It was a sad day when Brooklyn Nine-Nine came to an end after eight seasons last September. LIkely one of the most iconic sitcoms of the last decade, the show’s hilarious cast of police officers in Brooklyn’s fictional 99th precinct left a lasting impression with their fans. So even as we let go of the sophomoric humor, it’s exciting to see what Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s actors will do next. For Andre Braugher, signing on for his first post-Brooklyn Nine-Nine gig was both a no-brainer and a slight departure from his role as the stoic and expressionless Captain Raymond Holt.
Andre Braugher has joined the cast of The Good Fight for the legal drama’s sixth and final season as “rainmaker” attorney Ri’chard Lane, and the actor told ET that deciding to work with creators Robert King and Michelle King was a fairly easy decision to make. Getting to work with the likes of Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald certainly didn’t hurt, either, as Braugher said:
I had a lovely conversation with the Kings, I looked over the first script [and] I was led to understand where the season was going and the development of the character. So I said to myself, ’This is an ideal situation.’
I’m not yet far enough removed from Brooklyn Nine-Nine to not read, “This is an ideal situation” in Capt. Holt’s perfected monotone, but maybe one day! The actor makes a good point, though, as he’s joining a great cast — which will also add John Slattery this season — and The Good Wife spinoff is one of Paramount+’s best original TV shows.
As for how he will transition from comedy to jargon-filled legal drama after so many years, Andre Braugher was confident that his role on Brooklyn NIne-Nine — as the straight man to Andy Samberg’s childish Jake Peralta and the rest of the precinct’s wacky hijinks — allows him the flexibility to toggle between comedy and drama. Braugher said:
I’ve spent many years with a mixture of comedy and drama on Brooklyn Nine-Nine... and I’ve been playing a straight man for so many years, I feel like I have access to that, like I could be the string for these kites — both of these comedic arrows. I feel as though I’m in a good place, I’m in the right sort of temperament and frame as an actor to play the straight man and also to do the drama and the comedy mixed together.
Raymond Holt may have been one of the funniest characters on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but Andre Braugher has largely been a dramatic actor over the course of his career. He’s well-known for playing detective Frank Pembleton in the police drama Homicide: Life on the Street from 1993 to 1998, as well as for his roles in series like Gideon's Crossing and Hack. His film credits include The Mist, Frequency, City of Angels, and (my personal favorite movie of Braugher’s) Primal Fear.
The Good Fight Season 6 premiere will be available for Paramount+ subscribers to stream on Thursday, September 8. You can also relive Andre Braugher’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine days by streaming all eight seasons (or just the best episodes) with either a Peacock Premium subscription or a Hulu subscription.
