When Brooklyn Nine-Nine wrapped its fifth season last year, star Joe Lo Truglio, who plays intensely upbeat but socially awkward detective Charles Boyle, had no doubt the cult favourite comedy would resume telling the tales of New York’s coolest precinct for season six.
But when Fox cancelled the series last May, Joe and the cast “felt very unsettled”, Joe, 48, tells TV WEEK.
“None of us had really said our goodbyes to each other, or the crew,” he says. “There was no sense of closure.”
Jake Peralta and Charles Boyle
Now, thanks to US network NBC, the show is back for a sixth season, with Boyle adjusting to life as a third wheel to married bestie Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero).
“He’s ready to accept a more mature relationship with Jake,” Joe says of his character, who he hints will also see more of his adopted family.
Away from the precinct, Joe, who has starred in comedies such as Reno 911! and Wet Hot American Summer, is switching up genres and financing a horror movie.
“It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” he admits.
Also off screen, Joe enjoys being a dad to two-year-old Eli, his son with Beth Draper, who plays manipulative Linda Ferguson in Orange Is The New Black.
“I love coming home and seeing my little guy,” Joe reveals, “and you don’t put as much pressure on yourself to be funny anymore. Unsurprisingly, your career gets better, and you’re funnier because you’re just more relaxed.”
However, he does concede that, with his and Beth’s schedules, juggling nannies can be tricky.
“We have two terrific careers and we’re really supportive of each other,” he says. “This is something we both wanted to do, and we want to give our most to that and our boy.”
Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs Friday, 8.30pm, SBS VICELAND.
