast in our scenes. It was fun to play a character that felt different from other ones I've played and it's slightly different in a comedic way, tonally.

Speaking of Kaley, how do you build a rapport? Do you meet up beforehand and iron things out? Or is this something like you arrived on set and hit it off right away?

Arrived on set and hit it off right away. Kaley's got this "Big Sunshine"-kind of personality, so I instantly fell in love with her, and we hit it off. I also know her husband, Tom Pelphrey, from way back in the day in New York, and I haven't seen him in like over a decade. That was a quick connection. I was like, "This is crazy, but I know your husband from like New York days in our early 20s," and she was like, "What?!" She's easy to get along with, then we had great chemistry in our scenes and bounced off each other quickly. It was one of those lucky things where everything happened quickly and naturally.

Do you have a favorite Drew scene?

Gosh! I love all the scenes with Kaley at the Mexican restaurant with the margaritas. They were all fun to shoot and adlib with her. It was like a fun experience on set and fun bouncy scenes we got to play a lot of in. All those are my fondest memories from my time with them.

Season two of Based on a True Story, which also stars Chris Messina, Tom Bateman, and Liana Liberato, is available to stream on Peacock.

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