We were very lucky to get the chance to chat the other day with the lovely and talented Bree Turner, who plays Rosalee Calvert on Grimm. We’ve seen her go through a lot as Rosalee, including getting married! Unfortunately, this act of love isn’t viewed the same among all Wesen, and Bree tells us more about the upcoming dark times for Rosalee and Monroe and many other tidbits. Enjoy!
Is there someone in the cast that you haven’t worked a whole lot with yet, that you’d like to spend more time doing scenes with?
Yes, I would probably have to say it’s Reggie.
You know, it’s almost like there’s three separate worlds happening in Grimm. There’s the Adalind world and the procedural world and then there’s the Wesen world. And up until now, I would have said it would have been Claire, but we had that nice arc with her last season. Really Reggie is such a beautiful actor and person that the few moments we’ve shared – our time together has always been super enjoyable, but as you can see we’re on a trajectory with him, in the loop and a part of the Scooby gang, and I’m really looking forward to more screen time with him.
Are there any Wesen that you can talk about that are either coming in the back half of the season, or maybe just some that you’d like to see that haven’t been on?
I like referencing Wesen that we already know. Kind of keeps the world familiar within – to the fans, within the story. And there’s a lot of [glutevaden] that are coming out against our marriage, our mixed marriage and to see sort of different kinds of [glutevaden] that I thought were really interesting – also to compare them to how much Monroe has bucked the system in terms of his species and what they’re known for, and to see a path that Monroe could have gone down if he wasn’t reformed.
Who is the cast member that you think most resembles their Grimm character?
Well, Russell is a pretty dapper, smooth, intelligent man in his real life, and I feel like Hank is really on par. I think Russell is such a great actor, and I love the depth he brings into his procedural portion of the show. I’m always very excited to see him be able to expand out of that role with the scripts, and I’d say he’s probably closest to his role, except that he’ll break out into a dance party on set every once in a while. He always makes me smile when he gets goofy.
You used to dance, so do you join him if he does?
Oh, yeah, Russell and I, we’re right in sync. We have the same taste in music so we know all the old R&B jams. We break out into a little dance-off, he and I, often.
So the whole issue with this group that is against Rosalee and Monroe’s marriage… how is that to play? Has it been difficult because of the obvious references to US history?
Yes, it’s been very challenging. Very satisfying as an actress but yes, very uncomfortable. I mean just even seeing – a few episodes ago, seeing the wolfsangel burning on our lawn, Just that visual is so powerful, so upsetting, so deeply upsetting. When you’re filming that night, you don’t have to imagine too much. You’re just in the moment and you’re right there emotionally because it’s an ugly truth to our history, and to be touching on that – within this genre – is to be able to sort of discuss social issues like this, really I think powerful.
The episodes coming up where after Chupacabra – two to three episodes are on this, single-handedly dealing with this group of people, the Secundum Naturae Ordinem Wesen, and it just gets so dark. It gets so heavy, and I’m just so happy that our writers are so good, and I’m so happy that they didn’t hold back at all.
They really went for the darkness and the ugliness of the subject matter, and if Rosalee and Monroe… it’s life and death at this point.
In the short time the series has been on, your character seems to have gone through the most transformation. What do you like about the changes, the evolution of Rosalee in this series?
Since that assigned to play her… she was already such a fully-formed character from her first episode, which is the reason why I wanted to join the show. I was like wow, from the gate, you know who she is.
To come to the scene guarded, so many walls up, distrusting, broken, and then to find this new way of living with being friends with the Grimm and sort of this brave new world that Nick and Monroe were creating here in Portland. Sort of jumping into this friendship and then the eventual romance with Monroe – to see her become vulnerable and to live a life she wanted to live, but was scared to live, and to feel like she now deserves to be happy, deserves to have this love.
Now with the strength as an apothecary, her talent – she’s one of the best, I think, in the world at this point – and her confidence professionally and with her talents are fully cooking now.
And then what I love about this next arc – of Monroe being in danger and Rosalee, where a lot of that will actually full circle in the way that she goes back to… we see who Rosalee is inside and her street skills are definitely put into action again, and her fearlessness and her scrappiness and her willingness to die for a cause, die for the man she loves.
I think [it’s great to see] a bit of domestic storyline – and then remind the viewers of how losing Monroe would absolutely kill her. And also to see the fire within her – that she will kill anyone who stands in her way of the people she loves or what she believes in.
I’ve been so happy to see this full circle exploration of who she is.
So what are Rosalee and Monroe’s children going to look like?
I think that’s a $20 million question. I don’t know. That’s obviously something that people are interested in, we’re interested in and the writers talked about it, and it’s obviously something that’s in conversation, and as you know, we’re way farther ahead than the episodes are airing. It comes back into conversation again, especially in light of this horrible event that is about to be happening. It’s something that they’re very interested in finding out themselves, too.
How are you feeling as an actress on the idea of making Rosalee a mother on the show? Because sometimes that can be awkward on a show where the mother then doesn’t have as much story time or the baby is just never seen.
Well, Rosalee is such a strong character. I can’t imagine she’s going to be putting her skills in the back burner if she chooses motherhood. She’s already been juggling a lot. I’m sure she can juggle that, too.
But I think that if this is something that we’re going to go down, I think it doesn’t necessarily have to be straightforward. As most things in our show aren’t and usually they’re filled with twists and turns and complications.
