Brooklyn Nine-Nine fulfills one of its main character’s dreams by bringing in a Die Hard actor for a cameo. Created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a police comedy series following the lives of NYPD detectives, and among them is Jake Peralta, played by Andy Samberg. Although Jake is one of the precinct’s best assets, setting the highest arrest record among his colleagues, his childish and overly optimistic attitude often causes him to act immaturely and impulsively. His love for the Die Hard franchise has been well-exhibited throughout the show, and his bachelor party even involves an actor from the movie.
Jake Peralta’s love for the Die Hard movie franchise is one of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s running gags. While it took him a couple of episodes to explicitly state that Die Hard is the “best cop movie of all time”, the show’s first episode immediately hints at this by making his character wear his badge on a chain, similar to that of John McClane (Bruce Willis). Jake also blurts out quotes from the films, sometimes amidst serious conversations. Moreover, in a season 3 episode, Jake, along with Joe Lo Truglio’s Charles Boyle and Chelsea Peretti’s Gina Linetti, experiences a Die Hard-like hostage situation. True to his nature, Jake sees the danger as an opportunity to enact a real-life version of his favorite film.
In Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 5 episode 19, Jake’s Die Hard fantasy came true with a cameo from Reginald VelJohnson, who played Sergeant Al Powell in Die Hard and Die Hard 2. Powell is the police officer who served as McClane’s support during the Nakatomi Plaza hostage, leading to the two later on developing a friendship. The Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode revolved around Jake’s bachelor party: an overly elaborate scavenger hunt planned by Charles. Unwilling to perform the complicated tasks, Jake, Terry (Terry Crews), and Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) decided to simply meet Charles at the final destination after eating and drinking. Unfortunately, Charles realized the deception and left them. Since Jake previously learned that VelJohnson — who also portrayed the husband of Harriette Winslow in Family Matters — was supposedly part of the clues, he reached out to the Die Hard actor for help.
Because Jake abandoned the original scavenger hunt, VelJohnson was expectedly dismissive upon meeting him. However, Jake was not the only admirer in the room, and Terry also credited the Winslow patriarch as the reason he became a cop. Eventually, Jake’s persistence annoyed the actor into helping them find Charles, but VelJohnson was still upset, claiming that Jake had made an “enemy for life,” and worse, he would tell Bruce Willis about what happened. Later in the episode, VelJohnson was seen hanging out with the NYPD detectives as their designated driver, much to his dismay.
Although meeting Reginald VelJohnson was not as smooth as what Jake would hope for, this did not dampen his Die Hard obsession. In fact, at the end of Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 7, he even went so far as to naming his firstborn in honor of McClane, his favorite movie character of all time. Sadly, despite pitches from the show’s writers and clamors from Andy Samberg himself, Brooklyn Nine-Nine wrapped up without a cameo from Willis himself, but VelJohnson’s presence certainly made Jake’s dreams come true.