Marc Evan Jackson, Andre Braugher and Andy Samberg in Brooklyn 99.

In tonight’s episode of Brooklyn 99, we finally meet Kevin Cozner, the husband to Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher), as the couple throw a party in their home. The 99 squad shows up and, as you would expect, hilarity ensues.

“He is a Classics Professor at Columbia, I’m a Police Captain and my Mother is a federal judge,” Braugher told TheBacklot recently, explaining the dynamics of the couple, “so it’s one of those New York intellectual families.” And while Holt is often teased for his robotic manner of speaking and general absence of emotion, what is husband Kevin like? “He’s a different speed [than Holt] but they make sense together,” say series star Andy Samberg, who plays Det. Jake Peralta.

As for Kevin himself, he’s played by actor Marc Evan Jackson (Parks and Recreation, The Kings Of Summer). He spoke exclusively to TheBacklot about stepping into this much-referenced character.

TheBacklot: I’m sure it was on your bucket list, that you had to play the husband of Andre Braugher sometime in your career, so this worked out perfectly.

Marc Evan Jackson: I can’t tell you how exciting it was when my people called. I think first my manager texted me, and said, ‘Are you available next week for five days to work on Brooklyn 99?’ I was like, ‘Of course!’ I’m a fan of the show. I’ve seen every episode and have been a fan from the very beginning. As I’m reading [the script], the paragraph for me began along the lines of ‘this character is the head of the classics department at Columbia, and is husband to Captain Ray Holt.’ I lost my mind, because they have mentioned Kevin so frequently [on the show].

Initially, my mind was like, ‘This is fantastic.’ Immediately behind it was, ‘What famous person dropped out? Who was it that they weren’t able to land?’ I wondered if they went to Kevin Costner! So because I’ve gotten to know these guys, Mike [Schur, co-creator] and Andy [Samberg], a little bit. I was like, ‘Who’d you lose?’ They’re like, ‘What are you talking about? No, we hadn’t cast anybody. It’s you, it’s you.’ I made it clear that I didn’t care at all. It could be you lost Matt Damon and I still would have gladly filled his shoes. Working with Andre was a ball. He’s so cool, and it was amazing.

Kevin and Ray share a tender moment in the episode.

I don’t know how much character work you had time to do for a show. Did you get into talks about that at all, you and Andre, or even you and the producers?

We did. Andre is very methodical…he is a guy that wants to know why we’re doing something, I think more than most half-hours might do. For instance, they cut to a photograph of the two of us from back in the 80s. We put on wigs and stuff. Obviously, there’s wardrobe, so there’s a fitting and all that, but as we’re about to take the photograph, and Andre’s saying to the producers, ‘Now, hang on a second. Why would this photograph of what would have been a painful memory be taken in my home? Why would I have that on display in my home?’ [It’s been established that Holt’s career stalled early on because he was openly gay] We’re all standing there going, ‘Oh, boy. That’s a totally legitimate question!’

I could see two ways of playing it, either just as I did, which is just a very straight counter to his energy, or I thought the other option I was prepared to play was, what if Kevin is just as clinical and cold as Ray Holt? What if I matched his energy, and everything was just logical and came out in this (same) tone? And I love that they wrote in Holt as being hilarious, even though nothing that he does in the episode is overtly funny.

Andre wanted to talk about, ‘Where did we meet? How did we meet? Was it love at first sight? Did we date a while? Do we live in Brooklyn because that’s where his precinct is, and I commute to Columbia?’ You don’t often get this deep in the well, but to Andre, it’s very important. In fact, I think it was in the New York Times yesterday, that he did research with squad commanders as consultants when they were first building the pilot, down to details such as ‘what do you eat for lunch, do you eat here at your desk or your car?’ He wants to know.

After the party, Kevin gets an unexpected visitor at his Columbia University office. 

In the episode Peralta wants to become buddies with Kevin. How does that go?

Initially, it goes just terribly. Every attempt. Peralta’s a guy that Kevin has heard about over dinner as being the nincompoop of the squad and he’s the guy that is a consistent thorn in Ray Holt’s side. So, he’s a guy that comes in with strikes against him. He comes into my home and already it’s like, ‘Well, you must be the guy that I’ve heard so much about.’

Did you guys have a chance to Improv at all?

We did. I haven’t seen the cut so I don’t know what makes it into the episode, but there were some fun lines in the bedroom scene, when Andre and I go up to our room to have an argument…which was the first thing we shot, by the way. I had just met Andre the day before, and we did the photograph of the insert the night of the promotion ceremony. We chatted a little bit. The first time that we were acting together was the next day, and the first thing, early in the morning, was the scene where we go up to our bedroom, and I say, ‘I don’t know why you’re upset with me. Your employees are the ones ruining your party. They are acting horribly.’ Andre Braugher, without moving a muscle, looks at me dead in the eye and says, ‘The only person acting horribly here tonight is you.’ Forget the character, you as an actor go, ‘Oh my God.’ He’s so powerful. You look into these deep pools of eyes, and everything in you goes, ‘I take it all back, I’m sorry, I’m wrong. I’m wrong.’…I learned a lot from working for a week with Andre Braugher.

Brooklyn 99 now airs in its new 9:30pm time slot every Tuesday on Fox.