Escouade 99 is a French-Canadian remake of hit cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, transplanted to a police district in Quebec with a new, French-speaking cast. Unfortunately the casting hasn’t hit the right note with the original Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast, with Melissa Fumero, who plays Amy Santiago in the original, blasting the remake for casting the two Latina characters as white women, IndieWire reports.
Both Fumero’s original role and the one played by Latina actress Stephanie Beatriz have been cast with non-Latina actresses, leading Fumero to tweet “I’m suddenly curious about the Latina population in Quebec.”
Gotta day though after watching this… I’m suddenly curious about the Latina population in Quebec. Just sayin 🤔
— Melissa Fumero (@melissafumero) August 20, 2020
While Fumero accepts that Quebec may not have a large Latina population, she also says the adapted Amy and Rosa roles “could’ve gone to ANY BIPOC.” She then clarified that the onus for these mistakes should be placed on the “decision makers,” not the specific actresses who ended up in the roles.
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.
— Melissa Fumero (@melissafumero) August 21, 2020
While Brooklyn Nine-Nine has an eighth season in production, its current status is unclear due to difficulties created by the COVID-19 crisis. In July, after ongoing protests about police brutality in the USA, the showrunners scrapped the existing material for the eighth season in favor of revamping the show’s depiction of police officers on television. It’s not clear when the show will return, or what changes might be made.
