GRIMM Scoop: David Giuntoli Previews What’s Next Big Wrinkle in the Nick/Juliette Romance and the 2nd Season Finale

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As if having your fiancé fall under a sleeping spell and then awaken in love with someone else was not enough of a challenge in the Nick and Juliette romance, the latest temptation will be in the form of a Wesen muse who tries to enslave Nick.  The path to true love is never easy, but it is always worth it.  Let’s just hope that the writers of GRIMM do not tread any heavier on our already taxed romantic hearts.  In a recent press conference call, star David Giuntoli provided some candid thoughts about what is upcoming for Nick and Juliette as well as a few more fun teasers about what is upcoming in the second season finale.

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With the muse coming in and Nick getting wrapped up with another woman even if it’s only for an episode in whatever way, is there’s going to be a point where he doesn’t want to wait for Juliette anymore. Or is he just kind of going to wait for her forever?
DAVID: I certainly hope he wouldn’t wait forever. I am personally more shocked at the point that she would be interested in him after all he’s done.  I mean truly cowardly moves on his as far as Juliette’s relationship is concerned. I wouldn’t tell her about any of this after she’d lost her mind, went into a coma, just really struggling with memory loss and like what is happening to her — going crazy. And I’m still sitting back like, “I don’t want to tell her. What if she leaves me?” So I hope we have to talk about things in a real way before we get back together.  I think Nick’s a guy who knows what he’s done to her and would probably do anything to get her back. So I think he’d wait for a long time.

What could possibly happen for the season finale of this season? A Nick and Juliette reunion? What about Adalind’s baby? Like maybe Nick’s mom will return? Is there anything you could tell us?
DAVID: All three of which are very much on the table. You could definitely see a Nick and Juliette reunion. And again, in GRIMM fashion they love tearing people apart and bringing them back together and who knows how hard they’re going to make that for Nick and Juliette. What you will be seeing that I haven’t spoken about yet is we deal with the undead in a way that’s really never been dealt – in a way that it’s never been approached before — in very typical GRIMM fashion.  So “zombies” will be coming to Portland. And I would also say the cliff hanger of this season is — I don’t know how the writers are going to get themselves out of this corner that they’ve painted themselves into — one of the cast may not live through the finale.

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Do you have a favorite scene or storyline in the episodes that is going to be coming our way in this last month?
DAVID: That’s going to be coming your way. Something about season two that I’ve really loved and going into season three that I’m going to continue to love is more and more of the main characters are in the know sort of speak, which means that certain characters can interact that wouldn’t have during much of season two, all of season one. And it brings a fresh, lovely dynamic to scenes where I’ll be in a room with say, like a completely new group of actors and watching them interact. And there’s comedy to be found in it when someone is learning the ropes of the GRIMM world for the first time. I really enjoy those scenes where we all get to spend the whole day together. I really do enjoy the moment of levity in the dark world of GRIMM, and there was a scene in particular that played in the Volcanalis episode where Russell Hornsby’s character Hank went on vacation. It was almost out of another show like an ALLY MCBEAL episode. But it was very fun. It was fun. And here’s a fun bit of info. That scene was written in reaction to Russell in real life snapping his Achilles tendon. So he can walk we had to somehow keep him in a chair and get him off of the show for two episodes so he can get surgery. Two episodes and then he’ll come back.

Did that injury cause a problem with the story line at all?
DAVID: No problem, really. We just a couple of things had to be tweaked. I’ll do a little more working with Wu, with Sergeant Wu, which was really fun and a pleasure to get to work so much with Reggie Lee. He is just a phenomenal actor. So it shook things up for a little while. But I think it was fresh and really wonderful. And Russell I think is fully repaired at this point.

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Were you surprised by the state of the Nick-Juliette-Renard relationships this season?
DAVID:  Nothing really surprises me on GRIMM. Our writers are not afraid to go anywhere. So nothing really surprises me. I want to speak especially to the relationship between the Captain and Nick. I wanted to make sure that even though we are working together I’m not too easy with him. I wouldn’t call it a friendship. I wouldn’t call us pals. We wouldn’t go out and eat together. I think we more or less have a common enemy. When I’m working with the Captain I always think about that picture from World War II where like Stalin and FDR were sitting next to each other with Churchill.  Like how did Stalin get there? But they just had a common enemy. And so we’re working tentatively together. He did after all try to kill my aunt. So as far as Juliette goes I think we’re going to be seeing us kind of patching things up — turning things around a bit. And I’m sure that in GRIMM fashion they’ll find some way to make that as difficult as humanly possible.

GRIMM has so many elements to it — drama, action, romance, fantasy — are there any of these that you enjoy performing in the most or do you appreciate the variety overall?
DAVID:  I do appreciate the variety. Though I will say it is a dark show, and I really love when we squeeze in some more comedic elements. And every now and then we’ll have a more comedic episode, like when we had a Ziegevolk lawyer charming the entire jury and Rosalee was on the jury and Sergeant Woo was testifying, and he changed his testimony. There were a lot of many great comedic moments in that. So I’d say the comedy is something I like squeezing in there.

