We were so happy to get the chance to talk to Silas Weir Mitchell and Bree Turner before tonight’s big proposal episode. The two actors were so much fun to chat with, and as you’ll see below, we almost didn’t need to ask questions – they practically interviewed one another! Read on to find out their insights on all things Monrosalee, an upcoming web series – and the revelation of one of Monroe’s biggest fears!
Can you both talk a bit about filming the proposal scene? Also, have they discussed with you guys at all how they will eventually do a wedding?
Bree: Well, the proposal – I mean the whole episode was super fun for us to shoot. There was – we really packed in the whole episode from the roller-coaster emotions, from the night of the proposal and then getting engaged and then the parents coming in the end – it’s really filled. But the proposal scene was adorable and fun and silly, and I don’t know, Silas… I think we had a good time that whole section of the show, right? We had fun.
Silas: Yes it was – you’re right, the roller-coaster is a good metaphor because the writers really make it as complicated as they possibly can. And so as soon as you think everything is fine, the parents show up and it gets extremely difficult. But yes, the shooting of that scene was really, it was fun. It’s fun to watch this imaginary life – and the way that it happens is so sort of unique. It was fun…because the writers write unique stuff.
Bree: I feel like what’s been enjoyable about exploring the relationship is that there’s been just these very truthful consistencies from beginning until now about who these characters are and how they treat each other and handle these different moments in their relationship.I think the proposal moment is just such a pure and touching and honest moment and very much in the vein of who these characters are.
Silas: And still, they allow for the complexity, you know what I mean? The writers allow for the complexity and the darkness [that] people are going to accept, Blutbad and the Fuchsbau – that’s a rich kind of basically interracial vein that they’re going to mine. So as sweet as it is – which it totally is – what I like about what the writers do is they allow for complexity and darkness.
Could you maybe talk a little bit about the filming of last week’s episode where you meet Rosalee’s family, and what that was like for both of you guys?
Bree: Well the whole dinner scene, everything with my mom and sister took place in one day so it was a very long 18-hour day up in Hillsboro, and it was exhausting. I was exhausted, and I think we got beers after that day because it was…
Silas: Yes, that was a big day, that was a big day.
Bree: It was a biggie and there was a lot of emotional stuff going on for Rosalee and so, exhausted would be the word I would use by the end of that day.
Silas: Just the most awkward dinner in the history of man. It just was like I felt bad, I felt bad for Rosalee in this situation. To have this sister…it was hard because I think there’s a lot of truth to that familial dynamic. And I felt the awkwardness – it’s like I felt the love – I felt the awkwardness.
Another sweet episode for your characters was the Christmas one, where more of Rosalee’s past and her problems with Christmas were revealed. Could you talk a bit about that part of that episode?
Silas: Be honest now – you really want to know how one person could put all that up and/or take all that down in one night. Be honest.
Bree: I justified that by [assuming] I was morphed out when I did that, because only a fox could gather and put together that quickly.
Silas: A bottle of wine, a couple of morphs… no problem.
Bree: Every time I come onto set – this is not an exaggeration – I’m blown away by our construction and set design team and what they can pull together so quickly, with no time between turnover.
Silas: Yes, the art direction on the show really is – it’s incredible what they do. So much of the show has to do with the look of the show and those guys, the art department, is incredible.
Bree: Right, yes so there was not a lot of acting needed when I walked on the set with the house being decorated as it was, because it was – I mean truly – like Christmas just threw up in the living room, and so I didn’t really have to pretend about it.
But as I had mentioned earlier, I think what’s been enjoyable about the arc of the relationship this season is that it has been complicated and real and a very adult relationship. I think it’s been really fun that an adult late-30s couple is being portrayed on screen, and it’s not this high drama of your 20s, or silliness of your teens. It’s two people who’ve lived a very full life, a complicated life, coming together and finding harmony together.
And it’s not a straight path, and it’s twisted, but there’s always respect and love, and I think that’s what’s always shown with our story on the show: two people that respect and love each other and how they deal with the complexities of their relationship.
So what has that been like to play almost sitcom-y at times, but then also have the seriousness about a mixed marriage or other elements?
Silas: Well, it’s hard for me to think of it in terms of ‘sitcom,’ because that’s just not language that I use when I think about it. I don’t think about it as being funny or being a sitcom.
I just think about it as… from the inside, it’s just these two interesting people trying to figure something out. So whatever the story demands, whether it’s the sort of awkwardness of a proposal or the seriousness of a fight with your parents, that’s where I go. And what’s nice about the show is the writers use a lot of bandwidth as far the emotional vicissitudes, which are pretty great, and that’s what makes it fun.
