Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Melissa Fumero calls out Canadian remake's whitewashed casting
'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Star Melissa Fumero Calls out Canadian Remake's Whitewashed Casting
'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' star Melissa Fumero shared her thoughts on Twitter, critiquing the remake for its predominantly white cast.
The Nine-Nine are heading to Quebec... but they're looking a little different up north.
After the first trailer for Escouade 99, a French-Canadian remake of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, dropped this week, original series star Melissa Fumero shared some thoughts on Twitter, critiquing the series for its predominantly white cast. The remake cast white, non-Latina actresses to play its versions of Fumero's character Amy Santiago and Stephanie Beatriz's Rosa Diaz, with Mylène Mackay as "Fanny" and Bianca Gervais as "Rosalie," respectively.
"This is like peeking through another dimension," Fumero tweeted on Thursday. "Gotta [say] though after watching this… I’m suddenly curious about the Latina population in Quebec. Just sayin’." Beatriz also weighed in, with some emojis conveying decidedly mixed emotions.
OMG OMG OMG?? This is like peeking through another dimension https://t.co/ZccuX0qxoF
— Melissa Fumero (@melissafumero) August 20, 2020
??????????????????
— Stephanie Beatriz (@iamstephbeatz) August 20, 2020
On Friday, Fumero added, "I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and it basically comes down to this... while I understand the Latina population is v small in Quebec (& how many of them are funny actors?) the Amy n Rosa roles could’ve gone to ANY BIPOC so it’s disappointing to see that missed opportunity. Furthermore, I love actors so I do not mean to shame these actresses, it’s not their fault... it’s up to the decision makers."
"If the show is successful I hope the creators take that opportunity to hire more BIPOC in supporting and guest roles," she continued. She also expressed disappointment with the way Fanny was depicted in the trailer: "Also, you guyssssss Amy is not sexy ON PURPOSE. So that bums me out too."
Furthermore, I love actors so I do not mean to shame these actresses, it’s not their fault... it’s up to the decision makers. Also, you guyssssss Amy is not sexy ON PURPOSE. So that bums me out too.
— Melissa Fumero (@melissafumero) August 21, 2020
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been renewed for an eighth season on NBC, but it's unclear when the show will resume production as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Furthermore, multiple episodes for the upcoming season were reportedly scrapped in the wake of George Floyd's killing by a Minneapolis police officer and renewed protests over police brutality.
“We’ve had a lot of somber talks about it and deep conversations and we hope through this we’re going to make something that will be truly groundbreaking this year. We have an opportunity and we plan to use it in the best way possible,” series star Terry Crews said in June. “Our showrunner Dan Goor, they had four episodes all ready to go and they just threw them in the trash. We have to start over. Right now we don’t know which direction it’s going to go in."
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