Nick was temporarily blinded in the recent Mr. Sandman episode, what was it like acting without sight?
DAVID:  Well I could see. I had prosthetics in my eyes. I had lenses in my eyes. That was crazy. But I could see through them. I’d say really fun. It was fun finding new ways to sell especially fighting without seeing. And I was pretty happy with how it turned out. So all in all I was very pleased with the challenge of acting without sight.

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GRIMM did great on Friday and then was moved behind THE VOICE. Why do you think your show has worked when maybe some of the others haven’t?
DAVID: A successful television show is a mystery how to make it. But there has to be certain components. We have writers and creators who are seasoned and excited, and that’s a really great combination.  They know what they’re doing. They have found the sweet spot. David Greenwalt has this gallows humor about him as does Jim Kouf — our two main writers, executive producers. And they balance story well with a lot of darkness and a little bit of levity. And there’s some very lovable characters. And that’s what it takes. They just know their stuff.

Have you gotten any hints from David or Jim about kind of Nick’s heightened abilities?
DAVID:  I have not received any nuggets of what’s to come as far as Nick’s supernatural powers. At the end of season one I did get some info that they wanted to turn me more into a hero with supernatural abilities.  But I did not ask what they were. And I just kind of found out a month before the viewer did.  I would imagine going forward we’re going to revisit some of what we kind of teased with my super human hearing and ability to fight fruit with a bat.

What other character if you weren’t playing Nick would you like to play?
DAVID:  Monroe would be fun, but I wouldn’t even want to try that. Because I mean he’s mastered that whole thing. Some – yes, either Monroe or Wu.

Looking at season two have you found any new acting challenges with playing the Nick character? And how did you see Nick sort of grow and develop in season two also?
DAVID: Nick was written as a little more accepting of his role. In a way Nick went through the stages of grief of finding out that he was a Grimm and the loss that that would entail with Juliette, revisiting why his family is no longer with him.  a lot of lies had happened in his life systematically, and he found out about it all kind of at once. So he was denial, anger toward it, befuddlement. And finally I think he’s kind of accepted it, and throughout season two he’s owning it now. So it’s more fun to play — as far as I’m concerned — a very confident guy who’s coming into his own and becoming more of a force to be reckoned with in the Wesen world. So it’s been really fun to play that.

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Can you talk a little bit about the Nick-Monroe relationship, how you’ve seen that develop this season? And what maybe you enjoyed most about that relationship.
DAVID: I think Silas put it best. He said, “everybody has seen the cop and partner relationship, the detective and his wife or girlfriend relationship, the detective” – there are a lot of dynamics that have been played out and some really well and some not so good. But in our show we have the detective and this thing, which is Monroe. It’s a totally different thing. And it’s been such a pleasure to work with Silas and have this wonderful dynamic that plays out on screen. The writers have done a very good job with that. As far as the relationship and how it’s grown, I’d say we were always reluctant. We allied in the first season. But he could always turn into a creature, and I could always behead him. And this season we are more, I’ll just say friends.  He’s housing me in his attic for God’s sake. And I love the relationship he has now with Bree Turner, Rosalee.

How did Wesens recognize you as a Grimm? What’s a Grimm face look like to them?
DAVID: It looks like my face believe it or not. Truly. They don’t see anything aside  from they are not used to having their emotions in check. Because non- Grimm human beings cannot see them. And then when they see someone reacting to this or they sense someone knowing what they’re going through and watching them change, they’re on to me.  And they’ve learned from a young age through their storybooks about Grimms and how evil we are and almost like we’re this supernatural thing that may or may not exist. They’ve been told by their family, their parents, and their grandparents about us. So when that actually see them it’s like they’re seeing a ghost, but not literally. But they can’t believe that one actually really exists.

You hinted about Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio coming back as your mother Kelly. So she’s been hanging around Portland a long time. What’s she up to?
DAVID: Well I think she stole a car at the station. And I think she was just pretending. She just didn’t have a train ticket because she’s like, “Why when I can just steal this car and go?” But I do believe she is dealing with the Collins right now. And I believe in the coming episode there’s communication with her.

Which GRIMM story has not yet been told that you are really pulling for that the writers tackle next season?
DAVID:  I actually don’t know. I feel like we’ve hit all the classics. And every time I see a new Grimm’s fairytale I’m almost learning about it as we go through the season. What I do really enjoy now about our show is the fact that we’re kind of straying from the Grimms fairytales. And remember in the lore of our show — in the world of GRIMM — there are only Grimm’s fairytales because they’ve been written about in a book. Now certain things that have not yet been explained maybe they just haven’t been written down yet. So I get to add to that book. And thus a phenomenon or a phenomena that is here to for unexplained gets written down in the Grimms fairytales, and it becomes a legend for kids to learn about forever.   In other words, we’re borrowing from a lot of lore that’s even outside the standard Grimm’s fairytales. And we are adding it to those Grimm’s fairytales.

