Sasha Roiz as Grimm's Captain Sean Renard. Photo copyright of NBC.
Throughout the ages, there have been plenty of “odd couples” that have come together in the real as well as fictional world, and the hit NBC supernatural drama Grimm is no exception. In the show’s first season, Captain Sean Renard, an officer with the Portland, Oregon police force and a half-human/half-Wesen (a Zauberbiest to be precise), was in league with Adalind Schade, a witch-like Wesen creature called an Hexenbiest. The police officer used Adalind and her special abilities in an effort to control Detective Nick Burkhardt, a police officer under his command as well as a supernatural slayer of Wesen, a.k.a. a Grimm.
When Nick robbed Adalind of her Wesen abilities and turned her into an ordinary human, she was no longer of any use to Renard. She, of course, did not take such rejection lightly, and extracted her own very unique revenge on both Nick and Renard. Since then, Renard and Adalind have shared a love/hate relationship, which eventually landed the two of them in bed. She also slept with Renard’s brother Eric, who ultimately died under mysterious circumstances, and Adalind became pregnant, but which brother is the father? In the show’s current (third) season, Adalind gave birth to a little girl with very special abilities. The baby served to reunite her and Sean, but regular watchers of Grimm have seen that Sean’s and Adalind’s reunion has been riddled with complications, deceit and double-crosses.
Earlier this week, Sasha Roiz and Claire Coffee, who play Grimm’s Captain Sean Renard and Adalind Schade, respectively, spoke with me along with other journalists about their onscreen relationship and teased at what lies ahead for their two characters in the show’s third season finale and beyond. The following is an edited version of that Q&A. Enjoy!
Claire Coffee as Grimm's Adalind Schade. Photo copyright of NBC.
Renard sort of tricked or betrayed Adalind, with taking the baby and everything that went on with that, and she’s done a number of things to him, including the taking of the potion that we’ve seen. Depending on what happens in the finale, do you think they can forgive one another, because they keep doing things to one another and yet keep falling back into each other’s arms?
Claire Coffee: Yes, they really do have kind of a sickeningly codependent relationship. I don't know that there's ever really forgiveness or ultimate trust, but it does seem like the playing field is a little bit leveled with what they've done to one another.
Sasha Roiz: She certainly has a way with Renard, and I think there's always a possibility of them finding their way back to each other to some extent. Also, because of the baby, there's always going to be a bond between the two of them.
CC: They're doing it for the child, and trying to stay together for her.
How far in advance do the both of know kind of what's coming down the pike for your respective character?
SR: We probably get scripts, at most, two weeks before we shoot the episode.
CC: Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt (series co-creators/executive producers) are really good at keeping some things from us, because things change, and if we knew too far in advance, I think it subconsciously starts changing the way you're playing the character.
Claire, more than any other character this season, yours seems to have gone through an incredible range of emotions. How was that for you to play as an actress?
CC: I was recently telling Jim and David just how grateful I am for that. It's kind of like going back to theater school and taking on a massive exercise in exploring the range of human emotions. Over the last three episodes, I think I had the chance to play every single one of them. So I just consider myself lucky, and hope that I didn't drop the ball.
Is it easier for you to play the scenes where Adalind is scared and upset or the ones where she's in a rage and ready to lash out?
CC: I don't know that one is easier or harder than the other. Anything that requires a lot of emotion, be it rage or pain, is, after a while, exhausting. You have to maintain a certain energy level, so it definitely takes a lot out of you.
Grimm seems to keep going on and everybody is having such a good time with it. Why do you both think the show is still so popular?
SR: I hope it’s because to some extent that the characters are intriguing and relatable. I give the writers a lot of credit, because I think they come up with some incredibly compelling storylines.
CC: There's a lot of action in each episode, and the ticking clock aspect of each story that involves the monster of the week and having to figure out the case of the week. At the same time, you have this royal storyline that's serialized and that viewers have been following throughout the season. I think all those elements, including the cliffhangers, keep people coming back.
Claire, without giving too much away, what can you tell us about Adalind’s big plan coming up in the finale? Also, Sasha, what is Renard going to do about it, because he obviously knows she’s up to something?
CC: Adalind is incredibly motivated to get her baby back. She has tunnel vision where that is concerned, because now that she’s learned how to love another human being, I think Adalind feels a little bit aimless and lost without her baby. I don't, however, think she fully understands the ramifications of what she's about to do, but she feels within her right to do it. It causes a massive rift in Nick’s (David Giuntoli) and Juliette's (Bitsie Tulloch) relationship and changes them, maybe forever. We'll just have to wait and see.
SR: I think Adalind has gone too far this time and by the end of the finale, my character sees pure rage and certainly you find him at his wits end with her. So it could get pretty nasty between the two of them, but again, there are always some twists and turns along the way.
With regard to Renard's brother Eric, we've yet to see a body, and I'm never convinced a character is dead unless I see a body. As we know, anything can happen on Grimm. So I'm curious, do either of you think he's alive?
