Last night at Film Independent at LACMA, an excited audience was able to see the final two episodes of this season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and then was even more excited to be in the presence of the cast itself for a special Q&A. Actors Andy Samberg, Chelsea Peretti, Terry Crews, Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Dirk Blocker, Joel McKinnon and cast members/executive producers/co-creators Dan Goor and Michael Schur sat down with Film Independent Curator Elvis Mitchell to discuss the crime-based comedy.

The night was very much filled with Goor and Schur appraising how effortlessly the actors created the witty and caring dynamics between the characters. So much in fact, that Crews commented that he was the mother and Braugher was the father of the precinct, and that the others were their children. They’re close. And according to the producers, it’s because they each give in to those tiny urges of self-expression that reveal something intimate and interesting about their characters and surprise the audience with a mix of themselves and their characters.

Schur: The fun of doing a show like this is that it is all abstract and we sat for hours and hours trying to figure out how these characters would be. And a lot of evolution is just watching what they do, and how they inhabit the characters and how they grow the characters.

Goor: Like Joe’s character. We knew he had food love. So we have these ideas, and so you have the character, and that’s all you have. The weird thing about making a show is peeling down the corners of this giant tapestry and you peel it down so slowly and you hope it’s all harmonious. The characters do one tiny thing and it makes a moment and you want more of this thing. The characters just have to be interesting. The actors have to be interesting. Otherwise, you’re at a dead end. You have a dead cast.

Samberg is clearly a comedian but he’s a chameleon, as well. Part of his character Jake’s backstory is that his dad left him at a young age. Mitchell asked Samberg how difficult it was handling that topic and getting serious—knowing that Samberg is an SNL alum and previous shining star.

To grasp how strong each character stands alone, each actor was asked why he or she likes to play the character they do. Their answers:

Peretti: I liked that it was something silly, who was allowed to dance to their own routine.

Lo Truglio: He’s very resilient and has really admirable qualities to play because it’s so easy for characters to be frustrated at his shortcomings. I love playing him and finding new things in Charles.

Mitchell: He has to find a way to be positive or he’ll disintegrate.

Samberg: He’s smarter than we think. He talks faster about stuff that he knows. He’s confident. Even though he’s a wise-ass, you always feel that his heart’s in the right place.

Braugher: I like that he (Jake) finds a family in the nine-nine. He’s a family man.

Fumero: I love how hard she tries at anything and she puts all into victory. She is very exhaustive to play at times because she is so to the extreme.

Peretti: Chelsea carries a torch that proves unbridled affection and ceaseless adoration is what makes a real man. My favorite part is hitting on Charles.

Mitchell: I was struck by the relationships. There are so many scenes with characters bouncing off of each other.

Schur: The idea is that each person has each point of view. We like to find a strange and unusual combination of characters. Our show’s not a hang-up show, but a workplace show. It’s difficult trying to figure out what drives plot forward. But you go to look at different relationships.

Goor: The episode with the Chief’s house party–that episode was great because we built up how they are in a workplace and we picked them up and put them in Chief Holt’s house. Then we see interesting dynamics ricocheting in a new place they’re in. They’re out of context. Same feelings, same people, but in different context.

McKinnon: It’s all episodes where we’re all together but with Dirk it’s like our desks are an island and we’re all to ourselves.

Blocker: With the first two seasons, it’s how surprised I am with what I’m given – and I like that so many of my scenes in the first season they had me take my shirt off and I could have asked, “What does this mean?” but I didn’t.

Crews: I love how Terry loves every member of the precincts. He wants to see them grow up. But they’re that family that you keep in the basement. You love them but… come on. I’m all about family because this is the best cast I’ve ever worked with. Knowing what we’re doing and where we’re going… I completely trust them.

Samberg: You kept family members in the basement? Are they there now?

Crews: We all got secrets.

Jade Estrada / Film Independent Blogger