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Looking forward to season three what would you like to see happen with your character — both professionally and personally?
DAVID: Well I’d like to see some resolve to the Juliette storyline.  I love working with Bitsie Tulloch and it’d be nice to be just a couple again. I want to get Sergeant Wu into the fray of the knowing. That would be really fun to work with him in the way that now Russell, Hank, and I can work together and Bree and Silas and the Captain. I would love to get Sergeant Wu into the fray.

Nick deals with a lot of gruesome scenes and gruesome things. Have any of those scenes every stayed with you?
DAVID: Oh god, yes. The horribly gross scenes. One of which when Monroe gouges out the eye of a fly person. I believe the person’s name was David Jinnamuru Xunte, which sounds like someone who’d be touring with Erykah Badu. But it’s the fly person. That scene stays with me. That was hideous.  Another scene that stayed with me was the season one episode maybe five where the rats are… and I remember just before we even shot I was on set and I walked by this car in a parking lot that I didn’t know had a corpse with rats pouring out of his mouth — into his stomach out of his mouth. That ruined me for a good , oh, 90 days. I couldn’t handle. It was so gross.  That was a very strange scene, absolutely life like reproduction, usually just completely dismembered on the ground after you just met them and had lunch with them. It’s so strange. The child in you does not know what’s real and what is not for a split second.

hat’s your favorite weapon that you’ve used, or what weapon are you looking forward to using?
DAVID: Sexist T.V. weapon has to be the cross bow. It’s just so cool. They do those shots that kind of pan up on the crossbow and then the eyes go right above it. But Nick really loves the – I believe it’s pronounced conobo or conabo, which is just a basically a baseball bat with spikes on it — nothing too technically fancy. But he loves it.

It was established that on the episode that La Llorona is not necessarily one of them. What do you think about this great idea of the writers about expanding the motility of the creators – the creatures of this show.
DAVID:   I really enjoyed that aspect of it. I think that it shows you in keeping up with the lore of Grimm the Grimms fairytales are just stories that have thus far been logged in these books. But they’re growing as the Grimms continue to discover more and more I suppose Wesen. And reasons behind phenomena that human beings make up stories to explain. The Grimms can then explain it in this book and try to put it out to the rest of the world. I really enjoy getting to borrow from other folklore legends that had not yet been in the Grimm books.

About working with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Can you just tell us a little bit about what it’s like to have here on the show? And who is on your personal wish list for potential guest stars in the future that you like to work with?
DAVID: Oh gosh. I can’t say that just because there’s so many. I wouldn’t want to offend the people – Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was wonderful to work with. And the episodes that she’s been in have been so work intensive, and she has such a wonderful you know ethic — work ethic. And she’s so fury, and she working with her I get caught watching her all of the time and almost forget that I’m in the scene. Because she’s so captivating and compelling and beautiful and just makes wonderful choices. And that’s what I think about her. I’ve really enjoyed the guest actors we’ve had thus far. And anybody’s who’s decided to come who can swing it we’ll love to have.

Are we ever going to see or hear anything about Grimms in the rest of the country, the rest of the world?
DAVID: Honestly, not as of yet that I know of. You would think that does have to do become a storyline at some point, or are there only a couple Grimms left and they’re just a lot of little Santa’s little helpers out there who are Grimm-like. I don’t quite know. The only Grimm that they really currently want to deal with is me. Because they know that I have one of the keys. Whereas you know as far as the Royals are concerned they know I have one of the keys. And that’s why they even care about me at all. So who knows?

Can you share a little more depth of some broad strokes about some of the plot lines for the remainder of this season?
DAVID:  Absolutely. Nick and Juliette start patching things up. And it’s looking very hopeful for us come the end of the season. A Level 10 — as I like to call it — Wesen comes to Portland who is pulling the strings controlling a lot of other types of Wesen. We can call them the undead.  And he has an army of people under his control that wreak havoc. And this is a longer story arc. We’ll be visited by an actor named Reg E. Cathey. He’s a wonderful actor who’s just been in HOUSE OF CARDS, and he’s been in everything. And he’s great. And he plays this kind of powerful Wesen that we will be introduced to in the next couple of episodes. The Royals get closer and closer to me. They come to Portland, and they want the key. And I learn much more about why it is they want the key. The captain and I start working together. Let’s see, zombies are entering Portland, and also as far as the Adalind storyline is insane. And that’s all I’ll say about that!

To see whether Nick can fight the muse’s temptation and stay true to his love Juliette be sure to tune in for an all new episode of GRIMM on Tuesday, May 7^th at 10:00 p.m. on NBC.

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Shining the Spotlight on Reggie Lee of GRIMM

In a series where things that go bump-in-the-night are truly terrifying, GRIMM showcases what life would be like if supernatural beings lived amongst us on only the special few could see them. Yet not all of them are big, bad scary creatures. In an exclusive interview, co-star Reggie Lee talked about whether or not his character Sergeant Wu is part of that supernatural club, who he is rooting for in the love triangle between Nick (David Giuntoli), Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) and Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz), and what kinds of excitement the remainder of Season 2 promises for viewers.