Bree: Yes, I think there’s this term that our showrunners use: “Let’s keep it in the world of Grimm.” You know – whatever we’re trying to build on screen.
And I think what that means is what’s so special about our show. You can’t quite define it. There are funny moments, there are serious moments, there are fantasy elements, there is procedural cop drama and we flow in and out of all these spaces when we’re creating the world with each episode. And I think what Silas is saying is as actors, we’re not trying to be serious or funny or comedy or drama. It’s just about living truthfully in this world we’ve created, and I think as long as we’re honoring that, those more comedic moments come out and you respond to them because they’re just truthful.
The two of you have really nice onscreen chemistry together. What do you like about working with each other?
Silas: I can’t stand her.
Bree: He’s such a pig. Uh… well, I love Silas. I like everything about Silas, especially his big heart. He’s a sweetheart of a man and also a true professional to work with. And I think from day one I knew that it was going to be a very cool journey with Silas because he’s all in 100%, and he brings so much to the character and to the script that’s not even necessarily down on paper, and it’s just very exciting and fun to work with him – that’s how I feel.
Silas: That’s so lovely, Bree. That’s a lovely thing of you to say of me. And for me, working with Bree is just…it’s delightful because she is same thing – she’s all in. There’s no bullshit, there’s no fussiness, there’s no actor trying to do something. She’s interested in the honesty of the story. And when you work with actors who are interested in the honesty of it and the truth of it, then you look at the person, and they’re playing the same game you’re playing, and so you’re on the same field. It’s not like a lot of times you’re trying to play badminton and the other person’s bowling.
And then you’re not talking at all, you’re just like this person doing their thing, and you’re doing your thing, but it’s apples and oranges. With Bree I really feel like we’re on the same team – it’s true of the whole cast, which is what makes Grimm sort of special in my heart above anything I’ve done, is that we’re all on the same team, we’re all playing on the same field. And so Bree and I, we know that we’re like we can trust each other and we’re both playing the same fun game.
And that’s really a delight because it makes it a joy to go to set when you’re all playing the same game.
Bree: Thanks Silas, that was nice.
Silas: Well, it’s true babe.
What do you guys think of the fact that your characters are really sort of the ‘normal’ ones, and are really sort of the grounding the other characters on the show?
Silas: That’s a good question.
Bree: You know, I think that came up for me – which episode was that? Oh, the last episode we did, Silas, with the Anubis.
Silas: Oh yes, right.
Bree: Where it was spoken aloud how Wesen have been around longer than humans and – or Kehrseites shall we say. And I think we know history in a very different way than non-Wesen, and I think maybe the grounding is coming from just being around for a long time. Experiencing basically a holocaust with our kind in history, and our numbers dwindling. I think there’s a lot of weight – historical weight – that comes with being a Wesen, that non-Wesen maybe just don’t quite understand.
Silas: Yes, I would totally agree with that, and just back it up with the idea of I think there’s a worldliness… you know, we actually know how the world works.
And all the Kehrseites or the norms out there who are looking at the world a certain way, the history that they are witnessing or reading about is actually a whitewashed version of what we all – or most of us anyway – know to be the truth. So I think the anchoring element is exactly what Bree was saying, there’s like a historical element to it, and there’s also a kind of ‘we know the truth.’ There’s a wisdom to it, whereas like Hitler wasn’t just Hitler. By the way, you know, Van Gogh didn’t lose his ear because he was crazy – he was in love with one of us. So that worldliness, that kind of like this is the real truth. That element leads to the writers having the sense that the Kehrseites or the norms are kind of scrambling around trying to figure it out, and there are some people out there who actually know the truth.
What is it about each one of you that you love your character?
Silas: All right, all right. Bree, what do you love about your character?
Bree: Oh okay, well I love Rosalee’s compassion. She’s compassionate, and she’s dealt with a lot of complications in her life, and she comes from a very fractured family and a lot of sadness.
And I think what’s been a very cool journey from the introduction of Rosalee to now is that when she came on the scene she was a person who did not understand her strength and her light, and I always liken Rosalee as coming from a family of healers and apothecaries to be the one who was the most gifted in this world… but was the most fearful of her talents.
I think choosing to hide out was a way to escape responsibility of her true strengths inside of herself. From coming back to Portland and befriending Nick and meeting Monroe… it’s been a journey of confidence as a healer, as a apothecary. Last season was just her understanding her strengths and talents and owning them, and then – and opening up her heart and finding love again and trusting another person.
