Ever since she finished her tenure in 2021 as Velma, a new animated spin on the Scooby-Doo franchise with particular focus on the titular character (which will debut in January 2023).
While Nine-Nine had a successful eight-season run, Fumero's other credits have not managed to replicate the same level of popularity. The actor voiced one of the leads in the acclaimed Marvel adult animated comedy MODOK right before the final season of Nine-Nine aired. Unfortunately, MODOK was cancelled after its debut season; a fate that has followed for her other shows including both Blockbuster and Diary of a Future President. While she has not appeared in as many films as TV series, her last feature film credit Bar Fight also didn't fare with the critics. Velma, in which Fumero has a ing role, seems to offer new hopes.
Blockbuster (2022)
Along with Blockbuster failed to gain a strong reception and was axed by Netflix just a month later (via EW).
Despite the show's cancelation, Blockbuster still made for an interesting change in tone for fans of Fumero. While she has shown her playful side as Amy Santiago, the character initially stood out as an uptight and rule-abiding police officer prioritizing her work over her personal life. Eliza Walker offered a new territory to explore as the character is livelier and comparatively more extroverted. Struggling to hold onto her apartment and making ends meet after a failed marriage, Eliza works at the dying store with a smile on her face. Her on-screen chemistry with Park is yet another wholesome follow-up to Jake and Amy's relationship in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Bar Fight (2022)
Shortly after Brooklyn Nine-Nine ended, Fumero starred in the 2022 romantic comedy Bar Fight. Released simultaneously in theaters and on AMC+ On Demand, Bar Fight dealt with two broken-up lovers, who battle it out to lay claim on a bar that they used to frequently visit when they were dating. Fumero played the protagonist Nina while Luka Jones appeared as her ex Allen. Much like Fumero, Jones is also more accustomed to TV shows having had roles in the NBC sitcoms Best Friends Forever and Up All Night. Despite the amusing premise of the t custody over a bar, the film failed to garner many positive reviews.
Bar Fight doesn't offer much to its genre fans but at least Fumero gets to show off her comedic chops on a non-TV format, hopefully paving the way for more cinematic roles like her Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-stars Andy Samberg and Terry Crews. The 2022 feature might not have made that much of a mark but it at least provided Fumero with a more notable and popular addition to her feature film career (as well as expanding her filmography). Despite starting out with an uncredited role in the 2007 Rosario Dawson-led thriller Descent, most of her previous feature films have been under-the-radar independent comedies.
Guest Appearances And Directing Credits
Along with Netflix's Blockbuster, Fumero's 2022 also included two episodes of Diary of a Future President, the Disney+ coming-of-age comedy that was canceled after two seasons. Tess Romero stars in the series as a confident teenager who aspires to become the President of America. Fumero appeared in sophomore season as Ms Ortega, a drama teacher who produces a musical play about Miami. Much like Amy Santiago, Fumero's character is a stickler for perfection but also empathetic at times. The show also explores the protagonist's Cuban-American heritage, with Fumero's inclusion making sense given how the American actor, herself, is of Cuban descent.
Fumero also got the opportunity to sit in the director's chair overseeing an episode each on the acclaimed NBC sitcom Grand Crew and the now-canceled HBO original Gordita Chronicles. In the case of Grand Crew, every episode is set in the backdrop of a wine bar where a group of friends meets up and discuss the ups and downs of their lives. Fumero directed episode 5, "Wine & Hip-Hop," where she got to collaborate with screenwriter Aaron Covington, who wrote the Michael B Jordan-starrer Creed and also serves as the show's story editor. Grand Crew's first season has drawn positive reviews with its studio renewing it.
As for Gordita Chronicles, the sitcom followed a similar format as Diary of a Future President, narrating a reporter's youth in 1980s Miami. With the protagonist and her family moving from the Dominican Republic, the show got to touch upon the ensuing cultural differences and a satirical look on the American dream. Eva Longoria served as an executive producer as well as the pilot's director, while Fumero took over directing duties episode 8, "In America You Get What You Pay For." Although the show was canceled after its debut on HBO Max (via Variety), its production studio Sony Pictures Television is planning to shop the series on other services.
Roles
Even though Blockbuster ended with one season, Fumero is having a fresh start in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia's Glenn Howerton will be playing Daphne and Freddy respectively. Comedian Russell Peters is voicing Velma's father Aman Dinkley, with Fumero bagging the role of Aman's girlfriend Sophie. While not much is known about Fumero's character right now, Sophie might share an interesting dynamic with the heroine.