So what’s coming up on GRIMM? We’re dying to find out!
REGGIE: Can you believe it’s been three months?! We’re going to come back and everything is going to come to a head in the first episode. The Captain finds the trailer, the Captain and Nick finally confront each other, things go on with this crazy love-triangle, and Wu is first on the scene. When am I never the first on the scene?! I think Wu just never goes to sleep. So when Wu arrives, there are literally cracks on the wall at Nick and Juliette’s place. And there are things that happen that you’ll just have to tune in to see. There are alliances broken. There are alliances formed. Relationships go awry. Rosalee (Bree Turner) is back. Yep, we’ve got the girls in town. So it’s no longer an all-dude show. Bitsie loved it that way. She loves being the only girl, but now she’s got some good company. So the first episode coming back is pretty ridiculous. I think they threw everything in the pot and decided to stir it up.

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Just from your perspective, do you think Juliette should be with Captain Renard, or should she be with Nick?
REGGIE: I’m so old-school. I think Juliette and Nick have something really special. It’s that whole question between passion and stability, and we wish we could have them both. I think Juliette’s a smart gal. I think she’ll figure it out. But it provides for some very interesting storyline going forward one way. I don’t know how it would go the other way, but I’m sure they would form some interesting storylines around it. But, boy, if she got together with the Captain, I’d say that would be very volatile. My poor friend, Nick. But I vote for that. As to what’s going to happen, you’ll just have to wait and see.

Wu may be first on the scene, but he kind of plays it safe. We don’t see him in the action very much. Are we going to be seeing him in some choreographed fight scenes?
REGGIE: (Laughs) I think I’ve already had some choreograph fight scenes performed on me. There’s been some episodes, these past few, where questions have arised like, “Reggie, how are you with heights?” Things like that. There’s been some pretty nutty things that we’ll get into. It’s interesting because in the next couple of episodes, the question has always been, “When is he going to find out?” I can’t wait to see how he reacts when he finds out. I think that question — well, here’s one thing I can tell you, he does see a Wesen in the next few episodes. I see them in their true form. As to how he reacts to that, you’ll have to see for yourself.

That’s always been a big question, why Wu never reacted to any of the other Wesen were around. He just seemed oblivious.
REGGIE: He doesn’t see them. They don’t show themselves to him. But you’ll have to see with this one. It’s coming up in a couple episodes. I also think there has to be a great deal of balance required on the show and who knows when they are going to play with that balance and they have already started futzing with it in terms of who knows and who doesn’t know. I think it would be kind of dangerous if everyone knew and not as much fun. Now that’s me speaking as Wu. If I were speaking as the actor, I’d feel like, “Dammit! Let me in on the action. How come I’m not invited to the party?”

He usually is. He just doesn’t know what’s going on.
REGGIE: I know! I think that’s the fun part of it. I like to play him so much because he has a sarcastic sense of humor, which came about with great collaboration with the writers. They really just brought about this character and together I think we brought him to fruition. He’s kind of oblivious, but only because he’s so into achieving and into his own thing and into being the best — and into pulling his one-liners. I think if he found out, it would take a little bit of coaching to accept it.

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Were you surprised how comedic the role became opposed to just being a dramatic role?
REGGIE: Yes. It’s interesting ’cause I heard Edie Falco talk about this once, she said, “I don’t consider myself comedic actor at all.” Yet I think she’s won several Emmys now for it. So I think if the writing is good and I think if you believe in the craziness of what’s going on, really throw your heart and soul in it, if it’s written funny, it’s going to be funny. And we really evolved this out of one line that came out of the pilot and I thought, “There’s something really sarcastic about this guy.” And sarcasm usually stems from insecurity. The reason people are using sarcasm is usually because they are insecure. But there is something very endearing about Wu’s sarcasm because he’s been doing it for so long. So as soon as I kind of hooked into that, the writers kind of hooked into me, and we just started forming this crazy, wacky character. People have started dissecting that one or two episodes where we saw Wu’s apartment and been focusing on what was in the apartment to try to figure Wu out. I think that’s kind of cool. I think especially with this show, like with Monroe — Silas Mitchell, bless his heart, is so brilliant — you have to have some lightness. Because it is such a creepy dark show that there has to be some humor in it. I think that bodes for the best sci-fi and the best horror. It reminds me of Sam Raimi and that kind of thing where it’s really scary creepy and then suddenly you start laughing out loud. But I am surprised, and pleasantly surprised, with that. That this character has evolved the way that he has. I enjoy playing him so much and I get so much response from people who are fans that appreciate this character a lot. We were at Comic-Con and it was interesting ’cause a bulk of the episodes centers on Nick and Hank (Russell Hornsby) and Monroe, and it was interesting how the fans all had an appreciation for every character and what they brought to the show. It’s a really well-rounded show, but I am over the moon with the way that my character has evolved. I love it.

Has the show ever told what kind of Wesen that Wu is?
REGGIE: Is he a Wesen? How did you come to that conclusion?

From the poisoned cookies that he ate and all the stuff he consumed that would have killed a normal person.
REGGIE: That was only due to the curse that Adalind (Claire Coffee) put on the cookies.

