Amy Santiago

Amy Santiago is established as a competitive and goal-oriented character at the start of Brooklyn Nine-Nine; according to Nylon, she initially fit the trope of the overachieving goody two shoes. She is shown to be a controlling and over-achieving perfectionist with a Type A personality.{{cite web |last1=Green |first1=Jaime |title=Type A(my): an Ode to Brooklyn Nine-Nine for Celebrating Ambitious, Perfectionist Women |url=https://www.nylon.com/articles/brooklyn-nine-nine-amy-santiago-melissa-fumero |website=Nylon |access-date=September 18, 2022 |language=en |date=May 14, 2018}} Amy credits her competitiveness to growing up with seven brothers.{{cite web |last1=Devi |first1=Vandana |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine: 5 Times Rosa Was Jake's Best Friend (& 5 She Was Amy's) |url=https://screenrant.com/brooklyn-nine-nine-rosa-diaz-best-friend-jake-peralta-v-amy-santiago-storylines-moments |website=Screen Rant |access-date=September 21, 2022 |date=March 12, 2021}} Other characters consider her somewhat overbearing and often joke about her; Amy is teased for her nerdy aspects but not mocked or condemned. The Atlantic states that the show highlights how Amy's intelligence is not equivalent to her being an unappealing, solitary genius. She is defined by traits that are not frequently combined in female characters—for example, seeks perfection but can not stop smoking; she loves rules but is not afraid to disobey them when they are unfair; and she has a crossword puzzle obsession despite working in a risky, physically demanding job.{{cite web |last1=Kamal |first1=Sauleha |title=The Character Who Made Me Love Brooklyn Nine-Nine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/06/brooklyn-nine-nine-amy-santiago/562436 |website=The Atlantic |access-date=September 18, 2022 |language=en |date=June 12, 2018 |url-access=limited}} Like her workplace colleague Rosa Diaz, Santiago is a female Latina officer. However, unlike the more tough and abrasive Diaz, Santiago tends to be more good-natured, even going as far as to try to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for her workplace colleagues and push for Christmas photos of them smiling.

Amy initially works as a detective at the New York Police Department (NYPD) in Brooklyn's fictional 99th precinct. It is said that her dream is to be the NYPD's youngest captain.{{cite web |last1=Millington |first1=Lily |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine Cast and Characters (and What They're Doing Now) |url=https://collider.com/brooklyn-nine-nine-cast-characters-what-now |website=Collider |access-date=September 19, 2022 |date=May 1, 2022}} She becomes a sergeant in the fifth season, and is promoted to chief of the police reform program after her captain, Raymond Holt, becomes deputy commissioner of the program.{{cite web |last1=Schwartz |first1=Ryan |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine Recap: Big Changes for Holt and Amy Ahead of Series Finale |url=https://tvline.com/2021/09/02/brooklyn-nine-nine-recap-season-8-episode-8-captain-holt-amy-promotion/ |website=TVLine |access-date=September 21, 2022 |date=September 3, 2021}}

