Board Thread:Grimm News/@comment-265341-20150713014539



Wikia was lucky enough to sit down with the cast and creators of Grimm in the pressroom at San Diego Comic-Con. We sat down with David Giuntoli (who plays Nick Burkhardt), Russell Hornsby (who plays Hank Griffin), Silas Weir Mitchell (who plays Monroe), Bree Turner (who plays Rosalee Calvert, Reggie Lee (who plays Drew Wu), Claire Coffee (who plays Adalind Schade), as well as executive producers Jim Kouf, David Greenwalt, and Norberto Barba. A week ago we asked you guys to supply us with questions, and you gave us a lot of them. We couldn't ask everything, but we did the best we could with the time we were given.

Bree Turner

 * Q: So, I was wondering, in this season we saw Rosalee grow so much and develop and <unintelligible. I’m wondering if she is still being tormented by
 * B: No, I mean, there was that really great scene several episodes after the stuff had been tied up with a bow. Um, that, Monroe has those sort of PTSD kind of flashbacks, um, and I think that was actually… added, those were added scenes. Those weren’t in the original script and we had to add them for, honestly, for time. The show got edited short for some reason. But it was such a happy accident because I think that was such great writing and so appropriate. I mean that was like horrible, and to never talk about it again just seemed so unrealistic. Silas played it so perfectly and I think what we saw with Rosalee was, you know, she was being stoic for her man. Like she needed to be strong for him and not show her fear because he was so, you know, dealing with it. But yes, absolutely, it’s… they are not safe, you know, I think that whole event really showed them that what they’re trying to do… inter-species couple befriending a Grimm… going public with that, kind of brave new world outlook, people are really against that. I think it really showed Rosalee how vulnerable they really are to danger. So, whether it was overtly written into the script or not, Silas and I kind of discussed like… from this point on, things have to be different, you know. Even if it’s just a subconscious tone you don’t even really pick up on. Like, that they may be a little less stoked to put themselves in harm’s way. Because things like that can happen so easily. They’re always gonna be there for Nick no matter what, but I think it’s a little bit more… uhhh… okay, you know, a little scarier to really put themselves out there like that.


 * Q: How did you enjoy playing with
 * B: Oh my gosh, it’s, I love her so much. You know, she’s so smart, and so brave, and so compassionate, and instinctual. Um, she’s a great character. I knew it from the beginning, you know, I joined the show as a guest star and I’m just like “who could’ve predicted that I’d be sitting here five seasons later doing this?” The reason why I said yes was because, from the beginning, that first script with Rosalee was a fully evolved character. The writers gave her a gorgeous arc in one episode and I saw, you know, this is a really special group of people that are really honoring these characters in the right way. So as an actress, that’s something you really want to get on board with.

Claire Coffee

 * Q: Can I just say, I love Adalind, she’s really my favorite character. I love her. The amount of diversity that she has, and she goes from being completely evil to really good and there’s just so much emotion.
 * C: Really!? That’s awesome. That’s very nice to hear. Oh, it’s totally, um, the most fun or the best possible scenario as an actor is that kind of situation and I know it’s a lot for the fans to, um, have patience with, for sure. So I appreciate that. Those that are still with me. Uh, but it’s been great, great for me, and now as we’re headed into season 5 it’s kind of like once again the slate has been wiped clean and we have this full new storyline developing with Adalind too.


 * Q: What’s happening with her and Nick or her and Sean?
 * C: You know, I think like, it’s, ‘that is an incredibly complicated relationship’ is putting it mildly. But, um, I think that this baby, now especially that her first baby is, we have no idea where she is at this point, um, I think they’re both in a situation that they’re both feeling very alone like they really have lost everything and everyone. I mean Nick, obviously, much more dramatically so. Um, but it… it gives them a strange sort of, um, strange understanding with each other. And I think they kind of see each other in a different light.


 * Q: The is the first time I’ve ever interviewed anyone from Grimm, and I’ve always heard about how great the cast is together. Can you talk a little bit about how it is, you know, going from season 5 you must be even closer.
 * C: Yeah, we’ve all been together since the beginning and being up in Portland really helps establish that connection more quickly than I think it would. You know if you’re in LA or you’re in New York and you have your other lives. We are each other’s lives out there. Um, and a lot of us, I just bought a house in Portland and we’re gonna… me and my friends are gonna stay there. It’s like, uh, Betsy and David, you know, like, they’re there. Um, Bree, her family is there. We’re all really planting ourselves in Portland and committing to the city as well. Um, so, it does feel like this nice little family. Like honestly.


 * Q: And what was your personal history with fairytales lore?
 * C: Yeah, I read them a lot and was terrified. Hansel and Gretel was always my favorite. But it was interesting going back and reading these fairytales after I got the job. Because they’re really… like, some of them are really short and all of them are so bleak, and dark, and kind of cautionary tales. Like if you were a parent, it’s basically obey your parents or die, or be eaten, so, um, much darker than I remember them.