What’s been really fun about Season 3 is her going back to the struggle that she was really dealing with in terms of her relationship with Monroe and really allowing another person to understand who she really is and not being able to hide from those issues anymore. So I think I’ve gotten off of what your question was, but I think when I think about Rosalee…
Silas: That was so intense.
Bree: Oh my God, I really just started vomiting up so much stuff there.
Silas: Yes, your Christmas threw up.
Bree: Is this a therapy session? But she… is just such a beautiful spirit and embraces her complications and is very quiet and still about them now, in this new phase of her life, and I think that takes a lot of bravery and a lot of trust, and I think that’s very cool. So that’s a very long-winded answer to a very short question. Geez Louise.
Silas: That was really deep. I have nothing to add to that.
Bree: My Lord.
Silas: I see Rosalee in a whole new light now, and it’s a beautiful light. It’s a beautiful, warm, glowing kind of safe light.
Bree: Okay, can you add some things?
Silas: I can not. What would I add to that? Talk about gilding the lily. I have nothing to add.
Bree: To you, about you.
Silas: Oh, we’ve all heard what I think about Monroe a thousand times. But basically am I just talking about my character, or what I like about my character? I mean what’s the question really? Is it just what do I like about him, because then I will go on for another hour and a half because I love living inside that man’s head.
How about something about him that just fascinates you, that other people might not know?
Silas: I have a fear of pickles – a deep, deep fear of pickled vegetables – even though I’m a vegan. It’s that vinegar thing – it freaks me out. That’s something that nobody knows about Monroe. You got a scoop on that.
We’re so thrilled to see the proposal, and it’s great to know that the writers and the show are going to address the mixed-Wesen issue. Along those lines, do you know yet if there are going to be any special Wesen wedding customs that we’ll learn about?
Silas: The only thing we really know is that the Wesens tend to like to marry in the wild.
There wasn’t a lot of mention in last week’s ‘meet the family’ episode about Freddy, his death and what led to Rosalee coming to Portland. Are you guys going to be getting more into that as we learn more Rosalee’s family leading up to the wedding?
Bree: Well, that hasn’t come up in any scripts yet, but I don’t know, I think what’s nice about a lot of the episodes is that there isn’t a lot of just dialogue just for the sake of dialogue. You don’t need to talk about everything – it’s just an understanding. I think that just that one line that Rosalee says to Monroe outside is that ‘I assume they would be more understanding that I basically handled all of Freddy’s affairs, his death and the shock and dealing with all that.’ It’s pretty clear that they decided not to be involved in that event, and that I totally took that on. We’ll see… I don’t know if that’s going to be more addressed in more detail later.
We’re really enjoying the developing relationship between Rosalee and Juliette, now that Juliette is part of the Scooby Gang. Are we going to see more of that the rest of the season?
Bree: Yes, definitely. We just did a standalone web series that’s going to air around Valentine’s Day that focuses on Juliette and Rosalee and their friendship. It’s really fun, really playful, and it’s a bit of a departure of tone from the show, but we had a great time. We kind of got to express all our girliness that we can’t really quite do in the world of Grimm.
Can you both describe the rest of this season in, oh, 15 seconds or less?
Silas: No, I can’t…
Bree: Okay, we’ll try.
Silas: …because I don’t know what happens and who knows…okay, Bree, give it a shot.
Bree: Okay, with Monroe and Rosalee, it’s just the journey to the altar and coming to terms with coming from two different worlds – not only as different Wesen species, but also just sort of two different worlds.
Rosalee is a little bit on the other side of the tracks compared to Monroe’s childhood and the meshing of that. And then in the world of Nick and the case of the week, we get back to a bit more procedural format, but we have a lot of really exciting storylines coming up. We’re actually in the middle of starting this big carnival episode that’s going to be really fun, and I think it’s going to be a really good one for the season.
Do you think that there’s a chance that Monroe and Rosalee will have some children in the future?
Bree: Little baby Wesens! Why not? I mean, all is possible.
Silas: It all depends on how many seasons we get.
Bree: All I know is if I have to now be fake pregnant when I was really pregnant on the show, I’m going to be real pissed.
Silas: We’ll talk to Claire Danes about that. I think she’s going to be pregnant for the entire next season of Homeland.
Bree: I know, I feel for that girl, so we’ll see – why not, right?
Silas: We’ll have a litter.
Thanks again to Bree and Silas for taking the time to talk with us! Don’t miss tonight’s new episode of Grimm with the proposal!