Amy is competitive with fellow detective Jake Peralta, which brings the two closer together.{{cite web |last1=Rullo |first1=Sam |title=One TV Pair That Needs to Remain Platonic |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/14503-brooklyn-nine-nine-needs-to-keep-jake-and-santiago-apart |website=Bustle |access-date=September 18, 2022 |language=en |date=February 4, 2014}} The relationship between Jake and Amy begins as a friendly rivalry and later develops into one that is based on respect for one another. They begin dating in the third season.{{cite web |last1=Goodwillie |first1=Ian |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Amy's Ex-Boyfriend Teddy Was Unrelenting |url=https://www.cbr.com/brooklyn-nine-nine-teddy-wells |website=Comic Book Resources |access-date=September 24, 2022 |date=February 27, 2022}} As a result of their relationship, Amy's personality leavens, though her intensity is unaffected.{{cite web |last1=VanArendonk |first1=Kathryn |title=An Ode to Brooklyn Nine-Nine |url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/brooklyn-nine-nine-ode.html |website=Vulture |access-date=September 20, 2022 |language=en-us |date=May 10, 2018 |url-access=limited}} According to The Atlantic, their bond enables the show to highlight Jake's supportiveness and Amy's vulnerability. The two are fond of each other's flaws, such as his crude "frat boy" humor and her obsessive need for order and discipline.{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Joanna |title=What Michael Schur Gets Right About Love That Everyone Else Gets Wrong |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/05/brooklyn-nine-nine-season-finale-jake-amy-wedding-leslie-ben-parks |website=Vanity Fair |access-date=September 18, 2022 |date=May 21, 2018 |url-access=limited}} In the fifth season, they become engaged and marry.{{cite web |last1=Schwartz |first1=Ryan |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine Recap: Jake Has a Halloween Surprise for Amy |url=https://tvline.com/2017/10/17/brooklyn-nine-nine-recap-jake-amy-engaged-halloween-proposal-season-5 |website=TVLine |access-date=September 24, 2022 |date=October 18, 2017}}{{cite magazine |last1=Snierson |first1=Dan |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine Creator on Jake and Amy's Wedding, the Show's Rescue from Cancellation, What's Next |url=https://ew.com/tv/2018/05/20/brooklyn-nine-nine-jake-amy-wedding-season-6-cancellation-renewal |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=September 24, 2022 |language=en |date=May 20, 2018}} They have their first child, McClane "Mac" Santiago-Peralta, in the seventh season.{{cite web |last1=Piester |first1=Lauren |title=How Badass Melissa Fumero Inspired Brooklyn Nine-Nine{{'s}} Pregnancy Storyline |url=https://www.eonline.com/news/1143949/how-badass-melissa-fumero-inspired-brooklyn-nine-nine-s-pregnancy-storyline |website=E! Online |access-date=September 24, 2022 |date=April 24, 2020}}

Writers and producers Michael Schur and Dan Goor, who had known each other since they were students at Harvard University and collaborated on the sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), conceived the idea to set a comedy in a police station; they felt that setting had been insufficiently used in television comedies since Barney Miller (1975–1982).{{Cite news|last=D'Alessandro|first=Anthony|date=June 3, 2014|title=Emmys Q&A: Brooklyn Nine-Nine Co-creator Michael Schur on Comedic Cops|website=Deadline Hollywood|url=https://deadline.com/2014/06/brooklyn-nine-nine-michael-schur-creator-interview-739199/|access-date=May 11, 2018|archive-date=May 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512114730/http://deadline.com/2014/06/brooklyn-nine-nine-michael-schur-creator-interview-739199/|url-status=live}}

File:Stephanie Beatriz & Melissa Fumero 2019 (cropped).png portrays Amy in every episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine{{cite web |last1=Spears |first1=Jordyn |title=8 TV Actors Who Directed Episodes of Their Own Shows |url=https://movieweb.com/tv-actors-directed-episodes-show |website=MovieWeb |access-date=September 18, 2022 |date=June 23, 2022}}]]