CC: James Frain (Eric Renard) had some scheduling conflicts, but I know that the writers did have ideas about what to do with his character, and that Eric certainly wasn't dead. Honestly, though, I haven't given that too much thought because there have been so many other things on the table story-wise.
SR: I can't tell you with any certainty that Eric is alive or dead, but I think your approach is probably quite a good one; unless you see the body, you probably shouldn't completely believe it. However, that's all we know up to this point, so we'll have to wait and see, but yes, it is Grimm, and anything's possible.
Claire, you mentioned a little earlier that your character's relationship with Renard is, "sickeningly codependent," which has kind of made it extra fun to watch this season. For both of you, what was your favorite part about working together and sort of creating the kind of odd but exciting onscreen chemistry between you both?
CC: Well, I don't think we set out to create odd and exciting chemistry, but that’s been a fabulously unexpected result. We do have a lot of fun working together. Sasha's is just such a generous actor to work with, and I'm not saying that just because he's on the other end of the line. We make a point to meet up before starting a new episode and kind of figure out what the situation is between our two characters, because as them, we do find ourselves in some kind of outlandishly emotional places.
As for the most fun, I mean, obviously when he is without clothing. That was a pretty fun day on-set.
SR: Yes, that was pretty funny.
CC: I would say more funny than fun.
SR: Absolutely.
CC: That’s true for both of us, because when we shoot those types of scenes, we're both wearing various weird flesh colored underthings. So it’s a huge help that we are such good friends.
SR: They’re not the most flattering outfits (he says with a laugh).
CC: They’re about the least flattering you can get. Behind the scenes, I’d say it’s the most unflattering that anyone could ever look, but thank God for movie magic, which makes it look so good onscreen.
SR: It's funny how behind-the-scenes moments are the least sexy things that you're likely to witness. Seriously, though, Claire and I have a lovely friendship on-set and I love working with her. I think she's done a tremendous job this season. As was mentioned earlier, her character arc has been enormous this year, and she's really stepped up to the plate, which has been great fun to watch. As for our characters’ relationship, it’s really fun to always be challenged with that. Just when you think it can’t get any crazier, they (the show’s writers) manage to come up with something new. So it always remains a little challenging each and every time Adalind and Renard face off.
Sasha, could you talk about the wedding ring; is there, perhaps, a tragic love affair in Renard's past?
SR: You know, that's been a question posed by fans for at least two or three years now. It’s a wonderful question and I wish I had the exact answer for you now, but like all things Grimm, we kind of get around to answering all those questions with time. I suspect that we'll probably answer that one as well, soon. In my mind, I think it's probably a relic from a storyline that never got used and had to be scrapped at some point. When Renard initially came on the scene, I think there was some speculation that maybe he’d been married, widowed or something, but we never really got around to using that storyline. So I think we'll probably owe you an answer at some point soon.
Sasha, there's been so much back and forth with whether or not Renard and Nick really trust each other. It seems that they’ve found sort of this middle ground of some but not total trust. Do you see that changing at all now because of the baby?
SR: Well, I don't think Nick and Renard will be moving in any time soon (he jokes), but wouldn't this be just the perfect time for my character to let him down. You know, that dynamic is always going to be a tenuous one, which I think it should be and we'll see what happens. I suspect, though, that just as you feel comfortable, something will probably pull the rug out from under your feet, again, as it should be in my opinion.
Claire, we know, obviously that Adalind very much wants to get her baby back. There was a minute there when she was with Nick and Juliette and that maybe she was turning a corner, but now it basically just seems that she is, ultimately, a villain. What’s your take on that? Is Adalind just a villain or is there more to her than that? Are there redeeming qualities that maybe we'll see from her down the line?
CC: I think she's a more dangerous villain because she's operating of her own accord, and has a powerful motivation now. Like the old saying goes, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks,” and I think Adalind knows only one way to get what she wants, and that's death and destruction via magic spells.So she's using what she knows, and I think feels just and justified in what she's doing and the steps that she's taking.
Claire, could you tell us how you first became involved in Grimm and, perhaps, about the audition process for your role?
CC: It was a recurring character during pilot season, and I put myself on tape with Donna Rosenstein, who's the casting director. Then I got a call a few days later telling me, "You're in the mix," which is always really frustrating, because it means it's down to like three or four people and you usually never get the part. So you get your hopes up anyway and then they’re dashed. However, in this case, I was out with friends on a Friday night when I subsequently received another call saying, "You got the part, and you're going to Portland (where Grimm is filmed)."
Back then, I had no idea what the scope of the role would be. It was, "guest- star, possibly recurring,” but you have no idea if the show is then going to get picked up, and, if it is picked up, if they're going to keep you on. So I'm just a very lucky person.
Sasha, what maybe has surprised you most about your character this season, and what aspect of him maybe also have you enjoyed most playing this year?
SR: I certainly enjoyed the baby storyline. It was definitely fun to explore a different side of Renard, a paternal, more compassionate, concerned and, consequently, vulnerable side. That was a departure from how we’ve seen him in the past, and it was really fun for me play in those emotions as well as be challenged (acting-wise) with them.
As noted above, all photos copyright of NBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
