Grimm's Detective Nick Burkhardt finds a new ally in Teresa "Trubel" Rubel (Jacqueline Toboni). Photo copyright of NBC.
There are some mornings when you hate to get up out of bed, and it is even tougher when you are a college student. Fortunately, Jacqueline Toboni resisted the urge to stay under the covers and, instead, got up and went to her Friday morning screenwriting class at the University of Michigan. Coincidentally, Jim Kouf, executive producer/writer and co-creator of the hit NBC supernatural police procedural TV drama Grimm, and his wife Lynn, who is a producer on the show, were at the university to visit their daughter. They were also speaking to Toboni’s class that same day, and little did she realize that their presence would eventually lead to her booking a recurring role on Grimm.
“We were sitting in class when Jim and Lynn Kouf asked a few of us if we wanted to tape an audition for a part that they were casting at the time,” recalls Toboni. “I think we were all a bit shocked that they asked us, but we also didn’t get our hopes up too high. So I picked up my [audition] sides, went home and began watching episodes of Grimm. The next morning, they put us on tape and it was a really positive experience. We were given great direction and there were also readers there in the room working with us on the dialogue. It was a very warm audition environment and the three of us [students] were extremely supportive of one another.
Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni) in action! Photo copyright of NBC.
“That night I got a call asking me to fly out to Los Angeles and meet with more people from Grimm, which was pretty wild. When I got there, I auditioned for the executive producers as well as casting people, and then I subsequently read with David Giuntoli [Detective Nick Burkhardt], which was fantastic. David actually called me before I went up to Portland, Oregon [where Grimm is shot] to read with him. I had been watching Grimm 24/7 and while we were on the phone, I was pacing the room and nervous that I was talking with this actor who I’d been watching on my computer for the past three-and-a-half days,” says the actress with a chuckle.
“When I got to Portland, David took me under his wing right away, which was amazing. I actually visited the set before I got the job and did the test read with him. Although he only had a few short breaks while filming, David still made a point to take me aside and said, ‘Let’s run your sides and make sure we have this down pat. I’m really rooting for you.’ David was very gracious with his time and making certain I wasn’t too nervous. After that, I did the test read, it went well and here I am today.”
Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni) initially gets on the wrong side of Detective Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby). Photo copyright of NBC.
Toboni’s character of Teresa Rubel a.k.a. Trubel (pronounced Trouble) makes her debut in the season three Grimm episode Nobody Knows the Trubel I’ve Seen (airing Friday, April 25th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on NBC). Although her onscreen alter ego soon finds herself right in the thick of things, the actress herself was initially on her own when shooting began on this episode.
“My first day on the show’sset was a little bit different from the rest of the days I’ve had in that I didn’t work with any of the series regulars,” she notes. “So I walked onto the set kind of expecting to see all the familiar faces of Grimm, but I actually went straight into make-up and then filmed my first scene. At that point, my character hadn’t met any of the other main characters, so it was just me shooting my introduction on the show.
“When you first see Trubel she’s alone, and therefore I was alone in this scene. We were filming at night on-location, and it wasn’t raining, which is kind of out of the ordinary for Portland. It was such a beautiful evening, and as I stood in front of a mountain on this lonely road, I looked around and thought, ‘I can’t believe I’m here.’ The audition process and everything else happened so fast, so it’s one of those moments where I look back and remember how special it was. Since then it has been incredible. What I said earlier about David Giuntoli goes for everyone on this cast. They’ve all been nothing but incredibly nice and welcoming to me. In fact, right now I’m staring at my very first call sheet that the entire cast signed and had framed for me, which will always be something quite special to me.”
Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni) has a close encoutner of the very unusual kind in "My Fair Wesen." Photo copyright of NBC.
Not always but very often, a person’s upbringing and environment make them who they are, and that appears to be true with Trubel. “She’s had a very rough time of it and comes from quite a tumultuous past,” says Toboni. “I don’t want to give too much away, but I think that’s what truly makes her who she is. Luckily, I’ve had an amazing upbringing, including a big support system made up of my family and friends, and I don’t believe Trubel has necessarily had that. I’ve had to kind of wrap my head around that mindset when playing her, as far as being alone and having to rely on just yourself for survival. It’s funny, although Grimm is an amazing community and, again, has really welcomed me into it, being separated from the community I know so well in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has given me a better insight into Trubel’s world because I’m in a new city and living on my own for the first time.
“In order to protect herself all these years, Trubel has had to keep these [emotional] walls and barriers up, and I think the Grimm writers have done a great job of allowing us to see through those walls without bringing them totally down. My character has been on her own for about eight years, so those walls aren’t going to come down right away whenever she meets someone she thinks she might be able to trust. As the episodes go on, though, Trubel allows herself to learn more, and, in doing so, changes.”
Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni) and Ken (Michael Graziadei) in "My Fair Wesen." Photo copyright of NBC.
When the show’s resident slayer of supernatural baddies, Nick Burkhardt, comes face-to-face with Trubel, he is surprised to discover that the two of them have something very much in common. He ends up allowing her into his inner circle, and she, in turn, is amazed to find a number of other people are familiar with the secret she carries.
“I’ve now had scenes with almost all the series regulars, including, of course, David Giuntoli, along with Russell Hornsby [Detective Hank Griffin], Bitsie Tulloch [Juliet Silverton], Silas Weir Mitchell [Monroe] and Bree Turner [Rosalee], all of whom I look up to both as people and actors,” says Toboni. “So I’ve been able to learn a great deal from all of them just in the scenes I’ve done. Most of the time, though, it’s Nick, Hank and Trubel up there onscreen, and it’s a lot of fun watching the three of them interact with one another.”
With only a few episodes left until Grimm’s third season finale, is the door left open for Trubel to return next season? “I probably know as much as you do on that front,” says Toboni. “I’m sure they’re waiting to see how viewers react to what’s happened so far and Trubel’s story. I think she’s an amazing character that I hope to see in the future, but for now, we have some wonderful surprises in store forfans in these last four or five episodes of the season, so let’s get excited about that,” enthuses the actress.
Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni) keeping her own "Grimm" journal. Photo copyright of NBC.
Although she left school to work on Grimm, the actress is still expected to graduate with her class this May. In fact, her graduation day coincides with the airing of her second episode of the series, and on that day, Toboni will also receive The Earl V. Moore Award in Theatre for outstanding achievement in the dramatic arts. Looking ahead, what are her plans with regard to acting?
“I think Grimm is a great starting point for my career,” she says, “so once this amazing adventure comes to a close, I think I will move to Los Angeles and, hopefully do some more acting. I’ll hit the pavement with auditions, word hard, and see what comes my way.”
Steve Eramo
As noted above, photos copyright of NBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