What I love about what we do on our show is we take these magical worlds, these two creatures, these two Wesen having real-life problems and just because they’re not wholly human, and they live in this kind of magical world, doesn’t mean that they don’t deal with the same kind of stuff that regular people deal with.
And I think you know if they choose to be pregnant, it might be interesting to have complications with that journey. That’s something that a lot of people deal with, and the fact that they are a mixed species, it might not be a straightforward kind of process having a baby, getting pregnant and dealing with those heavy issues might be interesting to see through the eyes of two Wesen.
Because we’re coming up on a break in the show, can you just briefly give us a sneak peek on what we can expect when the show picks back up?
We’re on a strong – we’re on a bullet train down to some heavy, very dark territory with this mid-season finale. It’s absolutely life and death for Monroe and Rosalee and for everyone, for that matter.
Juliette, her storyline gets so crazy good. I’m so excited for what the fans are going to see out of Juliette. It is going to be out of left field and no one will expect the straight shot that she is on with her new awareness of certain things in her life, her new reveals.
And then Adalind, she and Victor, as you’ve seen, they’re teaming up. Two bad guys are way stronger together than they are apart. So they’re joining forces and that connection Adalind has with Nick and Juliette just gets more murky.
So it’s some very exciting stuff coming up once we come back in January.
Can tell us a little bit about what’s ahead for Rosalee and Monroe and tease a little bit for the viewers – like what is this life and death situation that’s ahead?
We’ve been teasing the last several episodes, there’s a group of extremist, fundamentalist Wesen called the Secundum Naturae Order Nam Wesen, and they are basically the KKK and a group of horrible, despicable monsters that have targeted Monroe and Rosalee as an abomination because of their union, because they’re mixed species couple.
So they’ve been doing these violent acts towards the couple, but in this mid-season finale, by the end of the episode, you see that there’s no more teasing, that they have now fully entrenched themselves into our home and our world, and one of us has our life dangling in the balance, and it’s very scary and the next several episodes back in January – this is a major story line for the second half of the season dealing with… will they even physically survive this terror attack?
And how are they going to respond to being on the front line of change? Can their relationship really hold up to this? This is isn’t like the in-laws not liking you. This is very, very serious life and death stuff. So very scary, very hard to shoot and very satisfying, so we’re thrilled and simultaneously sick to our stomachs the whole time, but I think the fans are going to really enjoy it.
So would you say this is like the darkest place that Grimm’s ever gone before?
Yes for sure. And I love it because I think about our writers – they always make that turn where it gets a little too light or a little too funny or a little too casual – which is so great to give us some breath in the series, so it’s not all intense.
But right when they’re about to get a little too comfy, they just throw this nasty curve ball at us, and I just I think it’s constantly keeping the fans on their toes and they think it’s really fun.
I love the chemistry between you and Silas on the show, and I was just wondering if it’s the same working with him in person. What’s he like to work with?
I love that man. He is funny, he is smart. He is a very good friend and we just have a blast together. He’s a fabulous actor and it’s just always fun working with him. So I’m very lucky.
What has been your favorite episode so far?
Honestly? I think this Chupacabra episode this Friday was one of my favorites this season. There’s so much packed into this episode, it’s not confusing. It’s a tight episode, well-written, well-directed. There’s a lot of payoffs at the end of it and it’s very emotional, and I think it’s the best of Grimm.
What scene this season was a lot of fun to film?
The Christmas episode you just saw last week was so fun, and we all had such a great time filming it. It was a bit of a departure from the tone of the show, but I think Christmas episodes, you can get away with that.
It’s like when the cast goes to Hawaii. It’s a separate kind of entity from a series. They’re special episodes, and Bitsie and I always have a blast working together, and it was really fun to be able to work in the moment and do physical comedy and there are Wesen creatures.
So many of our episodes are life and death and the stakes are super high and they’re super scary – and it’s fun and refreshing to deal with Wesen that weren’t necessarily going to kill us, but were just annoying and gross. I think that kind of element allows for a lot of comedic moments from everyone’s characters because it wasn’t necessarily people’s lives were in danger.
So yes, I think that was one of my most fun scripts we shot.
Are you and the cast and crew doing anything particular for the holidays together?
we just got together last week and watched the Christmas episode and hung out all night. And then the cast likes to get together and throw an annual party before our winter break for the crew. We have that coming up – it’s always a very good time and a much needed release for the crew and for all of us.
Did you always want to work in this industry while you were growing up or did you have other professions in mind?
I grew up as a dancer. Started dancing at age 5 and that was my whole entire life and I actually came to Los Angeles to go to UCLA, but I was also fortunate to get a dance agent and I actually worked as a dancer before I was an actress in film and television.
So that really opened up the idea of having acting be a career choice. But it was always about performing and fantasy and entertainment for me ever since I was little, quite honestly.
What would you say makes a career in this industry rewarding for you so far?
Having a life outside of it is the only way to survive it. For many years… you have to singularly focused, especially in the beginning of your career. But to be a good actor you have to have lived the life you know – that’s how bring depth to your roles, is the life that you yourself have lived in and you can you know infuse into stories and experiences and use your imagination from a lot of your own life.
It’s not a coincidence that once I started having children that I started working even more, because I think I am so wholly satisfied as a person and as a mom and as a wife first, and acting is just gravy.
Thanks again to Bree for her time! I know I’m looking forward to Friday’s episode even more now – how about you??
