Interview: Andre Braugher Discusses 2nd Season of BROOKYLN NINE-NINE

The FOX hit BROOKYLN NINE-NINE premieres on it's new night, tonight at 8:30/7:30c. Andre Braugher stars as straight man Captain Raymond Holt opposite Andy Samberg on the show, which is beginning its sophomore season. The young show has already garnered a Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical and Best Performance and Braugher received an Emmy nomination for his role on the show.

Braugher is known for his many critically-acclaimed television roles. He previously starred on "Men of a Certain Age," "Gideon's Crossing," and "Homicide: Life on the Street," which earned him two Emmy Award nominations and a win in 1998.

Recently, I participated in a conference call with Braugher, where he spoke about the new season of BROOKYLN NINE-NINE and his character, Captain Holt.

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BWW: What are you most excited about in this upcoming season of BROOKLY NINE-NINE? Any particular story lines?

Andre: Story lines, I don't have a lot of information about because they pretty much keep that under wraps in order to give themselves the freedom to develop the story lines as they see fit, but I am excited about Kyra Sedgwick guest starring on the show. We had a really great time. She plays Deputy Chief Madeline Wuntch, an archrival and a nemesis of Captain Holt. We did three or four episodes earlier this season and had a really great time.

BWW: What initially drew you to play Captain Ray Holt?

Well, I think it was the reputation of Mike Schur and Dan Goor. I am a fan of Parks and Rec and I saw over the seasons they created, in my mind, an ever expanding world of loveable goofballs and they were quite adept at creating a mature kind of interesting comedy. I said to myself I felt like I would be in good hands playing this character with these guys at the helm. That was one of the main considerations, as was the opportunity to work with Andy.

What has been your favorite part of filming the show?

My favorite part of filming the show? Well, I enjoyed the episodes a lot outside the precinct where we go on our adventures and such. I've enjoyed our Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes. I've enjoyed "The Party" particular. "The Party" was really an opportunity to see everyone in a really drastically different atmosphere than the bullpen and I just found it to be a lot of fun. It was a great script and a lot of fun to film. In retrospect, "The Party" maybe it was Episode 16, I can't remember, but towards the end of the season, I thought that was my favorite episode.

So you directed Love Songs, do you think you'll be going behind the camera during any of the episodes this season?

Andre: I may. I directed Love Songs 13 or 14 years ago, so I've had plenty of opportunities to go behind the camera, but I have resisted it. We'll see what happens, but it's not my first preoccupation.

What is it like to play Holt, the stoic man, opposite Jake, Andy Samberg, who just cracks everyone else up in the precinct.

I think it's difficult to say the least. He's a very funny guy and a lot of great off the cuff humor. I've sort of committed myself to perfecting the art of the straight man, so I'm trying very hard to not crack up.

We've done eight episodes this year. I've cracked up twice. I'm off my pace from last year, which was 3 crack ups in 22 episodes. Obviously, Andy's getting funnier and I'm relaxing a little bit on the show, but I've decided to commit myself to really perfecting the art of the straight man. I'm getting better at it and I have a great cast of comedians. Between Chelsea and Andy and Joe and Terry, it's really a funny cast and we have a great time doing it.

When we get a chance to improv, we go at it wholeheartedly. I pretty much stick to the script because that's my job, but they really take off and I consider them all to be my kites and I am their string and so I just give them a great opportunity to fly and I guess I hold them to the earth to help tell the story, but we're having a really great time this season.

As you enter the second season, you talked last season about the opportunity that Brooklyn Nine-Nine gave you to study and learn from some really experienced and talented comedians, and I wonder as you guys enter now Season 2 with a successful season behind you, has the atmosphere or approach changed at all on the set?

No. I think they've developed a good way of working on the set and it was put into operation last year and we're continuing with that. We, as a cast, as we get to know each other better, we're working faster and more efficiently, which actually gives us more time really to play around. In any given scene, we're going to do five or six takes of the material that's scripted and really cover that thoroughly and then we have enough time to do what we call "fun runs" and fun runs is where everyone pulls the craziest stuff they know out of a bag and throws it into the scene. Fun runs are unpredictable, but they really breathe a lot of life into the process of creating the comedy and it keeps it loose.

I'm having a great time. I'm studying these guys like a hawk. There are a lot of great young comedians on the show and it's giving me a real thorough education on another aspect of my art form and I'm having a great time. I'm learning a lot and I feel reinvigorated by being on the show.

You've mentioned kind of Kyra Sedgwick coming on to play your nemesis. Both of you have kind of had this dramatic body of work in cop procedurals, both with her in The Closer and you with Homicide. I was wondering what it was like for you two to play kind of these similar troupes, but in a very different comedic-sphere?

It's a lot of fun. The stakes are very high on dramas and we just have to enter into a whole imaginative world where the stakes are much more life threatening, much more serious, and I think we both appreciate being able to, in our own ways, have fun with the cop world that we created. We invested a lot of time in creating credible roles in these police dramas, but it's also fun for both of us to get a chance to let our hair down, so to speak, to play these roles.

I found it to be light and refreshing and Kyra is a very accomplished comedian and so it was a lot of fun working with her and the material is terrific. I enjoyed it immensely and I'm looking forward to Kyra's return sometime in the future.

Now that Peralta has been with the FBI and is going to presumably join the Nine-Nine again, I was wondering if there is anything that you can tease about how that dynamic might shift between Holt and Peralta as he rejoins the precinct?

I think it shifts slightly. I will say that Holt is a man who embraces change. As stoic as he seems, as conservative as he seems, he is a man who is interested in embracing change. With a new police commissioner and the return of my ace detective, Peralta, I feel as though the entire precinct is poised to get better, to leave the world of sleepy, underperforming Brooklyn precinct and really become something special.

That's what I see in the scripts to date and that's what has been pitched to me in terms of what's going to happen with Holt and the precinct in the future. I don't have any information about any episodes past the eight that we have done, but I will say that Holt is embracing the change that's overcoming the entire department.

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Season Two of BROOKLYN NINE-NINE premieres Sunday, September 28th at 8:30/7:30c on FOX. Are you excited about the new season? Let me know in the comments below, or tweet me at @k8linmilligan! Also, don't forget to follow @BWWTVWorld on Twitter and Like us on Facebook for all of the latest TV news, reviews, and recaps.

Photo Credit: Eddy Chen | FOX

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