So Wu may not be Wesen?
REGGIE: He may not be. (Laughs) That was only due to the cookies and the curse she put on them. There were definitely a lot of people that had questions about that and they were like, “Would he react like that? Would a human react like that?” But it was a reaction to the curse, as far as I know right now. There are several things that come up in other episodes that may suggest differently, but as far as that episode is concerned, there is nothing about Wu being Wesen. But you never know, anything can happen on this show.

They like their little surprises, don’t they?
REGGIE: That’s what kind of scares us. The scripts are coming so fast and furious and I just leaf through them thinking, “Wow.” We don’t know what twists or what turns the show is going to take. And Sergeant Wu is what they call the wild-card of the show, so they could take him in any direction. Which is kind of fun and nerve-wracking at the same time. (Laughs)

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So how much is Wu aware of what is going on with Adalind? Does he have an awareness that she is bad news?
REGGIE: She’s back! The bitch is back. (Laughs) Claire’s fantastic at it. She’s a sweet little person and then she just becomes this completely different person on television. Adalind stirs things up more than anyone on the show. I can tell you that much. She will stir it up and this time she stirs it up pretty bad. She gets pretty much everyone involved. And there’s a lot going on with her. So she’s back in town and she’s out for her revenge. And she’s going to do it little by little, and as much as it hurts. It hurts more that way, I think.

Will Wu remain unscathed? Will he stay on the sidelines there?
REGGIE: Oh, he’s not on the sidelines at all. I can’t tell you whether he finds out or not, but I can tell you that he’s right in the midst of the action.

So Wu may be taking on Adalind and maybe picking some sides or alliances and we’ll be seeing if he’s Wesen or not. Sounds like we’ve got some big stuff coming up with Wu.
REGGIE: Yeah, it’s interesting because they divvy it up really well with the characters all throughout the season, and there wasn’t a lot going on with Wu in the beginning of this season. So now it’s becoming a little heftier towards the end of the season.

Knowing what you now know, how would you describe Wu in one word?
REGGIE: One word? Wow, that’s a tough one. The first word that instinctively comes to mind is: quirky. He is a quirk in the show. Well, Monroe is very quirky too. So there’s a lot of quirks to be discovered with Wu. You know all the quirks about Monroe. But there’s a lot of quirks left to be discovered about Wu and it’s coming up.

Are we going to be seeing Wu and Monroe interact a little bit coming up? They always seem to be off to the side of each other in scenes.
REGGIE: They do, but you’ll see them interact once in awhile in these last few episodes. Absolutely. Silas and I are always over-joyed when we work with each other. You know, rarely is the whole cast together, but there’s definitely one scene where we were all together. It’s interesting ’cause I’ve known Silas the longest, because he and I did PRISON BREAK together and then he and I also studied with the same acting coach for the past 10 to 15 years. So we’ve been in acting class together the whole time. So it’s kind of cool that we’re on this show together. And you’ll see Monroe and Wu interact in these next few episodes.

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Did either one of you have a hand in getting the other on GRIMM?
REGGIE: No, but what’s interesting though is that Silas knew one of the writers/creators on the show. So Monroe was pretty tailor-made for him. I am sure they saw some other people, but he had it in the bag and he’s so good at it. And I came into it — I actually had auditioned for the part of Hank, and it came down to Russell, myself and another guy, and 10 minutes after that audition Russell got the call, and I’m so happy ’cause he’s so great at it. Then 10 minutes after that, my agent got a call that said, “I haven’t cast Reggie, but would you be interested if I wrote a role for him?” And I thought, “Would I be interested?!” At that particular time I was testing for other shows, and I was so done with it. It’s not fun. So I thought, “These are great guys. I loved the script. I love the people that are involved.” So I had them pitch me a story or what was going to happen with this character and I just jumped on it. And since then, I think they created a pretty wonderful, special quirky character. I love him to death. So I can’t wait to see what is in store for him.

If you can say, what has been the funnest thing you’ve found out about Sergeant Wu?
REGGIE: That he is comfortable with his humor. ‘Cause I’m not! (Laughs) I’m not a funny person. I really am not a funny person and everyone is going, “Yes, you are.” This is the show where I’ve kind of found my fun and it is so funny ’cause when we’re filming scenes, it’s a regularly written scene, and David Giuntoli is going, “Wu, find the funny. I know Wu is going to find the funny.” That has been the great thing: to play a character that is comfortable with his sarcasm. I love that.

There is a certain confidence about it. He just says it and gets away with it.
REGGIE: Yeah, he just says whatever it is. He has nothing behind it. He just says it. He’s used to doing that. I love that.

Have you pitched to the writers that they should create a book of Wu-isms?
REGGIE: (Laughs) It’s interesting ’cause something they will say, “Can you Wu-ify that?” I’ll say something and they’ll go, “Can you Wu-ify it?” and I say, “Sure.” But they have made up so many Wu-isms that there’s a Wu dictionary now. They’re all Wu-liners. So it’s been fun. And it’s been more than a blessing. I’ll tell you what, this has been a fun ride. And you guys that write about it and support us, have been amazing.

To see more of the wonderful world of Wu and to see whether he joins his co-workers in the Wesen world, be sure to tune in for all new episodes of GRIMM on Friday nights at 9:00 p.m. on NBC.