David Giuntoli

 * Q: Thank you so much for being here.
 * D: Well, I don’t have a choice.
 * Q: You could go running. No one would stop you.
 * D: It’s true.


 * Q: I was wondering, at the end of the season, Nick has been through so much. He lost his mother and he lost his girlfriend. What is the next season going to bring and how is he going to live with it?
 * D: What do you think?
 * Q: Well, I’m just a journalist. I think he’s going to be traumatized and devastated.
 * D: Yeah, that’s kind of what happens. The only thing that keeps me from going too apeshit is the fact that I have a kid who’s just born in the first episode of season 5. So, like, in my head, that’s the one thing kind of keeping me remotely, ah, above water, and kind of focused, and my actions will have repercussions if I go too wild. Because I do fall in love with this kid right away, and he’s born into a terrible world and a terrible situation. So, yeah, yeah, a little unhinged. A little unhinged.


 * Q: And going into season 5, what do you still enjoy about playing Nick?
 * D: I enjoy it more than I ever have honestly right now. Uh, I think that… ugh, I want to give you guys soundbites. It’s like soundbites and then really honest answers. So, which one would you like?
 * Q: What’s the honest answer?
 * D: When you work so many episodes and so long hours it can like drain you, and then when you think it’s gonna go for so many seasons and you’re like “oh, how am I gonna keep this up? It’s 14 hours a day every day. Night time you never sleep.” It’s… hold on. So like now that we’re in like season 5 I’m like “oh, we’re probably coming toward the end of this series” like “oh, my god, I’m like really, it’s precious to me.” You know? I don’t want it to go away. And it’s also invigorating cause I kind of see the end of the line. So I’m putting a lot of effort into it and it’s really fun and really gratifying, and I really I’m more grateful for the show than I ever have been. You know? It’s a long one.


 * Q: Do you feel that there’s times when you feel more emotionally exhausted, professionally, or physically?
 * D: Well, both. Both. Ah! Lately like, lately probably emotionally in that this the episodes have been so hardcore for him. Uh, but, I’ve learned like the physical exhaustion tricks. I just go home I don’t have like a life, I just go home and go to sleep, wake up, go to work. Like if you try to do anything else, it’s like you’re toast. And creatively too, like, you’re toast. You have to really keep it reserved. That’s a good question. The fight scenes I read I’m like “oh my god. Spin kick, what? Stunt double.”
 * Q: So then you start emotionally trying to get prepared for that.
 * D: Oh, yeah yeah yeah. But it’s been really fun this year and it… I’m more excited than ever.


 * Q: What was your reaction reading the last script for season 4?
 * D: Ohh, dude, it was intense. I just knew, I’m like, “when’s the mom head in the box scene? When is that scene happening?” Uh, yeah, I just I thought it was cool. I definitely thought it was intense and I thought it was cool. I think that there needs to be a sense of danger in the show and it can’t always get fixed with some potion. And I think that’s kind of cool what they did with, you know, unfortunately Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who played my mom, and Juliette, like, there needs to be stakes. Um, so, I thought it was very compelling. Yeah. I love you guys too. I know you’re thinking it. You’re not saying it, but I know, I know you’re thinking you love me.
 * Q: Can you say that a little louder for the microphones?
 * D: Oh, guys. So what else, what else are you doing today?
 * Q: The fans love you.
 * D: I love them. Deeply. What storylines do they like, and what storylines do they not like? And who do they love, and who do they… like, well what are they pissed off about and what are they overjoyed about?
 * Q: I mean there’s the whole breakup and everything…
 * D: Oh, yeah yeah yeah.
 * Q: There seems to be a lot of controversy out there about that.
 * D: Got it, yeah.
 * Q: They love pretty much anything that you do. Your following is just great.
 * D: Very cool. They’re gonna get a kick out of the Nick and Adalind storyline. You know?
 * Q: Is there anything you can say about that?
 * D: I will say now, that um, I love this kid a lot, and she seems to love this kid a lot, and that I will do anything for the kid, and so we’re in tandem in a certain way, you know. And that also I think Nick’s finally realized time to move out of his house and I’ll take, I’ll tease that… I’m probably gonna take them with me. To wherever I go. Just a little tease. Just a little tease. Tease is such a gross like word. You guys want a tease? Um, anyway, nice seeing you guys.

Silas Weir Mitchell

 * Q: This past season we saw a lot. We saw Monroe. I was wondering, is that over? Is Monroe feeling that? Affected by that? It was a pretty traumatic experience.
 * S: It was and I think this season there's going to be a storyline that begins when Elizabeth Rodriguez's character comes back and her character sets up a departure in a whole new direction for the series that is at once new and very keeping in the spirit of the show. I think that storyline may be cause for me to revisit some potentially traumatic memories only because I will be dealing with some violent stuff and my pacifist nature will be challenged.


