At this year's 2011 San Diego Comic Con there were many announcements and surprises. Among them was NBC's new show Grimm which follows the exploits and cases of a police precinct and the select officers who discover that there are fairy tale creatures living among us disguised as humans. The officers in the precinct who are aware of this strange reality they inhabit do their best to solve the cases involving these beings.
The show stars David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, and Reggie Lee. At the convention the stars of the show took the time to sit down at a round table event, discussing with the press the thoughts and feelings on the upcoming series.
At the first table were Sasha Roiz and Reggie Lee who play characters Capt. Renard and Sgt. Wu. They explained that the idea behind the show is linking these classic stories with real world themes and elements. Sasha's character is one of the few who can recognize these beings or "Grimm's" as they're referred to in the show and it is his job to help keep them in check. It was Reggie lee, who plays Sgt. Wu who said "each of the character's, whether they are recurring or regular, will have a certain duplicity about them so you can never truly be sure where they are coming from." Given the overall supernatural aspect to the show it is hard to imagine any kind of research coming into to play, but Sasha informed us that "those of us who are playing police each did a ride with local officers to get a sense of how they operate within a precinct". Both actors were very pleased with how the final product of the premiere episode looked.
The next actors to join in the discussion were David Giuntoli and Bitsie Tulloch who play Nick Burckhardt and Juliette Silverton. When talking with them it was learned that Bitsie's character was not in the pilot of the show but would appear in future episodes. Also she said "my character, Juliette, was originally scripted as a baker but thankfully the writers decided to make a change and now I am a vet. Since I am not featured in the pilot that change won't affect continuity." When David was asked what drew him to the show he stated "it was the overall journey my character takes. He is new to this world of supernatural creatures so everything is always lesson for him. He must adapt as best he can or fall prey to something evil. The other difficulty for him is finding evidence once he has seen one of these creatures so that he can bring them to justice." They both said they did go back and re-read the old fairy tales by the Grimm brothers, which as they said "were surprisingly darker than what we grew up with. These were definitely cautionary tales meant to keep children from making bad choices."
For both David and Bitsie, the other joy was filming on location in Portland, Oregon where the show takes place. "The area we film really added a whole other creepy yet beautiful look to the show. There is such an amazing landscape and it just makes the whole tone of the show feel much more real and spooky."
The last two actors who had a chance to sit down and share their thoughts were Silas Weir Mitchell and Russell Hornsby who play the Big Bad Wolf and Hank Griffin. In the case of Russell's character, "he is unable to see this supernatural world around him so that makes his character in some ways more naïve and also somewhat stalwart. He knows there is a darkness to the world but he sees it from the perspective of a cop who has witnessed crime by human hands. So while he may never see these creatures, he does understand it on a certain level." Also he does somewhat accept that "his partner is intuitive on a certain level, even if he doesn't know what his partner is seeing, he accepts that he can read a case better than most and utilizes that skill to solve crimes." On the other hand there is Silas's character, Eddie Monroe, who we will learn is a type of Big Bad Wolf. As Silas sees it, "Eddie is struggling with his nature; he craves blood and flesh but knows that it is wrong to do so. In that way it almost makes it like an alcoholic fighting the urge to drink and that is what I feel brings the show back to reality is that while these creatures are fantastical they are based on a reality we all know, whether that be alcoholism, greed or lust."
The show is produced by David Greenwalt whom was a major player on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, so clearly we can trust that the people behind this show are familiar with this kind of territory. Given the actor's clear appreciation for the material and the obvious talent working behind the scenes, it sounds like NBC's Grimm has the potential to become this fall's new hit.
Grimm premiere's Oct 21, Friday's on NBC.