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GRIMM Scoop: Co-stars Bitsie Tulloch and Sasha Roiz Talk the Explosive Forbidden Love of Captain Renard and Juliette

Before the long hiatus GRIMM left viewers hanging with Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) finding out about the steamy kiss between his fiancé Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) and his boss Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz).  What exactly Nick is going to do with that shocking revelation and whether Juliette and Renard will be successful in keeping away from each other shall be revealed in the second half of GRIMM’s sophomore season.  In a recent press conference call, co-stars Bitsie Tulloch and Sasha Roiz candidly shared what steamy scenes await fans and viewers in the upcoming episode “Face Off” and how difficult it was to film such explosive love scenes. They also teased a bit about how Nick and Adalind (Claire Coffee) are going to react to the illicit love-affair gone wrong.

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Did you expect the showdown with Nick and Renard to be this soon?
SASHA: I was actually surprised that it’s as soon as it is. I thought it could even be dragged out until the end of the season. But I’m really glad that it’s happened and glad that we had a chance to finally confront each other, because I think it’s something the fans had been waiting for a long time. As characters and as actors that had been waiting for as well. So yes, I don’t think it’s a moment too soon.

Will fans be surprised to see how far Juliette and Renard’s relationship will go?
BITSIE:  What happens on Friday night, we’ve not seen the likes of on GRIMM so far. I think it’s really fun and I think it’s just a great way to sort of deal with what’s going on between the two of them and also to highlight how little control they have over it. That this is not slow burning love, like they literally can’t control the lust. Obviously, it gets to a sort of violent place and neither them is really wanting this to happen.  They can’t help it. Obviously Sasha’s character understands more of what’s going on coming from that world and Juliette is just like, “All right, well, I guess par for the course, I’m already losing my mind.”
SASHA: Will fans be surprised? I think they’ve seen it escalate and this will be a great payoff, I believe. It’s fun.  It’s fun to explore new ground, new territory with GRIMM. It’s almost like GRIMM after-dark, a little racier version. So I think they’ll be pleased and it’s a good payoff after this long hiatus.

We’ve heard there’s a love scene that required a lot of rehearsal. Can you talk about how that fits in and why it took so long?
BITSIE: It took so long because we had to have a stunt coordinator help us out, particularly me. I’m sort of known among the cast members of being — I don’t know, Sasha, what would you say?
SASHA: She’s a little clumsy.
BITSIE: Yes.  That love scene also got edited down massively, but when we were actually shooting it, it took something like eight-and-a-half hours to get through which is incredibly long for basically one scene because it was so complicated and it did require such coordination.
SASHA: That said, Bitsie always want a stunt coordinator there when she has a love scene, so who knows.
BITSIE: That’s right, that’s my style. It was intense. I think it was definitely a shocker for us when we read it because we really didn’t believe it when we read it. We thought it was a bit of a joke. But they went there. It was so intense that we thought it was a joke. We literally thought it was a joke that when we read the script. We were like, “Ha-ha, where’s our real script?”
SASHA: But I think it came out well. I haven’t seen it but I presume it came out well.

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Now that Nick knows about the Captain and Juliette, can you talk about the impact that it has on the three characters going forward?
SASHA: It’s going to be very delicate moving ahead and I don’t want to say too much because we’ll see what happens. Because it’s really Nick’s choice at this point whether he wants to move ahead, whether he wants to stay Portland, or whether he wants to deal with me with her. So there’s going to be a lot of fall-out and that’s going to occupy the remainder of this season.  To see what will transpire and how pieces will fall, where they fall I should say. So that’s really going to be a very delicate balance I think moving on.

The Hexenbiest put that obsessive spell on both of you but do you think there is any genuine affection between Renard and Juliette?
SASHA: I would say probably not. I got to be honest. I think that it’s forced us into a situation that is probably pretty unnatural. I mean not to say that she’s not an attractive woman but I don’t think that Renard would even allow himself to even venture in that territory if he was not under the spell.
BITSIE: The truth is they barely knew each other. The assumption is they may or may not have met at a couple work functions. So who knows if they want to sort of play with this more down the road. But the reality is when they first came under the spell they didn’t really know each other, so this sort of lusting and obsession really is for lack of a better word, manmade. It’s chemical. Not chemical in like the pheromone way, chemical like literally poison and they’re both under a spell kind of a way. No love at first sight.

Has playing Juliette given you a better understanding of who she is and sort of helped you to mold the character?
BITSIE: Yes, absolutely. I mean in Season 2, I’ve had so much more to do with her, which is not to knock the storyline from Season 1 because at the beginning of Season 1 it was about this guy who I’ve been dating, who I loved, and he lost basically the woman who raised him. I know a lot of fans were sort of saying:  “How can she be so naïve? How is she not seeing this?”  But she was just being really understanding and sensitive to Nick’s situation. But waking up in Season 2 in a coma and then having just this big empty hole where this man once lived has been sort of crazy and I have to say you have not seen the worst of it. What goes on with Juliette gets much worse before it gets better. They’re just sort of starting to layout what’s going to happen the rest of Season 2. So as an actress, it’s definitely been so much fun for me to really go into these deep dark depths of the character and her mental space. She’s really starting to lose it. I mean, as you can imagine, it’s crazy to wake up and see pictures of this stranger all over your house and be told that you were going to get married and all this stuff and you have no recollection whatsoever. Then all of a sudden she’s lusting after someone she barely knows and can’t control herself. I mean it’s enough to make anybody mad. So that’s been fun for me.