 * Q: Going into season five, what do you still enjoy about playing Monroe?
 * S: I love all of it. There's nothing I don't like about it, really. I love the people I work with, I love the city we shoot in. I love living inside this guy's mind because I think he's got a fun mind to live in. And I like what the writers write and it's all just a big adventure. So, you know, I'm just looking forward to getting back to work. Digging my heels in. Getting my hands dirty. Rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work.


 * Q: How are we going to see Monroe's reaction to Juliette's death?
 * S: We shot the funeral scene. And I think what she had become was a real threat so I think she sort of had died already, to me. Because the Hexenbiest, part of a person, especially the way she.. she was a terrible version of a Hexenbiest. She was worst than Adeline so Juliette had died already and seeing her go for good it was probably a relief.


 * Q: How does it feel to watch his best friend go through such a traumatic loss?
 * S: It's terrible and you wanna help him. He's in a real state and he's lost everything and he's out for revenge. So you just have to manage it. You can't stop him from feeling what he's feeling but you do your best as a friend sort of to just keeping giving him a wide berth because he's gotta go through it but you don't wanna completely blow his life to smithereens. Which is what someone in his position is likely to do. He's in a bad way.


 * Q: Do you have any favorite creatures that have been on the show?
 * S: I think my favorite is the Gelumcaedus which is a big slug with a million teeth. Without eyes or a nose, it's just a big ball of goo with a thousand teeth. That's kind of fun.


 * Q: How is it acting with all these supernatural kind of beings?
 * S: Are they really supernatural or are they just expressions of the sides of people? We all know leeches out there. We all know people who are fire breathing. What's fun about it is envisioning what the thing is. What the idea of “oh my god it's one of them? Holy shit!” or instead “that's a dime a dozen, I see people like that on the subway every day”. The fun of it is making it very real.

Reggie Lee

 * Q: We just came off a panel of Game of Thrones.
 * R: I need to watch that show.


 * Q: You haven't seen it?
 * R: No, you know, I watched like three episodes then I hear there's a hump you have to get over and then you'll get into it.


 * Q: How is Comic Con going?
 * R: This is my fifth year, there's a smoothness about this one.


 * Q: Well now you're part of the team.
 * R: I know, it's wonderful.


 * Q: How does it feel for Wu now that he's part of the team?
 * R: First of all, I think Wu is stoked to know about these creatures. He's changed from being so freaking scared to being like “please let this be a Wesen crime”.


 * Q: If he could be a Grimm or a Wesen what would he be?
 * R: Wow, you know, I've never been asked that question. I'd go for.. I'd go for Grimm. I was thinking about all the different Wesen. You know, it's a disadvantage. But with a Grimm it's all good, you're all powerful.


 * Q: After his experience with the Wesen, he went through severe trauma and was hospitalized and I was wondering if he was experiencing PTSD? He's experiencing flashbacks.
 * R: For sure. It wasn't addressed in the first eight episodes of season four but they kind of dragged that story but as an actor you always have that in the back of your mind, it's what I said in the panel, you can't unsee what you've seen so you carry all that with you psychologically. One person asked why didn't you beat him up when you found out they lied to you that entire time? But this whole new world opened up for me, that I suddenly became really overzealous. He wants to know everything. He wants his fries, his donuts, and the Grimm books. And sometimes a piece of a sofa which was actually pound cake. He'd want that too.


 * Q: What's in store for the next season?
 * R: I seem to get all the peril, it seems like it's not going to be an easy freshman year into the club. It's going to be a kind of hard time. He's gonna see that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Not this exciting world where you kill Wesen and survive. Because there's another part where you don't. That scares me, saying that.


 * Q: What was your reaction to what happened at the end of last season?
 * R: When I found out? It was like “oh god no” you feel mortal. It feels like anyone can get killed off the show. Anything can happen. It's one of those things where I love it and it's a hard and difficult thing for all of us. When you've been together for a long time that's really difficult.


 * Q: Is this a definite, she's not coming back?
 * R: As far as I know, Juliette's dead. As far as we know, that's what we know. It's tough for all of us. We're at comic con without her, which is a little weird. We've had her since season one, the boys had. So it's odd.


 * Q: Can you talk about your personal history?
 * R: I grew up in the Philippines, so everything in America is so.. it's a dream. But Pinocchio was always read to me. It was a book, a big book. It was my first introduction to fairy tales. Aside from the Aswang, which is a Filipino fairy tale. Which you've heard all the times in the Philippines. There's a lot in the Philippines so hopefully we go back.