Although she was a long-time fan of comedy, Melissa Fumero's first role was in the soap opera One Life To Live. Once she left the show, she wanted to act in more comedic productions, recalling: "I said to my manager 'I've cried for four years. I want to be silly and have fun.' I kept getting really close to a lot of comedy jobs, but never booking them." During her screen test for Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fumero did not expect to book the role but "kept it fun"; the chemistry between Fumero and Andy Samberg (who would portray Jake) was immediately apparent, and they had a significant amount of back and forth energy.{{cite interview |last1=Fumero |first1=Melissa |interviewer=Mike Ayers |title=Melissa Fumero Is the Secret Weapon of Brooklyn Nine-Nine |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-SEB-83667 |website=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=September 29, 2022 |date=September 26, 2014}} To prepare, she and Brooklyn{{'s}} cast received police and firearm training.{{cite web |title=12 Things You Didn't Know About Brooklyn Nine-Nine |url=https://www.hollywood.com/tv/12-things-you-didnt-know-about-brooklyn-nine-nine-60637941 |website=Hollywood.com |access-date=April 20, 2022 |date=September 26, 2016 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109013126/https://www.hollywood.com/tv/12-things-you-didnt-know-about-brooklyn-nine-nine-60637941/ |url-status=live }} Fumero is one of the two Latina regular cast members, the other being Stephanie Beatriz (who portrays Rosa Diaz). This casting was described as groundbreaking by Fumero,{{cite web |last1=Colon |first1=Suzan |title=Cops with Character |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/09/06/cops-with-character/15063757 |website=USA Today |access-date=April 7, 2022 |date=September 6, 2014 |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502041846/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/09/06/cops-with-character/15063757/ |url-status=live }} though the two feared one of them would get fired. As a result, they tried to make their appearances as distinct from one another as possible; for example, Fumero's character has straight hair, while Beatriz's has wavy hair.{{cite web |last1=Bried |first1=Erin |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine{{'s}} Melissa Fumero on Parenting Two Under Two in the Pandemic: 'Gratitude Is Something I Can Control' |url=https://www.parents.com/parents-latina-magazine/brooklyn-nine-nines-melissa-fumero-on-parenting-two-under-two-in-the-pandemic-gratitude-is-something-i-can-control |website=Parents |access-date=April 8, 2022 |language=en |date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=April 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423005941/https://www.parents.com/parents-latina-magazine/brooklyn-nine-nines-melissa-fumero-on-parenting-two-under-two-in-the-pandemic-gratitude-is-something-i-can-control/ |url-status=live }} Due to her lack of experience with comedy, Fumero usually was nervous—a trait the writers incorporated into Amy's personality.{{cite interview |last1=Fumero |first1=Melissa |interviewer=Andrew Husband |title=Melissa Fumero on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Polar Bear Swims and Mattress Jumping |url=https://uproxx.com/tv/melissa-fumero-brooklyn-nine-nine-interview |website=Uproxx |access-date=April 22, 2022 |date=December 11, 2015 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001165447/https://uproxx.com/tv/melissa-fumero-brooklyn-nine-nine-interview/ |url-status=live }}

By the show's third season, Fumero said she found comic acting much easier, having become more familiar with Amy's character; she added that she had "fallen into a real groove and rhythm" with the manner she approached scenes. During the season's production, Fumero was pregnant, which led to a storyline in which Amy goes undercover as a pregnant lady.{{cite interview |last1=Fumero |first1=Melissa |title=Brooklyn Nine-Nine{{'s}} Melissa Fumero on How Timing Worked Out for the Show and Her Baby |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=TXNGvTwhdEE |work=ET Style |access-date=April 14, 2022 |date=May 10, 2019 |via=YouTube|time={{abbr|7:24|7 minutes, 24 seconds}}}} The directors and camera operators also used other methods to hide Fumero's pregnancy, such as having her stand behind things.{{cite web |title=Melissa Fumero on Her 'Surprise' First Pregnancy |url=https://people.com/parents/melissa-fumero-pregnancy-surprise-alliance-childrens-rights-dinner |website=People |access-date=April 24, 2022 |language=en |date=December 2, 2020 |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502041845/https://people.com/parents/melissa-fumero-pregnancy-surprise-alliance-childrens-rights-dinner/ |url-status=live }} Of the experience, she said, "I don't recommend it", citing difficulties in memorizing her lines and focusing on a scene.{{cite web |title=Melissa Fumero on Filming While Pregnant: 'I Don't Recommend It!' |url=https://people.com/parents/melissa-fumero-filming-while-pregnant-son-enzo |website=People |access-date=April 24, 2022 |language=en |date=December 2, 2020 |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502041845/https://people.com/parents/melissa-fumero-filming-while-pregnant-son-enzo/ |url-status=live }}

Amy has been praised as a positive representation of overachieving, nerdy women.

{{Reflist}}

{{Brooklyn Nine-Nine}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santiago, Amy}}

Category:Brooklyn Nine-Nine characters

Category:Fictional American detectives

Category:Fictional characters from Brooklyn

Category:Television characters introduced in 2013

Category:Fictional New York City Police Department detectives

Category:Fictional New York City Police Department sergeants

Category:American female characters in sitcoms