If you had to pick your favorite and least favorite thing about your character, what would they be?
SASHA: I like and dislike how secretive Renard is because, on one hand, it’s really fun to play. On the other hand, sometimes even I don’t know what he’s up to. Like he’s just a very mysterious character and the writers keep me guessing, because we don’t always know. So it’s a very difficult balance to strike sometimes but it also keeps me very engaged as an actor and viewer.

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How much of the fight scenes do you actually have to do? And is it difficult?
BITSIE: We didn’t have stunt doubles. We did it all. We just had somebody go through it to make sure that I didn’t hurt him basically.
SASHA: It can be taxing after a while. With Bitsie and I, it wasn’t bad. I was surprised we both walked away from it fairly unscathed. The one with David and I, it was 2 o’clock in the woods on a Friday. We were just exhausted from the week and we’re doing our best for this really long fight sequence where there were some stuntmen because there were some things you can’t do.
BITSIE: They won’t let you do.
SASHA: Yes, exactly. We did most everything on our own and we did kind of end up hurting each other, David and I. But that’s par for the course.  But it’s fun to do it and it’s just challenging. It’s just another challenge, I suppose.
BITSIE: I had a scene – without teasing too much — I had a scene recently where I did my own stunts and I had to be rigged to something so that I wouldn’t fall off. I’m supposed to kind of go to the edge and literally on the first take I almost fell off. I would have just been dangling there. It was really funny.
SASHA: (Laughs) The fact that you’re still in one piece after 40 episodes is remarkable.

What’s the most difficult scene or episode you’ve had to do so far and why?
BITSIE: Mine hasn’t aired yet. There’s a lot of really, really intense emotional stuff coming up for Juliette, just really heavy and pretty serious. So that’s probably the hardest that I’ve had to do but that episode is something to look forward to I guess.
SASHA: This upcoming episode I should say was pretty hard for me. It was challenging on all levels because physically it was a lot of — Bitsie spoke about a lot of fight choreographies and sequences and long hours — and then emotionally as well, it just kind of took Renard to every sort of realm of emotion and so it was pretty challenging.

Can you tell us a little bit about what’s going on between Renard and Adalind in this episode and moving forward?
SASHA: It’s very antagonistic and she’s definitely a thorn in my side and she’s out to thwart all of my plans. She’s also incredibly conniving and manipulative just the same as Renard is. So she knows how to play him and what I love about some of the writing is you really don’t know who’s playing who sometimes. I think there’s always a turn of the tables and so it will be interesting to see what transpires. But she certainly has presented herself at a very difficult time for him.  He’s very vulnerable at this point and so she’s found a weakness and her timing couldn’t be better.

Do you think there would ever be a time when the two of them could hook up, that she could give Juliette a little run for her money?
BITSIE: No.
SASHA: Well, I mean I think you’ll have to watch on Friday because who knows. It certainly some challenge to it there, yes.

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As far as Juliette and Renard’s relationship is exposed and Renard’s secret identity may be exposed and people are circling around the key. Will we see a resolution to that storyline in this back half or at least see it come to a climax?
SASHA: You’re definitely going to see some form of resolution to it. It’s a major storyline for us and it’s going to be dealt with. But it will take the course of this season to deal with it properly.

Is there anyway that Renard and Nick can work together as police officers going forward in coming seasons?
SASHA: Yes, I mean I believe so. Like I said, we’re going to have to deal with a lot of issues and see if we can put aside our differences and work together again. So a lot of that depends on Nick and whether he’s able to forgive, able to move forward. But I think he could move ahead and, if anything, it could open up a whole new chapter now that we’re in the know and there’s no secrets anymore. There’s the possibility to certainly be better partners.

What has been your favorite episodes so far?
BITSIE: From Season 1, I really like the episode “Game Ogre” just because that was sort of the first time Juliette was inadvertently drawn into the fray in a sort of physical way. I also liked from Season 1 the thing with feathers, which is the one where Nick and Juliette go away for the weekend to that romantic cabin and all hell breaks loose. Again, I think one of the reasons I like it is because she ends up having to hunt down and sort of save Nick. Then there’s been a lot of great stuff from Season 2, but I would say from Season 2 so far my favorite episode is the one that’s going to air on Friday night (entitled “Face Off”).
SASHA: I would agree. The one that airs Friday night is pretty amazing and I think it’s got something for every character. I think that is really what appeals to me is when everybody’s kind of featured and there’s such high stakes. Then I think from Season 1, my favorite is probably “Three Coins in a Fushsbau” because it was the first time we get a sense or a glimpse into the Captain and some of his personal life and his ambitions. So that was a lot of fun for me.