Russell Hornsby

 * Q: What can we expect from Hank next season?
 * R: This is season five of the best kick ass side kikery. I like to say that Hank is more of the physical presence and Wu is more the cerebral presence. That's why last year I came out I had like long coats. I mean you wanna look as bad ass and cool as possible and you call Wu and ask if you've decoded the thing? Or what's that substance in the film we found? And he's like “lemme check from my Wu brain and I'll tell you what it is.” Great! I'll go back and kill more creatures.


 * Q: If Hank could be a Grimm or a Wesen what would he be and why?
 * R: Hank would be a Grimm, I'd be a profile. I'm the one going out and killing creatures. I think that he would be a Grimm and he'd have some cool battle axes and nun-chucks. I think he would do all the profiling at night like dark on dark. A ninja, can't be seen. I'd definitely be a Grimm. I think for Hank it's all about attitude. When you get into characters it's about their raw delivery. Remember in Matrix, Neo had a long coat and they all had that long coat? And you say as little as possible because the mood is settled in the camera. And then I just come in and chop someone's head off and have this cool stare, like I did that. I came I conquered. That's what would happen.


 * Q: Is it very easy to slip into the role of a bad ass?
 * R: Well I was just telling some guys over there. It's like, this is Russel. This is Hank. Hank is basically like an alter ego of Russel. And it's sort of like basically, if Russel could walk around like a bad ass all day that's Hank. Like you walk around, Hank doesn't lack for confidence. Russel does. He's got a badge, he's got a gun. When you've got a badge and a gun you're a bad mother fucker. So you know. So the other thing is, when you look at movie characters versus film characters generally when you're talking about leading men and supporting men. Generally, for film, they're more character based. Television, they're more personality driven. Because you have to sustain those characters for a longer period of time. So unless it's a series character, it's basically another variation of who you are. So that's what you see when you watch television shows. He might have a general affect, his voice might change. But it's basically part of who I am. You have to get into it every week.


 * Q: What's so specific about Hank that you like?
 * R: Well Hank has a lot more freedom. I free Hank up a lot, he's able to say and do the things that Russel can't. The way he walks, the way he talks, the way he comments on things, his looks. How he sort of views the world is him without any inhibitions. It's Russel without caring about anyone. As Russel, I gotta got through “please, thank you, I know” as Hank it's like “hey I'm a cop, deal with it” and that adds to the badassery. I think that helps the character, when you're talking about a character that has very little to say that's why the physical presence is so important. What he wears, how he walks, things like that all become about a look versus a word. But those are the snatches, the comments on the scene. It's his reaction to the what he sees.


 * Q: Are we going to see his reaction to Juliette?
 * R: Yeah, she's dead now. The thing is, is that there's been a long journey they've been through with Juliette so right now it's hard for Hank to have an emotion connection right now because they've been through so much on the dark side so now it's more about this menace is gone. Moreso than anything else. Possibly, as Nick starts to breathe. If Hank has to be there while he deals with that then I think Hank will deal with it as well.

Executive Producers

 * Q: I'm a clinical psychologist and I've been doing a clinical analysis of every episode of the show and I've been incorporating the episodes into my treatment with my patients with PTSD.
 * E: We tell people it's really psychologically driven. We just show the monsters that people become when they become emotionally aroused.


 * Q: It seems like the show starts from Nick's point of view. So as far as he's learning, the Grimms are the good guys and the Wesen are the bad guys. But as we're starting to learn about the Wesen, in a lot of ways they're very human too. They live their own lives. I'm wondering how much did you incorporate animating that and was there a purpose? To maybe expand acceptance and diversity.
 * E: Well we always thought they were humans first. And then Wesen. It is an emotional component. Some are like Monroe, fighting their inner demons. It's a whole spectrum of emotions. We go about the make up in the same way, we try to keep the human aspects. I think our best episodes are where you understand what's going on with the Wesen and going back to the spider woman, she had a real thing she had to do or she'd lose her family. So I like understanding that kind of thing. We're going to explain the Loch Ness monster, in another one we explained aliens and cattle mutilations and explaining “real thing” in a Grimm way.


 * Q: The Wesen riot was such a powerful storyline. I mean I drew parallels to the KKK and the Nazis and it was a moving storyline. How did you come about that? What inspired that storyline?
 * E: It comes from the first year, we had a tribunal. We wanted Monroe to suffer for helping Nick. So it turned out to be season four that we got around to doing it. By that time he was violating more Wesen laws.


 * Q: Are we gonna see more of the council in season five?
 * E: Probably less of them. Something happens that shifts the power.


 * Q: The trailer. A big part of Grimm, was it sad to see it go? Was there a favorite scene that you shot?
 * E: Actually shooting it. It resonated how important and affectionate it had. And it was sad to see it all charred. A lot of the fun scenes for me was when Nick goes in for the first time because for Trouble it opened a whole world to her. 