Looking back, what’s your favorite Wesen to date?
BITSIE: I loved the Eisbibers. I loved the actor Danny Bruno. He’s fantastic. I’m so proud of him. They’ve smartly they’ve written him into a pretty major recurring just because he’s just so lovable and it’s nice to have a Wesen that’s not necessarily a scary blood-thirsty Wesen. Then I also like as far as the scary ones, I really like the Mauvais Dentes, who was the saber tooth-tiger Wesen from the first two episodes of Season 2.
SASHA: I like the Reapers. I like what they represent: mythologically, the scythe that they carry, the fact that they come into reap revenge and that they’re after the Grimms and they have this very specific purpose in the world. I also like my own character the bastard Hexenbiest.  What I love about it is we never had any half-breed before. And so the fact that you could cross-pollinate and you could have all these part creatures part Wesens, that makes it really interesting for me. And I’m really curious to see that develop and to see that whole sort of other culture that exists that just has a trace of Wesen blood in them.

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Why do you think a show like GRIMM continues to come up on top despite all these other obstacles?
BITSIE: Because it’s fun. I think this is something that all the cast have been saying ad naseum, but it’s true, is that the show has a little bit of everything for everybody. For people who like procedurals.  You have that you have the romance. It’s funny, especially with characters like Silas Weir Mitchell’s character and Reggie Lee’s character, they’re pretty funny. And then you have the fantasy, you have the sci-fi, you have these monsters, you have the visual effects. There’s really a lot going on.
SASHA: I agree with Bitsie. I think we struck a really delicate balance where there’s so many different styles at play and there’s so many different things that can appeal to the viewers. But I think ultimately we also don’t take ourselves too seriously. Like there’s a humor to the show that underlies the entire thing. So it’s just very palatable. I was impressed at how wide a net they could throw and how varied our demographic can be.
BITSIE:  The show unsurprisingly does very well internationally because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I mean you’re dealing with heavy things, but you’re dealing with it in a sort of light and fun way. It’s not one of those shows that’s lost in translation. People are familiar with these fairy tales so it’s sort of fun to tune in and see how they’re being reinterpreted in a modern way. It doesn’t surprise me at all that the show does so well internationally and some of our main diehard fans have come from other countries all over the world. And it’s just expanding into more and more territories.

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With so many game-changing incidents throughout this next episode, what’s going to happen next?
SASHA: I think at least for Renard there’s going to be a real challenge in keeping the Grimm loyal, keeping the Grimm in Portland, keeping the plan that he had concocted for so long in place, keeping Adalind at bay. And making sure that we could continue as a police force and continue as also this mythological team to keep outside influences and forces at bay from encroaching on our domain.
BITSIE: What happens in the rest of Season 2 I think has been really fantastic. I mean literally every episode once we got back from our hiatus, every episode — I mean they’re really doing huge episodes that are just very grand in scope.  I’ve read some of them and been, like, “Are you guys crazy? There’s no way you’re going to be able to shoot this in eight days.”  Really fun, crazy, new Wesen and they’re delving deeper not just the mythology or the way that we’ve been referring to the mythology but literally mythology, with an almost like a god-like creature. They’re really going in new directions and the episodes really — I’m not just saying this — they get better and better. And I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to do in Season 2 and where it’s going. I think the fans are going to be super, super excited about the last ten episodes of Season 2.

Are we’re ever going to get any backstory on Renard, the royal bastard, and anything about his mother, the Hexenbiest who bore him? Is she still alive or are we ever going to meet her? And how did you get in police work? Was it before you knew you were a royal or after?
SASHA: That’s a lot of backstory. I think we will uncover more about the royal bastard, which is my favorite terminology these days. But, yes, you will. We’ve already introduced members of his family. We’ve already displayed and will continue to display more things from the old world and how things work there and had worked there and continue to work there. So you will get some more on him and the world that he comes from. As far as police work, I don’t know.  I mean we’ll have to touch upon that but I think if I was to wager a guess, it’s probably because it’s a great way to have a certain level of power and authority which is really all he’s after.

Now that Renard’s dealing with emotions with Juliette and now that Nick knows that Renard is the other man. Will we see him slip up and maybe lose his composure and maybe transform for Nick to see that he’s a Wesen?
SASHA: You’ll just have to wait until Friday and maybe you’ll see something. There’s going to be more back-story and there definitely be a lot more reveals about where he comes from and how he came to be.

Sasha, what was it like having not one but two love scenes in the episode?
SASHA: It was a lot of fun. They definitely kept me busy in that episode. I mean there was a lot of love, a lot of hate, a lot of fighting. It was a very busy episode and Renard finds himself into some very interesting situations. So an action-packed episode.

To see how dangerous love can truly be when concocted through a nasty love potion and the damaging ripple-effects it leaves in its wake, be sure to tune in to the return of GRIMM on Friday, March 8^th at 9:00 p.m. on NBC.

Where to find this article:

http://www.thetvaddict.com/2013/03/08/grimm-scoop%C2%A0co-stars-bitsie-tulloch-and-sasha-roiz-tease-the-explosive-forbidden-love-of-captain-renard-and-juliette/